Ambedkar- The Social Reformer
Born into the Mahar community (considered as untouchables), Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was the first Law Minister of Independent India. We often confine him to or identify him only for his contribution as the architect of the constitution and for long, political parties had tried to appropriate him to woo the Dalit community. Through this article, I would like to present Ambedkar as a social reformer whose innumerable contributions are still prevalent.
His relation with Hinduism and Caste.
Ambedkar, being an untouchable (according to the Hindu caste system), had faced discrimination in every stage of his life. During his school life, he and his Dalit friends were not allowed to enter the class. Teachers would not touch their books and even the peon, poured water from a height for them to drink. On days when the peon was unavailable, Ambedkar and his friends had to spend the day without drinking water. It was his yearning for knowledge that led him to overcome these obstacles and later went abroad to earn M.A Majoring in Economics, Ph.D., MSc, Barrister-at-Law, and DSc (Economics) by the age of 32.
“There is no doubt; in my opinion, that unless you change your social order you can achieve little by way of progress. You cannot mobilise the community either for defence or for offence. You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation; you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole”.
His thesis, Caste in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, deals with how the caste system has evolved throughout the years and the reason for its sustenance. Ambedkar argues that the current form, which thrives on “endogamy” and “membership by autogeny”, was adopted by the Brahmins, leading other groups to do the same in order to emulate a sort of self-proclaimed elitism. It was because of this, practices like enforced widowhood, Sati, and child marriage were in place to solve the issues of “surplus men” and “surplus women” in a caste.
After returning to India, Ambedkar shifted to social and political life. His famous satyagraha in Mahad was to allow untouchables to use water in a public tank in Mahad in Raigad district, Maharashtra. To the Dalit women, he asked them to abandon all old customs that provided recognizable markers of untouchability and asked them to wear saris like high caste women. The satyagraha failed after the (upper) caste Hindus filed a case against him that the tank was private property. On 25 December 1927, he led thousands of followers to burn copies of Manusmrti as it justified caste discrimination and untouchability. On 13th October 1935, Ambedkar proclaimed to leave Hinduism.
Communal award and Gandhi.
Ambedkar always worked towards the upliftment and liberation of the depressed classes who were about 1/5th the population of British India. Even when the Congress boycotted the First Roundtable Conference, Ambedkar went as the representative of the depressed classes and worked along with the British to gain political and social holdings in the society. Despite being called a stooge or anti-national (sounds familiar?), he never compromised his goals except for once.
Due to Ambedkar’s efforts, on 16th August 1932, the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald announced to grant separate electorates for the Untouchables (Dalits) known as Communal award. This was also provided to other sections of the society such as Muslims and Sikhs. Separate electorates meant that the Dalits could vote and choose their own leader who will raise issues for them rather than being from the Congress which was predominantly upper-caste men. Gandhiji was against the Communal Award, he feared that it would divide the Hindu society based on caste (ironically). Gandhiji(who had proclaimed “my religion is my politics”) later declared a “fast unto death” in his cell in Yerwada Central Jail in Poona against separate electorates for the Dalits. While most of India threatened and harassed Ambedkar, a few supported him. Towards Gandhi’s actions, Ambedkar reacted:-
“To save Gandhi’s life, I would not be a party to any proposals that would be against the interest of my people. I shall not deter from my pious duty and betray the just and legitimate interests of my people even if you hang me on the market lamp post in the street. I can’t consent to deliver my people bound hand and foot to the caste Hindus for generations to come”.
Finally, after immense pressure from political leaders, Ambedkar as the representative of depressed classes and Madan Mohan Malviya for the upper caste Hindus signed the (in)famous Poona Pact which ended Gandhi’s fast.
Ambedkar on Gandhiji’s fast in Yerwada Central Jail:-
Navayana or Neo Buddhism.
“Hinduism is a religion which is not founded on morality. Morality is a separate force which is sustained by social necessities and not by injunction of Hindu religion. The religion of Buddha is morality. It is imbedded in religion. It is true that in Buddhism there is no God. In place of God there is morality. What God is to other religions, morality is to Buddhism.”
After the proclamation of leaving Hinduism, in 1935, priests and representatives from all religions approached Ambedkar to join them. They assured fair treatment towards the depressed classes and some even offered money to him (5 crores by the Nizam to join Islam). But it was Buddha and his teachings that fascinated him the most. After examining Buddhist texts for about 20 years, Ambedkar came up with his interpretation of Buddhism called Navayana. He found it spiritually satisfying as it preached love and compassion. It was also in accordance with the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity which guided him throughout his life. He argued that Buddhism had been misinterpreted and corrupted to be dealing with metaphysics rather than everyday life.
“The Vedic meaning of the word “Dharma” did not connote morality in any sense of the word. The Dharma as enunciated by the Brahmins meant nothing more than the performances of certain karmas or observances, i.e. Yagans, Yagas and sacrifices to Gods. The word Dhamma, as used by the Buddha, had nothing to do with ritual or observances. In place of Karma, Buddha substituted morality as the essence of Dhamma”.
Navayana rejects many practices and principles (such as renouncing monasticism, karma, rebirth in an afterlife, samsara, meditation) considered to be foundational in the Buddhist traditions. It stresses rationality. Contrary to the common notion, Ambedkar considered “Nirvana” to be the socio-political “kingdom of righteousness on Earth” in which people are “freed from poverty and social discrimination and empowered to create themselves a happy life”. “The Buddha and His Dhamma”, written by Ambedkar, is considered as the holy book of Navayana Buddhism. Ambedkar along with 380,000 Dalits, left Hinduism and adopted Navayana about six weeks before his death. He passed away on December 6th, 1956, and this day is observed as Mahaparinirvan Divas.
What does it mean to be an Ambedkarite?
To be an Ambedkarite is to be a humanist. Ambedkar in his undelivered speech, Annihilation Of Caste (which I highly recommend reading), talks about the notion of caste superiority and how it has suffocated the Shudras and the untouchables for generations. He says that this mentality is present in both, orthodox(conservative) and progressive(liberal) Hindus who are the two arms of the same body, protecting each other. Ambedkar says:-
“They observe Caste because they are deeply religious. People are not wrong in observing Caste. In my view, what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated this notion of Caste. Criticizing and ridiculing people for not inter-dining or inter-marrying, or occasionally holding inter-caste dinners and celebrating inter-caste marriages, is a futile method of achieving the desired end. The real remedy is to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the Shastras”
Whenever we hear caste we look towards the Dalits rather than ourselves but caste is an issue at every level of society and we must fight our own battle. For an upper caste, he/she must be a “cultural suicide bomber”. You must, recognize your caste privilege, go back to your community, engage in talks with them, and fight against them to uphold the values of human virtue to the center. It is not merely about disowning your caste, which doesn’t make any difference. For a lot of us who say, “bro, casteism is an old concept and doesn’t exist nowadays”, I would recommend you to just mention to your parents that you would want to marry someone of (supposed) lower caste.
“My final words of advice to you are Educate, Agitate and Organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of the human personality”.
Dr. Suraj Yengde, a Dalit Harvard scholar and the author of “Caste Matters”, talking about women in the caste system says:-
“So, Ambedkar argues that is upon the oppression of women that caste system thrives. Oppression of women ends, the pathways of caste oppression will end. So if you have to be an anti-caste, you have to be anti-sexist. Women are the muted subjects of caste order. Women’s agency doesn’t matter to them(casteist men), because women are the reproducing units who are going to reproduce the caste purities. How do you control what you want to produce?..is by making that body irrelevant…The Brahmanism (supremacy) that brings in the patriarchal sensibilities is normalised in its everyday action. Boys from a young age onwards are taught to be a strong, male character. And how do you emphasize your manliness, is by ensuring the denigration of woman. By making sure the subordination of woman’s body animates into making your manliness. Caste society has given rise to this for so long that it has legitimised its existence”.
To know more about casteism we must read the books by the sufferers/revolutionaries. A few people to follow are Jyotiba Phule, Kanshiram, and Ayankali. I hope this article has brought some interest and curiosity in you. Some links are provided for you to explore for yourself.
Speeches and writings of Ambedkar.
Ambedkar speaks on Gandhi- BBC interview.
Dr B R Ambedkar Movie(2000)- Played by Mammootty.
Speech on Ambedkar(Malayalam).
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