By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday night, passed an order to all government bodies of the state to add “Ramji” as the middle name for the Bhimrao Ambedkar. The order also applies to all the benches of lower courts and the High Court of the state.
While the spelling of Ambedkar in English will remain unchanged, the spelling in Hindi will change so that his name is pronounced ‘Aambedkar’.
State’s governor Ram Naik started a campaign in December 2017 for the name change of the iconic Dalit and equality leader BR Ambedkar, who is also famous for drafting the Constitution of India.
Naik also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018, drawing his attention to the incorrect spelling and usage of Ambedkar in official records, and asking him to issue directions for its correction.
“The main point is the way the name should be pronounced. While its English spelling is correct, the spelling will have to change in Hindi, as will the pronunciation. Ramji was his father’s name. As per common practice in Maharashtra, father’s name is used as a middle name for sons,” Dr. Lalji Prasad Nirmal, the director of the Mahasabha, was quoted by the Times of India as saying.
Ambedkar’s signatures over the pages of the constitution draft are clearly seen as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. But in popular culture, as well as in discourses, Ambedkar was never mentioned with the ‘Ramji’ as a middle name.
Political experts and BJP rivals see the name change as an attempt to change the anti-Ambedkar nature of Bhartiya Janta Party. Since past few months, BJP leaders and cabinet ministers have been seen in the news having lunch at the houses of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and other states to match the gap between the two.
Especially after the arrest and trial of Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan and subsequent killing of the Dalit movement across western Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath government in the state has been perceived as anti-Dalit in nature.
However, the government order does not specify the reason behind the changing the name of BR Ambedkar, and government sources were not able to comment as well on the same query.