A day after reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had invited Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai’s mother to its Vijayadashami and centenary event, Kamaltai Gavai has reportedly issued a statement declining the invitation.
A handwritten letter attributed to Kamaltai stated she was a “staunch Ambedkarite” and made it clear that she would not attend the October 5 program in Amravati, Maharashtra.
‘I will never attend under any circumstances’
The RSS’s Amravati Mahanagar unit had invited Kamaltai as chief guest for the Vijayadashami gathering at the Srimati Narsamma Mahavidyalaya Maidan in Kiran Nagar. Reports on multiple television channels suggested she had agreed to participate.
On the day of Dusshehra, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will address the swayamsevaks, an annual event.
“The news recently published about the RSS Vijayadashami program scheduled for October 5 at 6:30 PM at the Shrimati Narsamma Mahavidyalaya Ground in Amravati, Maharashtra, is utterly false,” her letter reads.
“As the founding president of the Dada Saheb Gavai Charitable Trust, deeply rooted in Ambedkarite ideology, and with my family’s unwavering commitment to the Constitution of India, I will never attend or support the upcoming RSS program in Amravati under any circumstances. I assure you that I will not cause any harm to social consciousness in any way,” she wrote.
Kamaltai emphasised that while Vijayadashami has importance in Hindu culture, for her and many other Ambedkarites, Ashok Vijayadashami carries greater weight.
The Buddhist observance commemorates Emperor Ashoka’s renunciation of violence after the Kalinga War and his embrace of Buddhism.
“I urge the people of Maharashtra and all of India to take note of this. While Vijayadashami holds significance in Hindu culture, for us, Dhammachakra Pravartan Din, also known as Ashok Vijayadashami, is of utmost importance,” she added.
Calling recent coverage “RSS’s propaganda,” she condemned reports that she had accepted the invite. “I strongly condemn the recently published news as misinformation and urge the public not to fall prey to such propaganda from a social perspective. I call upon my fellow Ambedkarites to take note of this and place their trust in me. Spreading this news without my consent or written approval is a conspiracy by the RSS. I do not accept this invitation,” the letter stated.
Confusion deepened earlier in the day when Justice Gavai’s younger brother, Rajendra Gavai, a politician and medical doctor, told ANI that their mother had indeed agreed to attend.
“My father [R.S. Gavai] was close to politicians across party lines. He was close to Indiraji [Gandhi] and [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee and attended various events. That nowhere meant he compromised on his political views,” Rajendra said.
He insisted the event to which his mother was invited was “not the main event” and recalled that his father had accepted similar invites in the past. “My mother decided to accept it simply because of that reason,” he claimed.
R.S. Gavai, who died in 2015, was a senior Ambedkarite leader, governor of Bihar and Kerala, and founder of a Republican Party of India faction known as RPI (Gavai).
But after Kamaltai’s letter surfaced in the media, Rajendra shifted his position.
According to The Wire,he said: “I support my mother. If she decides to attend the event, I support her. If she has decided against it, I support her in that too.”
He also acknowledged uncertainty over the letter’s authenticity: “My mother has been depressed. She is not taking anyone’s calls, including mine. I cannot confirm if the letter circulating in the media is truly hers. But if it is her letter, I stand by her.”
The Wire reported that it was unable to independently verify whether the letter had indeed been issued by Kamaltai. Despite repeated attempts, she did not respond to calls.
The publication has said it will update its story if she replies.
For now, Kamaltai’s purported words leave little room for ambiguity as she has allegedly framed the reports of her attendance as a deliberate attempt at “propaganda.”
