There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have
rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to
gratefulness. As has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel
O’Connel, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can
be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful
at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the
case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India,
Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays
a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in
the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may
be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or
hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.
-Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
