Ambedkar on 370
In his book, Hindol Sengupta states that Ambedkar opposed Article 370. He comes up with an alleged quote wherein Ambedkar emphasizes that he would not sign Article 370. Dr. Ambedkar allegedly says " Article 370 is against interests of India and I will never draft it". What was the source given by Hindol Sengupta for this fake quote? No primary source. No secondary source. He gives a random blog article as the source.
There is no single contemporary source that mentions his refusal. Nothing in his books, speeches, or writings.
The truth is that Dr. Ambedkar never opposed article 370. There is simply no evidence for it. Far from opposing Article 370, Ambedkar was of the view that J&K should be partitioned. Jammu & Ladakh should be kept with India. In his own writings, he states that Kashmir should go to Pakistan - “Give the Hindu and Buddhist part to India and the Muslim part to Pakistan as we did in the case of India.”
What is the source of this story that Ambedkar refused to draft article 370? The story first appeared in a journal named Tarun Bharat in 1991. However, it was also Madhok ji’s “verbal account” without any source! But it has no quote. The fake quote was created much later. This myth has now gained such widespread currency that we often find top central ministers parroting it.
This alleged “Ambedkar’s quote” also appears in " Dr. B.R Ambedkar: Framing of Indian Constitution" written by retired IRS officer SN Busi. But the author himself did not provide any source for this quote and later disowned it. When contacted, this author plainly admitted that he took this quote, not from any of Ambedkar’s writings, but from a 2004 article. He did not vouch for the authenticity of the quote and even conceded that it could have been manufactured for political purposes.
The author SN Busi might have disowned the quote. But his disowned quote has made its way even in official publications. Indian Defence Review(Jul-Sep 2019) Vol 34.3 quoted SN Busi.
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