Was in favor of improving the status of Dalits as well as women

Prof. Mujtaba Hussain
Bhimrao Ambedkar birth anniversary: ​​Gandhi, with whom Bhimrao never got along, gave a more balanced assessment of him. Gandhi said, as brilliant, as hard-working and as loyal as Bhimrao was, he could have got all the worldly pleasures in life i.e. property, prestige and glory. Bhimrao abandoned him. He devoted his entire life to the liberation of the underprivileged, women and the reconstruction of the country.

Bhima’s life struggle

A more appropriate analysis of Bhimrao’s thought journey can probably be done in a more coherent manner after a brief description of his life journey and work journey. Bhimrao was born in a lower middle-class family to Army Subedar father Ramji Maloji Sakpal and his housewife wife Bhima Bai Sakpal on 14 April 1891 in the cantonment city of Mau (now Madhya Pradesh).

Bhimrao Ambedkar’s education

In the beginning only Mau studied. Later he started studying in Satara. His family came to Bombay in 1897. He passed matriculation from Elphinstone High School here and then passed BA with good marks from the prestigious Elphinstone College. He was brilliant. Despite all the reproaches and harassment, he remained engaged wholeheartedly in his studies. The progressive ruler of Baroda helped him a lot in this studies. After BA, got engaged in his job. The ruler of Baroda awarded Bhimrao a scholarship in 1913 and sent him to America for further studies. He also studied economics and sociology at Columbia University in New York. Wrote about caste for MA thesis. In 1916, Bhimrao gave a lecture regarding the caste system in the American Sociological Council. This was later published as a booklet. Bhimrao came to England from America and took admission in London School of Economics. Meanwhile, his call came from Baroda. He was given the post of Army Secretary. He did not like this work. Abandoned it.

The well-meaning Sahuji Maharaj helped Ambedkar to go to London.

In Bombay he took up tuition, taught as a part-time teacher at a night college. He wanted to go to London again. Started saving money for this. Together they started taking part in public life. Started publication of a weekly magazine named Mooknayak in 1920. Many social workers started joining him due to this work. Most were Dalits but there were some others too. Also took a loan from a Parsi friend to go to London. Meanwhile, after hearing the news of his wish, the well-meaning Sahu Ji Maharaj of Kolhapur helped him in going to London. Many subjects were taught in the London School of Economics. He studied economics. Wrote his PhD dissertation on the economics of rupees. Along with studying law, he also became a Bar at Law. Returned to Bombay and joined the bar. Advocacy started. He was actively engaged in social work.

Bhimrao was most active in the 1920s and 1930s.

The decade of 1920 to 1930 was the most active decade in Bhimrao’s public life. The Dalit movement had started in 1820 itself in the form of Nam Movement in East Bengal. Congress had also launched a movement for the liberation of the untouchables in 1917 itself. Bhimrao’s commitment towards Dalits was amazing. Neither Congress’s MC Raja nor Babu Jagjivan Ram could compete with this. In 1927, Bhimrao collectively drank water from the Chavdar pond, which was prohibited for Dalits in Mahad city. In the course of this movement, Bhim taught the lessons of the French Revolution to his followers. Started publication of Marathi fortnightly ‘Bahishkrit Bharat’ in April this year. In December 1927, Bhimrao carried out mass burning of Manusmriti. Satyagraha was carried out for the entry of Parvati temple in 1929 and Kala Ram temple in 1930. In 1927, the British government nominated Bhimrao to the Bombay Legislative Council for his contribution to collective work. This was partly indicative of the divisive policy of the British. He also nominated Mahatma Phule in the Bombay Council. In 1928, a seven-member British committee came to India under the leadership of John Simon to prepare rules for India. Congress boycotted it because it did not have an Indian member. Bhimrao submitted a report to the committee demanding special facilities for Dalits. To propagate his ideas, Bhimrao started publishing a weekly named ‘Janta’ in 1930.

There was a clash between Gandhi and Ambedkar in the conference of 1931.

The British government wanted to make rules for the administration and control of India. Taking this process forward, he organized a round table conference of all parties in London. The conference was held three times in 1930, 1931 and 1932. Ambedkar participated in all. Congress joined only once under the leadership of Gandhi in 1931. There was a clash between Gandhi and Ambedkar in the conference of 1931. Gandhi said that he is the leader of all Indians, Bhimrao said that you are the leader of only the upper castes. The culmination of these conferences was the Communal Award of 1932. Separate constituencies were created for Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc. Gandhi was concerned about Hindu unity. As soon as he heard about a separate constituency for the untouchables, he went on a fast. At that time Gandhi was lodged in Yerwada jail near Pune. An anti-Dalit atmosphere was created throughout India. Bhimrao is not ready to move; Gandhi was not ready to budge. Kasturba wished for the well being of her married life. Bhimrao agreed. The Pact of Pune was signed by Madan Mohan Malviya on behalf of the upper castes and Bhim Rao on behalf of the Dalits. The terms of this treaty were; Special constituencies for Dalits, reservation in jobs for them and facilities in education for them. Gandhi said that in 15 years he will end all contempt towards Dalits. The country became independent in 15 years; The contempt remained the same.

Bhimrao wanted the caste system to end from its roots.

Nehru, like Gandhi, believed that the caste system had the ability to keep the Hindu society together despite all the evils. Bhimrao considered the caste system to be the most powerful thorn of time for Dalits. Bhimrao wanted the caste system to end from its roots. He understood this; The soul of the caste system is the rule of marriage within one’s own caste. Mutual cooperation among members of the same caste is the body of the caste system and the political role of caste is its life essence. That is why Bhim Rao said that the only meaningful solution to end the caste system is inter-caste marriage among castes. Gandhi strongly opposed this. In 1935, social worker Bhai Parmanand decided to organize a convention to break caste in Lahore. Bhimrao was invited as the president. Gandhi opposed the idea of ​​this conference. The conference was adjourned. Bhimrao got angry. Bhimrao published his report prepared for this conference in 1936 under the name ‘Annihilation of Caste’. Reiterating the words of the first Congress President Umesh Chandra Banerjee, Bhimrao wrote, Umesh had said that political reforms cannot stop for social reforms. Ambedkar said that the intention of the upper caste leaders is to gain power and not social reform.

Meanwhile, elections were announced under the Government of India Act 1935. Bhimrao formed the Independent Labor Party in 1936. In the 1937 elections, this party got success on 11 reserved seats and three unreserved seats. After this election, there was a dispute between the Congress and the League on what the proposed union of India should be like. Bhimrao wrote ‘Federation versus Freedom’ in 1939 as a solution. In 1940, the British government made Ambedkar the Labor Member or Labor Minister in the Viceroy’s Executive Council. The issue of Pakistan was heating up. Bhim Rao wrote ‘Thoughts of Pakistan’ in 1943, in the same year he wrote a book named ‘Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah’.

He did not participate in the Quit India Movement of 1942 at all. He hoped that the British would give special facilities to the untouchables in independent India. He was angry with Gandhi. In 1945 he wrote ‘Mr. Gandhi and Emancipation of Untouchables’. On the one hand, the struggle for freedom, on the other hand, Jinnah’s insistence for Pakistan at the instigation of the British and Bhimrao’s concern for Dalits created a dilemma for them. In 1945 he wrote ‘Pakistan and Partition of India’. In 1947, Bhimrao wrote a constitution for India in his book ‘State and Minorities’.

A Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 itself. Ambedkar was its member from Bengal from 1946-1947. The country became independent. Gandhi told Nehru and Patel – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs are all in this meeting. Are not untouchable. Despite all his opposition to Bhimrao, Gandhi was adamant on making him a member of the Constituent Assembly. Congress got him elected from Bombay and he became the Law Minister. He was made the chairman of the drafting committee formed to write the constitution. Ambedkar resigned from the post of minister in 1951, by which time the Constitution was made and implemented.

Amidst all these activities, Ambedkar’s writing work continued. He appointed a writer’s assistant for himself. In 1948, Bhimrao wrote ‘Who Were the Shudras’. Wrote ‘Maharashtra as Linguistic Province’ in the same year. Then wrote ‘The Untouchables’. Wrote ‘Buddha and Marx’ in 1952. In 1937 itself, he had said that I was born a Hindu, I will not die a Hindu. Gandhi met him repeatedly to convince him. In 1956, he finally converted to Buddhism along with six lakh of his followers in Nagpur, six weeks before his death. For this reason Nagpur was called the land of initiation. His other books like ‘Buddha and His Dhamma’, ‘Riddles in Hinduism’, ‘What Congress and Gandhi had done with Untouchables’ were published only after his death.

From this description we can say in summary that Bhimrao was the owner of a great personality. He not only made Dalit reform his life goal in the social field but also strongly advocated women’s reform. Ambedkar said that if you want to know the condition of any society, then first know the condition of women of that society. Bhimrao proposed suffrage to all adult women with a pen in the Constitution. It is noteworthy that till that time women did not have the right to vote in ninety percent of the countries of the world. Regarding Muslims, Bhimrao said that only a few Muslims have gone from India to Pakistan. Most of them stayed here. All of them will have to be given all the rights of citizens. Regarding the tribals, he said that they are the original inhabitants of the country. They have the first right on India’s resources.

Ambedkar was a supporter of capitalism, he did not like communist and socialist state control. He wanted to give every person the right to choose his profession according to his choice and his ability. He said that India should have rapid industrial development on scientific basis. Unlike Gandhi, he was in favor of big factories and extensive trade. American migration had more influence on him. He remained untouched by the social democracy of England. In fact, Bhimrao did not want the Dalits, who had been deprived for centuries, to become victims of socialist restraint.

In politics he was in favor of democracy, Ramchandra Guha has called him a clever democrat. He was a priest of the republic and did not want to give any special facility on the basis of birth. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s biggest contribution to India is its democratic, secular, pro-people, republican constitution. The Constitution of India is multidimensional; It is an ideal, a touchstone, a guideline for positive social change and above all a document of social welfare and public interest. There are many sources for this. According to Ramchandra Guha, its real founder is Bhimrao Ambedkar. His contribution makes him a great national hero of India.

(The author was born in Narsinghgarh in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. He received his school education in Netarhat. After that he was a student and teacher of Patna University. Presently he is engaged in writing work. Books written by him like Sociological Thoughts, Society in India etc. have been published. )