Worshipping False Gods: Ambedkar and the Facts that Have Been Erased

Key Features

• A critical look at the legacy of B.R. Ambedkar, considered the 'father of the Indian Constitution'
• Given the recent controversies associated with his name, the book is very timely
• The author, a number of whose books have been bestsellers, is one of the most prominent intellectuals in the country

About the Book: Worshipping False Gods: Ambedkar and the Facts that Have Been Erased

Over the last couple of decades, B.R. Ambedkar has come to be idolized as no other political leader has. His statue is one of the largest in the Parliament complex. Political parties have reaped rich electoral dividends riding on his name. A decades-old cartoon of him in a textbook rocked Parliament for days recently, causing parties across the political spectrum to run for cover and call for the withdrawal of the 'offending' cartoon.

In Worshipping False Gods, Arun Shourie employs his scholarly rigour to cast a critical look at the legend of Ambedkar. With his distinctive eye for detail, Shourie delves into archival records to ask pertinent questions: Did Ambedkar coordinate his opposition to the freedom struggle with the British? How does his approach to social change contrast with that of Mahatma Gandhi's? Did the Constitution spring from him or did it grow as a dynamic living organism?

Passionately argued and based on a mountain of facts that it presents, Worshipping False Gods compels us to go behind the myths on which discourse is built in India today.

About the Author: Arun Shourie

Scholar, author, former editor and minister, Arun Shourie is one of the most prominent voices in our country's public life and discourse.