The government is planning to kickstart grand celebrations this year to mark the 200th birth anniversary of social reformer Jyotiba Phule in 2027, in a move that has been decried by critics as an attempt by the BJP to appropriate the Bahujan icon and woo the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for political gains.

Dr Ambedkar Foundation, a central government organisation working on issues of social justice and promotion of ideals of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, has asked the Ambedkar chairs in 24 universities to plan activities on Phule’s life, legacy and values, The Telegraph has learnt.

Vivek Kumar, who holds the Ambedkar chair professorship at Jawaharlal Nehru University, welcomed the decision and said academics should engage with Phule’s writings and legacy.

“There has been a long commitment of the government to celebrate the unsung heroes. The celebration of Phule seems to be a step in this direction,” he said.

Kumar said since Santishree D. Pandit took over as the JNU vice-chancellor, the university has been celebrating the life and work of Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule.

“Both Jyotiba Phule and his wife have devoted their lives to the dignity and rights of sudras, ati-sudras and women. Their legacy should be brought into academia,” Kumar said.

B.D. Borkar, secretary-general of the Peoples Party of India (Democratic), questioned the government’s sincerity. He cited the protests by Right-wing groups against the film Phule in which the upper-caste people were shown throwing cow dung at Savitribai Phule headed for a school to teach Dalits and untouchables.

“Because of the protests by Right-wing groups, the Central Board of Film Certification removed several scenes from the film, even though they were factually correct. What the government is doing is politics. The RSS and BJP never honoured Ambedkar and Phule,” Borkar said.

“We have taken Phule all around the country. Phule has been accepted as an icon by Dalits and Bahujans. The Phule-Ambedkarite movement is a challenge to the BJP and the RSS. That is why this is being done to woo the OBC and Dalits who are followers of Phule and Ambedkar. This is appropriation of a Bahujan icon for vote bank,”
Borkar said.

The Opposition parties have often accused the Narendra Modi government of appropriating several leaders whom the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, has always opposed. They include Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.

The government has set up panchteerths, five sites related to Ambedkar, to celebrate his life. Similarly, it has portrayed Gandhi as the champion of cleanliness and used his photo for the Swachhata programme while celebrating Patel’s birthday as National Unity Day.

Sukhadeo Thorat, former chairman of the University Grants Commission, said Phule had been phenomenal as a social reformer. He was the leader of the anti-caste movement, a pioneer in spreading education among the backward classes and an exponent of widow marriage.

“He started the school for girls of Dalits and Bahujans in 1848, when nobody could think of educating these sections. His work on widow marriage created outrage among the upper castes. That is why Ambedkar considered him as his guru,” Thorat said.

Ambedkar dedicated his book Who Were the Sudras to Phule and wrote: “The Greatest Shudra of Modern India who made the lower classes of Hindus conscious of their slavery to the higher classes and who preached the gospel that for India social democracy was more vital than independence from foreign rule.”

The OBCs and SCs constitute about 70 per cent of India’s population. The government’s decision, which comes ahead of the Bihar polls, might help the BJP draw
electoral mileage.