BAHUJANA SANKSHEMA SAMITHI
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Monday, 16 September 2013
Injustice to Nirbaya
After a long time taken by the court of justice of India even though they have been going on the wrong track by refusing to give correct judgement to the lady who was brutally killed by being harassed by the four people.
As we all know the incident of Nirbaya in that four people a Minor child who is named as Nabalik was exempted from the death sentence. He should be awarded with the death sentence as he was involved in the brutal act which is out of his reach. It is the responsibilty of the court of justice to take the correct action on the people who are involved in the brutal and criminal acts in the society. The exemption of the people should be terminated from now. And justice should be equal to every person who is living in our country.
And coming to the point of the Nirbaya`s incident Nabalik was exempted from the decision so this should be taken back by the court and he should also get the same judgement which is given to the remaining people involved in this act
And we can say the main responsible for this act are the people who are involved in the making of movies. Movie directors in the greed of money and forgetting the values of our culture are making the movies which are not suitable for the people of lower ages.
Heroines are also involved in this such culture less acts by exposing their bodies in movies. They are also making the vulgar scenes without any hesitation for the sake of their huge remuneration. This is not stopped here and the main responsibilty of the Censor Board people comes into the view. They are just ignoring the vulgar scenes in movies and they are giving the clear and clean certificates to movies which have some unwanted scenes for the society.
Atleast from now awareness should come in the people for avoiding such type of activites in the society.
Minorities should also be taken care by their guardians to develop good qualities in them and avoiding the wrong ways
Bahujana Sankshema Samithi
As we all know the incident of Nirbaya in that four people a Minor child who is named as Nabalik was exempted from the death sentence. He should be awarded with the death sentence as he was involved in the brutal act which is out of his reach. It is the responsibilty of the court of justice to take the correct action on the people who are involved in the brutal and criminal acts in the society. The exemption of the people should be terminated from now. And justice should be equal to every person who is living in our country.
And coming to the point of the Nirbaya`s incident Nabalik was exempted from the decision so this should be taken back by the court and he should also get the same judgement which is given to the remaining people involved in this act
And we can say the main responsible for this act are the people who are involved in the making of movies. Movie directors in the greed of money and forgetting the values of our culture are making the movies which are not suitable for the people of lower ages.
Heroines are also involved in this such culture less acts by exposing their bodies in movies. They are also making the vulgar scenes without any hesitation for the sake of their huge remuneration. This is not stopped here and the main responsibilty of the Censor Board people comes into the view. They are just ignoring the vulgar scenes in movies and they are giving the clear and clean certificates to movies which have some unwanted scenes for the society.
Atleast from now awareness should come in the people for avoiding such type of activites in the society.
Minorities should also be taken care by their guardians to develop good qualities in them and avoiding the wrong ways
Bahujana Sankshema Samithi
Jyotirao Phule
In India, Maharashtra a state with cultural heritage and is also land of social thinkers, social reforms and social revolutionaries who have not only molded and enriched all facets of life of Maharashtra but have also made singular contribution to growth and development of India .In this website of the great social reformer - Mahatma Phule, contemporary of KARL MARX, we have the "patria protesta" of the Indian social revolution and the first leader of peasants.
In those days there was a conflict between the rationalist and the orthodox. His period can, therefore, be a aptly described as the dawn of revolution in the history not only of Maharashtra but of the country as a whole in the various fields like Education, Caste Systems, Agriculture, Economics, Women and widow enlistment , Human Rights, Untouchable ,Social Equality.
Jyotirao Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of Maharashtra in the nineteenth century. While other reformers concentrated more on reforming the social institutions of family and marriage with special emphasis on the status and rights of women, Jotirao Phule revolted against the unjust caste system under which million of people had suffered for centuries. In particular, he courageously upheld the cause of the untouchables and took up the cudgels for the poorer peasants. He was a militant advocate of their rights. The story of his stormy life is an inspiring saga of a continuous struggle, which he waged relentlessly against the forces of reaction. What was remarkable was his ability to stand up against all kinds of pressure without faltering even once and act always according to his convictions. Though some keen observers of the social scene in Maharashtra like Narayan Mahadeo Parmanand did acknowledge his greatness in his lifetime, it is only in recent decades that there is increasing appreciation of his service and sacrifice in uplifting the masses.
Early Life
Jotirao Phule was born in 1827. His father, Govindrao was a vegetable vendor at Poona. Originally Jotirao's family, known as Gorhays, came from Katugan, a village in the Satara district of Maharashtra. His grandfather Shetiba Gorhay settled down in Poona. Since Jotirao's father and two uncles served as florists under the last of the Peshwas, they came to be known as 'Phules'. Jotirao's mother passed away when he was hardly one year old. After completing his primary education, Jotirao had to leave the school and help his father by working on the family's farm. Jotirao's marriage was celebrated when he was not even thirteen.
Education:
Impressed by Jotirao's intelligence and his love for knowledge, two of his neighbours, one a Muslim teacher and another a Christian gentleman persuaded his father Govindrao to allow him to study in a secondary school. In 1841, Jotirao got admission in the Scottish Mission's High School at Poona. It was in this school that he met Sadashiv Ballal Govande, a Brahmin, who remained a close friend throughout his life. Both Jotirao and Govande were greatly influenced by Thomas Paine's ideas and they read with great interest Paine's famous book ' The Rights of Man'. Moro Vithal Valvekar and Sakharam Yashwant Paranjapye were two other Brahmin friends of Jotirao who in later years stood by him in all his activities. After completing his secondary education in 1847, Jotirao decided not to accept a job under the Government.
Source of Inspiration:
An incident in 1848 made him aware of the qualities of the caste system, the predominant position of the Brahmins in the social set up. He was invited to attend a wedding of one of his Brahmin friends. As the bridegroom was taken in a procession, Jotirao accompanied him along with the relatives of his Brahmin friend. Knowing that Jotirao belonged to the Mali caste which was considered to be inferior by the Brahmins, the relatives of the bridegroom insulted and abused him. Jotirao left the procession and returned home. With tears in his eyes, he narrated his experience to his father who tried to pacify him. After this incident Jotirao made up his mind to defy the caste-system and serve the Shudras and women who were deprived of all their rights as human beings under the caste-system.
Social Life:
Education of women and the lower caste, he believed, deserved priority. Hence at home he began educating his wife Savitribai and open girl's school in August 1848. The orthodox opponents of Jotirao were furious and they started a vicious campaign against him. He refused to be unnerved by their malicious propaganda. As no teacher dared to work in a school in which untouchables were admitted as students, Jotirao asked his wife to teach the girls in his school. Stones and brickbats were thrown at her when she was on her way to the school. The reactionaries threatened Jotirao's father with dire consequences if he did not dissociate himself from his son's activities. Yielding to the pressure, Jotirao's father asked his son and the daughter-in-law to leave his house as both of them refused to give up their noble endeavour.
Though the school had to be closed for sometime due to lack of funds, Jotirao re-opened it with the help of his Brahmin friends -Govande and Valvekar. On 3rd July, 1851, he founded a girls' school in which eight girls were admitted on the first day. Steadily the number of students increased. Savitribai taught in this school also and had to suffer a lot because of the hostility of the orthodox people. Jotirao opened two more girls' schools during 1851-52. In a memorial addressed to the Education Commission (popularly known as the Hunter Commission) in 1882, he described his activities in the field of education - 'A year after the institution of the female school I also established an indigenous mixed school for the lower classes, especially the Mahars and Mangs. Two more schools for these were subsequently added. I continued to work and whereas them for nearly nine to ten years.'
Jotirao was aware that primary education among the masses in the Bombay Presidency was very much neglected. He argued that 'a good deal of their poverty, their want of self-reliance, their entire dependence upon the learned and intelligent classes' could be attributed to the 'deplorable state of education among the peasantry'. He blamed the British Government for spending profusely a large portion of revenue on the education of the higher classes. According to him, this policy resulted in the virtual monopoly of all the higher offices under the Government by the Brahmins.
Jotirao boldly attacked the stranglehold of the Brahmins, who prevented other from having access to all the avenues of knowledge and influence. He denounced them as cheats and hypocrites. He asked the masses to resist the tyranny of the Brahmins. All his writings were variations on this theme. His critics made fun of his ignorance of grammar and philology, his inelegant language and far-fetched interpretations of India history and the ancient texts. They brushed his criticism aside by saying that he was merely echoing what the Christian missionaries had said about the Indian society in general and Brahmins in particular. The established scholars in his time did not take Phule's arguments seriously. His critics did not realise that Jotirao's acrimonious criticism was basically a spontaneous outburst of a genuine concern for the equal rights of human beings. Emotionally he was so deeply involved in his work that he could not make a dispassionate analysis and take a detached view of the social forces. Jotirao's deep sense of commitment to basic human values made it difficult for his to restrain himself when he witnessed injustice and atrocities committed in the name of religion by those who were supposed to be its custodians.
Widow Marriage Initiated:
Widow remarriages were banned and child-marriage was very common among the Brahmins and other upper castes in the then Hindu society. Many widows were young and not all of them could live in a manner in which the orthodox people expected them to live. Some of the delinquent widows resorted to abortion or left their illegitimate children to their fate by leaving them on the streets. Out of pity for the orphans, Jotirao Phule established an orphanage, possibly the first such institution founded by a Hindu. Jotirao gave protection to pregnant widows and assured them that the orphanage would take care of their children. It was in this orphanage run by Jotirao that a Brahmin widow gave birth to a boy in 1873 and Jotirao adopted him as his son.
For sometime, Jotirao worked as a contractor for the government and supplied building material required for the construction of a huge barrage at Khadakvasala near Poona. He had a direct experience of working with the officials of the Public Works Department which was notorious as well as a hotbed of corruption. Except the British officers holding very high positions in the Department, the clerks and other officers were invariably Brahmins and they exploited the illiterate workers. Jotirao felt it necessary to explain to the workers how they were duped by the Brahmin officials. In one of the ballads composed by him, he described vividly the fraudulent practices resorted to by the Brahmin officials in the Public Works Department (printed at the end of 'Slavery').
Equal Rights to Untouchables in Society:
In 1868, Jotirao decided to give access to the untouchables to a small bathing tank near his house. In his controversial book called Slavery published in June, 1873 Jotirao included a manifesto which declared that he was willing to dine with all regardless of their caste, creed or country of origin. It is significant that several newspapers refused to give publicity to the manifesto because of its contents. His book slavery was severely criticised for its 'venomous propaganda' against the Brahmins. Jotirao dedicated this book 'to the good people of the Unites States as a token of admiration for their sublime, disinterested and self-sacrificing devotion in the cause of Negro Slavery'. The book is written in the form of a dialogue. After tracing the history of the Brahmin domination in India, Jotirao examined the motives and objects of cruel and inhuman laws framed by the Brahmins. Their main object in fabricating these falsehoods was to dupe the kinds of the ignorant and to rivet firmly on them the chains of perpetual bondage and slavery which their selfishness and cunning had forged. The severity of the laws as affecting the Sudras and the intense hatred with which they were regarded by the Brahmins can be explained on no other supposition but that there was, originally between the two, a deadly feud arising from the advent of the soil while the Brahmins argued that the Sudras were the sons of the soil while the Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was possessed by the Sudras. He also claimed that what he had described in his book was 'not one hundredth part of the rogueries' that were generally practised on his 'poor, illiterate and ignorant Sudra brethren'.
Satya Shodak Samaj Formed:
On 24th September, 1873, Jotirao convened a meeting of his followers and admirers and it was decided to form the 'Satya Shodhak Samaj' (Society of Seekers of Truth) with Jotirao as its first president and treasurer. Every member had to take a pledge of loyalty to the British Empire. The main objectives of the organisation were to liberate the Shudras and Ati Shudras and to prevent their exploitation by the Brahmins. All the members of the Satya Shodhak Samaj were expected to treat all human beings as children of God and worship the Creator without the help of any mediator. The membership was open to all and the available evidence proves that some Jews were admitted as members. In 1876 there were 316 members of the 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'.
Sarvajanik Dharma Pustak Published:
Jotirao refused to regard the Vedas as sacrosanct. He apposed idolatry and denounced the Chaturvarnya. In his book Sarvajanik Dharma Pustak published in 1891, his views on religious and social issues are given in the form of a dialogue. According to him, both men and women were entitled to enjoy equal rights and it was a sin to discriminate between human beings on the basis of sex. He stressed the unity of man and envisaged a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. He was aware that religious bigotry and aggressive nationalism destroy the unity of man.
Victoria Orphanage Founded:
In 1876, Jotirao was nominated as a member of the Poona Municipality. He tried to help the people in the famine stricken areas of Maharashtra when a severe famine in 1877 forced people in the rural area to leave their villages. Some of them had to leave their children behind and an appeal issued on 17 May 1877 by Jotirao indicates that the Victoria Orphanage was founded under the auspices of the Satya Shodhak Samaj to look after these unfortunate children. From the beginning of the year 1879 Krishnarao Bhalekar, one of his colleagues, edited a weekly called Deenbandhu which was the organ of the Satya Shodhak Samaj. The weekly articulated the grievances of the peasants sand workers. Deenbandhu defended Jotirao when Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, a powerful spokesman of the conservative nationalists, attacked Jotirao's writing in the most vitriolic style.
Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was another prominent colleague of Jotirao. Lokhande is acclaimed as the Father of Trade Union Movement in India. From 1880 onwards, he took over the management of Deenbandhu which was published from Bombay. Along with Lokhande, Jotirao also addressed the meetings of the textile workers in Bombay. It is significant that before Jotirao and his colleagues Bhalekar and Lokhande tried to organise the peasants and the workers, no such attempt was made by any organisation to redress their grievances.
One of the charges levelled by Jotirao against the leaders of the Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj, the Sarvajanik Sabha and the Indian National Congress was that despite their programmes, in reality, they did very little to improve the lot of the masses. He felt that these organisations were dominated by the Brahmins and were not truly representative in character. In his booklet called Satsara (The essence of Truth) published in June, 1885, he criticised the Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj. Addressing their leaders he declared, 'We don't need to help of your organisations. Don't worry about us.' In his book, Sarvajanik Satya Shodhak Dharma Pustak, a posthumous publication, he observed that the peasants and the untouchables were not members of either the Sarvajanik Sabha or the Indian National Congress. He warned that the persistent demand made by these organisations for Indianisation of the administrative services, if accepted, would lead to Brahminisation of the services in India. He thought that it was difficult to create a sense of nationality so long as the restrictions on dining and marrying outside the caste continued to be observed by people belonging to different castes. Education of the masses would promote the process of nation making.
It should be remembered that just Jotirao did not mince words when he criticised the leaders of the reformist movement, he was equally fearless in criticising the decisions of the alien rulers which did not contribute to the welfare of the masses. When the Government wanted to grant more licences for liquor-shops, Jotirao condemned this move, as he believed that addiction to liquor would ruin many poor families. On 30th November, 1880, the President of the Poona Municipality requested the members to approve his proposal of spending one thousand rupees on the occasion of the visit of Lord Lytton, the Governor-General of India. The officials wanted to present him an address during his visit to Poona. Lytton had passed an Act, which resulted in gagging the press, and Deenbandhu, the organ of the Satya Shodhak Samaj, had protested against the restrictions on the right to freedom of the press. Jotirao did not like the idea of spending the money of the taxpayers in honouring a guest like Lytton. He boldly suggested that the amount could be very well spending on the education of the poor people in Poona. He was the only member out of all the thirty-two nominated members of the Poona Municipality who voted against the official resolution.
Another incident also revealed his attachment for the poor peasant and his courage in drawing the attention of a member of the British royal family to the sufferings of the farmers in rural area. On 2nd March, 1888, Hari Raoji Chiplunkar, a friend of Jotirao, arranged a function in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught. Dressed like a peasant, Jotirao attended the function and made a speech. He commented on the rich invitees who displayed their wealth by wearing diamond-studded jewellery and warned the visiting dignitaries that the people who had gathered there did not represent India. If the Duke of Connaught was really interested in finding out the condition of the Indian subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of England, Jotirao suggested that he ought to visit some nearby villages as well as the areas in the city occupied by the untouchables. He requested the Duke of Connaught who was a grandson of Queen Victoria to convey his message to her and made a strong plea to provide education to the poor people. Jotirao's speech created quite a stir.
Throughout his life, Jotirao Phule fought for the emancipation of the downtrodden people and the struggle, which he launched at a young age ended only when he died on 28th November, 1890. He was a pioneer in many fields and among his contemporaries he stands out as one who never wavered in his quest for truth and justice. Though he was often accused of fomenting hatred between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins, very rarely an attempt was made to consider his scathing criticism in a broad perspective. The later generations also took considerable time to understand and appreciate the profound significance of his unflinching espousal of the 'rights of man' which remained till the end of his life a major theme of his writings and a goal of his actions.
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
| Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar | |
|---|---|
Ambedkar delivering a speech to a rally at Yeola, Nashik, on 13 October 1935
| |
| Born | Bhimrao Ramji Ambavadekar 14 April 1891 Mhow, Central Provinces, British India (now in Madhya Pradesh) |
| Died | 6 December 1956 (aged 65) Delhi, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Baba, Baba Saheb, Bhima, Mooknayak |
| Alma mater | University of Mumbai Columbia University University of London London School of Economics |
| Organization | Samata Sainik Dal, Independent Labour Party, Scheduled Castes Federation |
| Title | 1st Law Minister of India,Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Spouse(s) |
Ramabai (m. 1906) Savita Ambedkar (m. 1948) |
| Awards | Bharat Ratna |
14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, politician, philosopher, anthropologist, historian and economist. A revivalist for Buddhism in India, he inspired the Modernist Buddhist Movement in Maharashtra which is spreading all acrossIndia is also called Dalit Buddhist movement. As independent India's first law minister, he was principal architect of Constitution of India. Barack Obama referred to Dr. Ambedkar as a founding father of modern India during his address speech in Indian Parliament. The poll conducted by CNN-IBN titled "The Greatest Indian since Gandhi" resulted in Ambedkar being voted above all.
Born into a poor Mahar Dalit family, Ambedkar campaigned against social discrimination, the Hindu caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited with providing a spark for the transformation of hundreds of thousands of Dalits or untouchables toTheravada Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990.
Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first Dalits to obtain a college education in India. Eventually earning a law degree and doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science fromColumbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar gained a reputation as a scholar and practised law for a few years, later campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.
He is regarded as a Bodhisattva by some Indian Buddhists, though he never claimed it himself.
Early life and education
Ambedkar was born in the town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces(now in Madhya Pradesh). He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai. His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade (Mandangad taluka) in Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination. Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and, his father served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment.
Belonging to the Kabir Panth, Ramji Sakpal encouraged his children to read the Hindu classics. He used his position in the army to lobby for his children to study at the government school, as they faced resistance owing to their caste. Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segregated and given little attention or assistance by the teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class. Even if they needed to drink water somebody from a higher caste would have to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if the peon was not available then he had to go without water, Ambedkar states this situation as "No peon, No Water". He was required to sit on a gunny sack which he had to take home with him.
Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt, and lived in difficult circumstances. Three sons – Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao – and two daughters – Manjula and Tulasa – of the Ambedkars would go on to survive them. Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a high school. His original surname Ambavadekar comes from his native village 'Ambavade' in Ratnagiri District. His Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname 'Ambedkar' in school records.
Higher education
In 1897, Ambedkar's family moved to Bombay where Ambedkar became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School. In 1906, his marriage to a nine-year old girl, Ramabai, was arranged.
In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and in the following year he entered Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to theUniversity of Bombay, becoming the first from his untouchable community to do so. This success provoked celebrations in his community and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by Dada Keluskar, the author and a family friend. By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government. His wife, by then 15 years had just moved his young family and started work, when he dashed back to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.
In 1913, he moved to the United States. He had been awarded a Baroda State Scholarship of £11.50 (Sterling) per month for three years under a scheme established by the Gaekwar of Baroda that was designed to provide opportunities for postgraduate education atColumbia University. Soon after arriving there he settled in rooms at Livingston Hall with Naval Bhathena, a Parsi who was to be a lifelong friend. He passed his MA exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology as other subjects of study; he presented a thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. In 1916 he offered another MA thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study. On 9 May, he read his paper Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar conducted by the anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser. In October 1916 he studied for the Bar examination at Gray's Inn, and enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. In June 1917 he was obliged to go back to India as the term of his scholarship from Baroda ended, however he was given permission to return and submit his thesis within four years. His thesis was on "Indian Rupee." He traveled separately from his collection of books, which were lost when the ship on which they were dispatched was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine.
Opposition to untouchability
As Ambedkar was educated by the Princely State of Baroda, he was bound to serve it. He was appointed as Military Secretary to the Gaekwar but had to quit within a short time. He described the incident in his autobiography, Waiting for a Visa. Thereafter he tried to find ways to make a living for his growing family. He worked as a private tutor, as an accountant, and established an investment consulting business, but it failed when his clients learned that he was an untouchable. In 1918 he became Professor of Political Economy in theSydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay. Even though he was successful with the students, other professors objected to his sharing the same drinking-water jug that they all used.
Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for untouchables and other religious communities.In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Shahu II (1874–1922), Maharaja of Kolhapur.
Ambedkar went on to work as a legal professional. In 1926 he successfully defended three non-Brahmin leaders who had accused the Brahmin community of ruining India and were then subsequently sued for libel. Dhananjay Keer notes that "The victory was resounding, both socially and individually, for the clients and the Doctor".
Protsest
While practising law in the Bombay High Court, he tried to uplift the untouchables in order to educate them. His first organised attempt to achieve this was the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, which was intended to promote education and socio-economic improvement, as well as the welfare of "outcastes", at the time referred to as depressed classes. For the protection of Dalit rights he started many periodicals like Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, and Equality Janta.
He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon Commission in 1925. This commission had sparked great protests across India, and while its report was ignored by most Indians, Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for the future Constitution of India.
By 1927 Ambedkar decided to launch active movements against untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to open up and share public drinking water resources, also he began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples. He led a satyagraha inMahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.
In 1930, Ambedkar launched Kalaram Temple movement. This was non-violent movement for which he was preparing since three months. About 15000 volunteers assembled at Kalaram Temple satygraha making one of the greatest processions of Nashik. The procession was headed by military band, batch of scout, women and men walked in discipline, order and determination to see the god first time. When they reached to gate, the gates were closed by authorities. This movement was for human dignity and self-respect.
Poona Pact
Due to Ambedkar's prominence and popular support amongst then so called untouchable community, he was invited to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1932. Gandhi fiercely opposed a separate electorate for untouchables, saying he feared that such an arrangement would split the Hindu community into two groups.
In 1932, when the British had agreed with Ambedkar and announced a Communal Award of a separate electorate, Gandhi protested by fasting while imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of Poona. The fast provoked huge civil unrest across India and orthodox Hindu leaders, Congress politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organised joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yerwada. Fearing a communal reprisal and genocidal acts against untouchables, Ambedkar was coerced into agreeing with Gandhi. This agreement, which saw Gandhi end his fast and Ambedkar drop his demand for a separate electorate, was called the Poona Pact. Instead, a certain number of seats were reserved specifically for untouchables (who in the agreement were called the "Depressed Class").
Political career
In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Mumbai, a position he held for two years. Settling in Mumbai, Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a house, and stocked his personal library with more than 50,000 books. His wife Ramabai died after a long illness in the same year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling her that he would create a new Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's Pandharpur which treated them as untouchables. Speaking at the Yeola Conversion Conference on 13 October in Nasik, Ambedkar announced his intention to convert to a different religion and exhorted his followers to leave Hinduism. He would repeat his message at numerous public meetings across India.
In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which contested in the 1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly for the 13 reserved and 4 general seats and securing 11 and 3 seats respectively.
On his report to the Viceroy about Bombay Presidency election, the Governor of Bombay, Lord Brabourne said that:
Dr. Ambedkar's boast of winning, not only the 15 seats which are reserved for the Harijans, but also a good many more looks like completely falsified, as I feared it would be.
Ambedkar published his book The Annihilation of Caste in the same year. This strongly criticised Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general. Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.
In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of Untouchables. He saw the Shudras, who form the lowest caste in the ritual hierarchy of the Hindu caste system, as being separate from Untouchables. Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the elections held in 1946 for the Constituent Assembly of India. In his 1948 sequel to Who Were the Shudras?, which he titled The Untouchables: A Thesis on the Origins of Untouchability, Ambedkar said that:
The Hindu Civilisation ... is a diabolical contrivance to suppress and enslave humanity. Its proper name would be infamy. What else can be said of a civilisation which has produced a mass of people ... who are treated as an entity beyond human intercourse and whose mere touch is enough to cause pollution?
Ambedkar was also critical of Islam and its practices in South Asia. While justifying the Partition of India, he condemned the practice of child marriage, as well as the mistreatment of women, in Muslim society.
No words can adequately express the great and many evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery to a Muslim woman. Take the caste system. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. [...] [While slavery existed], much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries. While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse. But if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans [Muslims] has remained.
Role in drafting India's Constitution
Upon India's independence on 15 August 1947, the new Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first law minister, which he accepted. On 29 August, Ambedkar was appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write India's new Constitution.
Granville Austin has described the Indian Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as 'first and foremost a social document'. ... 'The majority of India's constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its achievement.'
The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and the outlawing of all forms of discrimination. Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, and also won the Assembly's support for introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, a system akin to affirmative action. India's lawmakers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities and lack of opportunities for India's depressed classes through these measures. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly.
Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951 following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the laws of inheritance and marriage. Ambedkar independently contested an election in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, but was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house, of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in March 1952 and would remain as member till death.
Role in the formation of Reserve Bank of India
Ambedkar was an economist by training and until 1921 his career was as a professional economist. It was after that time that he became a political leader. He wrote three scholarly books on economics:
- Administration and Finance of the East India Company,
- The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India, and
- The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), formed in 1934, was based on the ideas that Ambedkar presented to the Hilton Young Commission.
Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, claims that
Ambedkar is my Father in Economics. He is true celebrated champion of the underprivileged.He deserves more than what he has achieved today. However he was highly controversial figure in his home country,though it was not the reality. His contribution in the field of economics is marvelous and will be remembered forever..!
Opposition to Article 370 in the Indian Constitution
Dr. Ambedkar was against Article 370 in the Constitution, which gives a special Status to the State of J&K, and it was put against his wishes. Balraj Madhok reportedly said, Dr. Ambedkar had clearly told Sk. Abdullah: "You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it." Then Sk. Abdullah went to Nehru, who directed him to Gopal Swami Ayyangar, who approached Sardar Patel asking him to do some thing as it was a matter of prestige of Nehru, who has promised Sk. Abdullah accordingly. Patel got it passed when Nehru was on foreign tour. On the day this article came up for discussion, Dr. Ambedkar did not reply to questions on it though he did participate on other articles. All arguments were done by Krishna Swami Ayyangar.
Second marriage
After the completion of the drafting of India's constitution, Ambedkar went to Bombay for treatment. He was suffering from lack of sleep, had neurotic pain in his legs and was taking both insulin and homeopathic medicines. There he met Dr. Sharada Kabir, a Saraswat Brahmin, whom he married on 15 April 1947, at his home in New Delhi. He had decided that he needed a companion who was both a good cook and a possessor of medical knowledge. She adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and took care of him for the rest of his life.
Conversion to Buddhism
Ambedkar had considered converting to Sikhism, which saw oppression as something to be fought against and which for that reason appealed also to other leaders of scheduled castes. He rejected the idea after meeting with leaders of the Sikh community and concluding that his conversion might result in him having what scholar Stephen P. Cohen describes as a "second-rate status" among Sikhs.
He studied Buddhism all his life, and around the 1950s, he turned his attention fully to Buddhism and travelled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to attend a meeting of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously.
After meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on 14 October 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion, along with his wife. He then proceeded to convert some 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him. He prescribed the 22 Vows for these converts, after the Three Jewels and Five Precepts. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. His work on The Buddha or Karl Marx and "Revolution and counter-revolution in ancient India" remained incomplete.
Death
Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering fromdiabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in 1954 owing to side-effects from his medication and failing eyesight. He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his health. His health worsened during 1955. Three days after completing his final manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, Ambedkar died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 at his home in Delhi.
A Buddhist cremation was organised for him at DadarChowpatty beach on 7 December, attended by half a million sorrowing people. A conversion program was supposed to be organised on 16 December 1956. So, those who had attended the cremation were also converted to Buddhism at the same place.
Ambedkar was survived by his second wife, who died in 2003. and his son Yashwant (known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar). Ambedkar's grandson, Ambedkar Prakash Yashwant, is the chief-adviser of the Buddhist Society of India,leads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
A number of unfinished typescripts and handwritten drafts were found among Ambedkar's notes and papers and gradually made available. Among these were Waiting for a Visa, which probably dates from 1935–36 and is an autobiographical work, and theUntouchables, or the Children of India's Ghetto, which refers to the census of 1951.
A memorial for Ambedkar was established in his Delhi house at 26 Alipur Road. His birthdate is celebrated as a public holiday known as Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti. He was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1990.
On the anniversary of his birth and death, and on Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din (14 October) at Nagpur, at least half a million people gather to pay homage to him at his memorial in Mumbai. Thousands of bookshops are set up, and books are sold. His message to his followers was "Educate!,Organize!,Agitate!".
Legacy
Ambedkar's legacy as a socio-political reformer, had a deep effect on modern India. In post-Independence India his socio-political thought has acquired respect across the political spectrum. His initiatives have influenced various spheres of life and transformed the way India today looks at socio-economic policies, education and affirmative action through socio-economic and legal incentives. His reputation as a scholar led to his appointment as free India's first law minister, and chairman of the committee responsible to draft a constitution. He passionately believed in the freedom of the individual and criticised equally both orthodox casteist Hindu society. His condemnation of Hinduism and its foundation of caste system, made him controversial and unpopular among the Hindu right. His conversion to Buddhism sparked a revival in interest in Buddhist philosophy in India and abroad.
Many public institutions are named in his honour, such as the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad; B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur; the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad, Maharashtra; and the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport. A large official portrait of Ambedkar is on display in the Indian Parliament building. Ambedkar, was voted as the "Greatest Indian after M. K. Gandhi" in 2012 by a poll organised by History TV18 and CNN IBN. Nearly 2 crore votes were cast, making him the most popular Indian figure since the launch of the initiative.
Ambedkar's political philosophy has given rise to a large number of political parties, publications and workers' unions that remain active across India, especially in Maharashtra. His promotion of Buddhism has rejuvenated interest in Buddhist philosophy among sections of population in India. Mass conversion ceremonies have been organised by human rights activists in modern times, emulating Ambedkar's Nagpur ceremony of 1956.
Outside India, at the end of the 1990s, some Hungarian Romani people drew parallels between their own situation and the situation of the downtrodden people in India. Inspired by Ambedkar's approach, they started to convert to Buddhism.
In popular culture
Several movies, plays, and other works have been based on the life and thoughts of Ambedkar.
- Jabbar Patel directed the English-language film Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in 2000. This biographical depiction was sponsored by the National Film Development Corporation of India and the government's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The film was released after a long and controversial gestation period.
- David Blundell, professor of anthropology at UCLA and historical ethnographer, has established Arising Light – a series of films and events that are intended to stimulate interest and knowledge about the social and welfare conditions in India. Arising Light is a film on the life on Ambedkar and social welfare in India.
- The play Ambedkar Aur Gandhi, directed by Arvind Gaur and written by Rajesh Kumar, tracks the two prominent personalities of its title.
- Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability is a graphic novel narrates episodes from the life of Ambedkar using Pardhan-Gond style by Durgabai Vyam and Subhash Vyam. The book published by Navayana Books was identified as one of the top 5 political graphic novel by CNN.
- A Vedic scholar from Pune, Prabhakar Joshi, began writing a biography of Ambedkar in Sanskrit in 2004. Joshi is a recipient of Maharashtra Government's 'Mahakavi Kalidas' award. The completed work, Bhimayan, comprises 1577 Shlokas and is intended as an atonement for the injustice done to the young Bhimrao by some teachers.
- The Ambedkar Memorial has been constructed at Lucknow is dedicated to the memory of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The chaitya consists of monuments showing Ambedkar's biography.
Writings and speeches
The Education Department, Government of Maharashtra(Bombay) published the collection of Ambedkar's writings and speeches in different volumes.
| Volume No. | Description |
|---|---|
| vol. 1. | Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development and 11 other essays |
| vol. 2. | Dr Ambedkar in the Bombay Legislature, with the Simon Commission and at the Round Table Conferences, 1927–1939 |
| vol. 3. | Philosophy of Hinduism; India and the pre-requisites of communism; Revolution and counter-revolution;Buddha or Karl Marx |
| vol. 4. | Riddles in Hinduism[86] |
| vol. 5. | Essays on untouchables and un-touchability |
| vol. 6. | The evolution of provincial finance in British India |
| vol. 7. | Who were the shudras? ; The untouchables |
| vol. 8. | Pakistan or the partition of Indiap |
| vol. 9. | What Congress and Gandhi have done to the untouchables; Mr. Gandhi and the emancipitation of the untouchables |
| vol. 10. | Dr. Ambedkar as member of the Governor General's Executive Council, 1942–46 |
| vol. 11. | The Buddha and his Dhamma |
| vol. 12. | Unpublished writings; Ancient Indian commerce; Notes on laws; Waiting for a Visa ; Miscellaneous notes, etc. |
| vol. 13. | Dr. Ambedkar as the principal architect of the Constitution of India |
| vol. 14. | (2 parts) Dr. Ambedkar and The Hindu Code Bill |
| vol. 15. | Dr. Ambedkar as free India's first Law Minister and member of opposition in Indian Parliament (1947–1956) |
| vol. 16. | Dr. Ambedkar's The Pali grammar |
| vol. 17 | (Part I) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his Egalitarian Revolution – Struggle for Human Rights. Events starting from March 1927 to 17 November 1956 in the chronological order |
| (Part II) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and his Egalitarian Revolution – Socio-political and religious activities. Events starting from November 1929 to 8 May 1956 in the chronological order | |
| (Part III) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and his Egalitarian Revolution – Speeches. Events starting from 1 January to 20 November 1956 in the chronological order | |
| vol. 18 | (3 parts) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Speeches and writing in Marathi |
| vol. 19 | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Speeches and writing in Marathi |
| vol. 20 | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Speeches and writing in Marathi |
| vol. 21 | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Photo Album and correspondence. |
Bahujana Sankshema Samithi
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