Indian elites dismissed Ambedkar as an opportunist, stooge, separatist, and anti-national

Evidence

Dr Ambedkar (who, incidentally, did not even have a walk-on part in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, though the film was co-funded by the Indian government) almost always makes it into the final heat. He is chosen more for the part he played in drafting the Indian Constitution than for the politics and the passion that were at the core of his life and thinking. You definitely get the sense that his presence on the lists is the result of positive discrimination, a desire to be politically correct. The caveats continue to be murmured: ‘opportunist’ (because he served as Labour Member of the British Viceroy’s Executive Council, 1942–46), ‘British stooge’ (because he accepted an invitation from the British government to the First Round Table Conference in 1930 when Congressmen were being imprisoned for breaking the salt laws), ‘separatist’ (because he wanted separate electorates for Untouchables), ‘anti-national’ (because he endorsed the Muslim League’s case for Pakistan, and because he suggested that Jammu and Kashmir be trifurcated). — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 88

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the standard accusations historically leveled at outspoken Untouchable leaders seeking British or separate-electorate remedies, echoing similar charges against Dalit movement figures elsewhere.