April 14, celebrated across India as the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar — the architect of the Constitution and a towering anti-caste icon — is meant to be a day of reflection, assertion, and remembrance. Yet in 2025, even this symbolic day laid bare the enduring caste biases in Indian society and institutions. From the cancellation of academic lectures in a leading science institute, to social exclusion at a temple in Ambedkar’s birthplace, and police interference in public commemorations, the events of Ambedkar Jayanti showed how Dalit assertion remains unwelcome in practice — despite being celebrated in theory.
- IISER Pune: Academic freedom throttled; Ambedkar lecture series cancelled
At the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, a carefully curated student-led event titled Muktiparv, organised to honour Ambedkar and host conversations around caste, resistance, and equality, was abruptly cancelled by the administration. The lectures were to feature prominent anti-caste voices including Deepali Salve, Nazima Parveen, and Smita M. Patil — all respected scholars and public intellectuals. Students had spent months preparing the event, which was to be a space for reflection on Ambedkar’s radical legacy.
However, within hours of a complaint by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing student group that labelled the speakers as “extreme left,” the administration called off the event. A police complaint lodged by ABVP further pressured the institution. The IISER administration cited vague “concerns” as the reason for cancellation but failed to specify what the concerns were, or who raised them. In response, the Student Council and several campus groups condemned the move as “sudden and unjustified”, accusing the institute of buckling under political pressure.
Students connected this silencing to a broader institutional pattern — pointing to persistent underrepresentation of SC/ST faculty and systemic barriers faced by marginalised students in elite educational spaces. “This is not about one event,” a student said while speaking to The Observer Post. “It is about the gatekeeping of ideas. Who gets to speak, and who gets silenced?” The cancellation of Muktiparv is emblematic of how even academic spaces are shrinking for Ambedkarite thought and Dalit assertion.
- Mhow, Madhya Pradesh: Dalit groom barred from temple, allowed entry only under police watch
In Sanghvi village near Mhow — the very town where Ambedkar was born — caste discrimination reared its head again. On his wedding day, a Dalit groom from the Balai community was denied entry into a Lord Ram temple by dominant caste villagers. His wedding procession had arrived with the intention of offering prayers, a common practice. However, they were stopped outside the temple, and only after two hours of argument and police intervention was the groom permitted to enter — that too under close police watch and in the presence of a few family members.
Eyewitness accounts and video footage shared on social media show the groom and his guests arguing with dominant caste locals, who resisted their presence in the temple. The police attempted to downplay the incident, claiming the dispute was merely over access to the sanctum sanctorum, which “as per tradition” is restricted to priests. But Dalit groups and community leaders were unconvinced.
Manoj Parmar, president of the All India Balai Mahasangh, denounced the incident, stating that it reflected the continued “frustrated mentality” of those clinging to caste-based exclusion. “Even today, our community is treated like outsiders in our own country,” he said, speaking to The New Indian Express. This incident — on Ambedkar Jayanti no less — laid bare how caste continues to dictate access to public and religious spaces, even in the birthplace of India’s greatest anti-caste thinker.
- Udaipur, Rajasthan: Police stop Dalit groups from hoisting Ambedkar flag at iconic circle
In Udaipur, another symbolic assertion of Dalit pride was curtailed — this time by the police. At Ambedkar Circle in the heart of the city, activists from the Bhim Army and other Dalit organisations gathered to hoist a blue flag bearing Ambedkar’s image and the Ashoka Chakra. This flag, a potent symbol of resistance and Ambedkarite identity, was to be installed near the life-sized statue of Dr. Ambedkar — a tradition on his birth anniversary.
However, police led by Bhupalpura SHO Adarsh Parihar intervened, stopped the crane that was arranged to hoist the flag, and allegedly misbehaved with the crane driver. As per The Observer Post, despite the activists’ assurance that the flag would be respectfully removed after the day’s celebrations, the SHO insisted on written permission from the Additional District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police — permissions that were reportedly denied.
Shankar Chandel, leader of the Congress SC Cell, condemned the police action as discriminatory and politically motivated. “Why are other communities allowed to put up flags freely — for Hanuman Jayanti, Parshuram Jayanti, or Vivekananda Jayanti — but Dalit groups are blocked?” he asked, as reported by The Observer Post. The flag bore no religious symbols and was not permanent. Activists claimed this was not about procedure, but about prejudice. They announced plans to submit a memorandum to the Udaipur SP and Collector to protest what they called casteist and biased treatment.
Remembering Ambedkar is still a struggle for the marginalised
These three incidents, all unfolding on Ambedkar Jayanti, reflect a dangerous contradiction. While state institutions and political leaders publicly celebrate Ambedkar with flowers and speeches, the substance of his message — of annihilating caste, asserting dignity, and challenging social hierarchies — continues to be resisted on the ground. Educational institutions silence Ambedkarite discourse, social spaces still police Dalit bodies, and state machinery selectively applies the law to block public assertion by marginalised communities.
Ambedkar once said, “Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.” These events show that the caste mindset is alive and well — not just in remote villages, but in our most prestigious institutions and modern cities. To truly honour Ambedkar, India must move beyond symbolic gestures and confront the structures and prejudices that still seek to silence the very people he fought for.
Related:
On his 135th birth anniversary, we ask, would Ambedkar be allowed free speech in India today?