Everyone Celebrates Ambedkar, But No One Wants to Be Him

     To speak of Ambedkar today is easy. To quote him is even easier. But to actually live Ambedkar, to internalize his ideas, and to practice them in everyday life that has become one of the most difficult things in contemporary India.

     We are living in a time where identities are becoming sharper, louder, and more aggressive. Religion is no longer just faith or belief; it has turned into assertion. Politics is no longer just governance; it has turned into a constant performance of power. In such an environment, Ambedkar’s ideas which demand rationality, constitutional morality, and social equality begin to feel inconvenient. Not completely irrelevant, but uncomfortable.

And that is precisely why being Ambedkar today is difficult.

     Ambedkar was not merely a symbol of Dalit assertion. He was a radical thinker who challenged the very foundations of social hierarchy, religious orthodoxy, and political opportunism. He questioned tradition where it suppressed human dignity. He insisted that democracy is not just about elections, but about equality and equity in social and economic life. But today, most of what is done in his name is selective remembrance.

     Political parties across the spectrum invoke Ambedkar. His statues are built, his anniversaries are celebrated, his quotes are circulated. But if we look closely, how much of his core ideas are actually implemented? Land reforms remain incomplete. Social inequality continues in new forms. Access to quality education is still deeply unequal. Representation is often symbolic rather than transformative. And most importantly, one new breed can be observed who hates Ambedkar for no reason with zero knowledge.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ambedkar is widely used, but rarely followed.

     There is also a deeper problem. To genuinely follow Ambedkar today often means entering into confrontation not because one seeks conflict, but because his ideas themselves challenge the status quo. If you speak against caste, you are seen as divisive. If you question religious practices, you are labeled anti-cultural. If you insist on constitutional values over majoritarian sentiment, you are called impractical or even anti-national (new tag).

So the question arises: can one follow Ambedkar without conflict in today’s India?

The honest answer is — not easily.

     Ambedkar’s ideology demands courage. It demands that one stands alone at times. It demands that one chooses reason over comfort, equality over popularity, and justice over silence. In an age driven by quick validation, social media outrage, and ideological polarization, such a path is not just difficult, it is isolating.

     At the same time, there is another irony. Many who claim to follow Ambedkar reduce his ideas to identity politics alone. But Ambedkar’s vision was far broader. He spoke about economic justice, about labor rights, about women’s empowerment (emphasis in Hindu Code Bill), about the importance of scientific temper (enshrined as a Fundamental Duty (Article 51A(h)). Limiting him to a single dimension is also a form of injustice to his legacy.

     To be Ambedkar today, therefore, is not about slogans. It is about discipline of thought. It is about intellectual honesty. It is about the willingness to question even those you politically agree with. And that is where most people, including political actors - fall short.

     Perhaps the real challenge is this: Ambedkar does not allow comfort. He forces you to think, to question, to act. And in a society that increasingly prioritize social media for knowledge, prefers certainty over inquiry, and identity over equality, such a figure becomes difficult to live with.

That is why Ambedkar is celebrated everywhere, but practiced almost nowhere.

And that is why being Ambedkar today is not just difficult — it is a constant struggle.