It is not that India was never an independent country. The point is that she once lost the independence she had. Will she lost it a second time? [If] parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time & probably be lost forever - Ambedkar
It is quite possible for this new born democracy to retain its form but give place to dictatorship in fact. If there is a landslide, the danger of the second possibility becoming actuality is much greater - Ambedkar
If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives...
The second thing we must do is...not "to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man.” [In] politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship...
The third thing we must do is not to be content with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well...
By independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves. - B R Ambedkar (Nov 25th, 1949)
