INTRODUCTION:-
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, Dalit leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, orator, prolific writer, economist, women emancipator, human rights profounder, an eminent and erudite scholar, editor, revolutionist and a revivalist for Buddhism in India. He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He was a prolific student , earning doctorates in economics from both Columbia University and the London School of Economics, and gained a reputation as a scholar for his research in law, economics and political science.
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was a victim of caste discrimination. His parents hailed from the Hindu Mahar caste, which was viewed as "untouchable"
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B. R. Ambedkar and the upper caste Hindus of India that took place on 24 September 1932 at Yerawada Jail in Pune (now in Maharashtra), India. Gandhi strongly opposed it on the grounds that it would disintegrate Hindu society. He began an indefinite hunger strike at Yerawada Jail from September 20, 1932 to protest this Award. Due to the deteriorating health of Gandhi, Dr.Ambedkar surrendered the rights of the dalits which according to him was the biggest blunder of his life.
Yeola Conference- Yeola Conference was again a turning point in Dr. Ambedkar’s life as well as in the movement of the Depressed Classes, which was held on 13th October 1935 at Yeola and which is a Conference of Dalits. This was the first time that Babasaheb stressed the importance of conversion from Hinduism for his people - for they were only known as ‘untouchables’ within the fold of Hinduism.
Architect of the Indian
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Ambedkar placed the draft Constitution before the Constituent Assembly on 4th November, 1948. He gave satisfactory answers to many questions about the Constitution. The part of the Constitution wiping out ‘untouchablity’ was approved on 29th November, 1948. Dr.B.R.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 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 ,scheduled tribes and Other Backward Class, a system akin to affirmative action.
Scheduled Castes (SCs)- This category includes communities who are considered to be untouchables.
Scheduled Tribes (STs)- This category includes in it those communities who do not accept the caste system and preferred to reside deep in the jungles, forests and mountains of India away from the main population. They are also called Adivasi, meaning
Gandhi specifically opposed the untouchable class because of the lack of respect and humanity these people received. Gandhi once described his thoughts about untouchables, “God never made man that he may consider another man as untouchable” (Document 4). Gandhi believed that God never made one man better than the other, he made them equal. Therefore, God did not create the idea of the Caste System, man did. The great Indian figure wanted nothing more than the untouchables (“Children of God” according to Gandhi) to receive better treatment (Wadley 202).
In the 19th century many reforms have taken place to bring traditional Hinduism to reconcile with the social reforms and political ideals of the day. Leaders of these reforms are greats such as Mohandas Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Bhimrau Ramji Ambedkar even revived the myth of the Brahmans who fell from their caste and the tradition that Buddhism and Hinduism were once one in order to "enable Untouchables to gain self-respect by 'reconverting' to Buddhism."
Junghare, Indira Y. “Dr. Ambedkar: The Hero of the Mahars, Ex-Untouchables of India” Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 47, No. 1. Nagoya: Nanzan University 1988 pgs. 93-121. Web
NA. "India's Dalits Still Fighting Untouchability." BBC News. 27 June 2012. Web. 19 May 2014.
Mohandas Gandhi began life as the fourth son in his family— hardly the child typically expected to bring about greatness, even though his father was the small state’s Diwan, or prime minister. He was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. From an early age, he exhibited the gentleness and compassion that he would come to cherish later in life. One story about him says that he loved nature enough to climb a mango tree and bandage its branch. Like the vast majority of Indian families, Gandhi’s was a member of the Hindu religion and its associated culture. As was tradition for many at the time, he was wed at the age of thirteen to Kasturba, another child of the same age. A few years later, when he was sixteen, Gandhi’s father passed away. This left a deep impression on the boy, and he would always remember him with fondness, as we can see from his later ...
Mohandas Gandhi is an Indian lawyer and a spiritual leader that led a successful nonviolent resistance movement against the British colonial power. “The tactic of nonviolence civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement was deeply influenced by the model of Mohandas Gandhi, (...) Gandhi 's approach of non-violent civil disobedience involved provoking authorities by breaking the law peacefully, to force those in power to acknowledge existing injustice and bring it to an end”. (1) “Provoking authorities by breaking the law peacefully” this is an example of how nonviolent disobedience allows the message to stay focused and reach the point where people in power cannot ignore. Violent actions draw the media away from the message and fuels the rich and powerful; those who hide behind barriers in order to mute the underprivileged. An example of underprivileged people is African American’s during the 1950s who were treated like second class citizens. “Laws separated people of color from whites in schools, housing, jobs, and public gathering places”. (3) The types of methods used to fight against segregation are, “One of the ways African American communities fought legal segregation was through direct action protests, such as boycotts, sit-ins, and mass civil disobedience”. (1) This is how nonviolent disobedience is fought
To begin with, one must find a peaceful approach to defeat discrimination. According to the text, on “from Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin”, Gandhi stated “My ambition is no less than to convert the British through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India.” This evidence shows that Gandhi wants to be heard without using violence. Another example is on lines 17-24 which says “It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation…reduced politically to serfdom…sapped foundations of our culture…degraded us spiritually.” This evidence reveals that Gandhi is showing the effect the British is having a right now in India.
Mahatma Gandhi lead the Indian Independence Movement, fought for the rights of Indians, and brought attention to the independence movement by taking a stand for what he believed in, even through all the hatred and discrimination. In this quote from an article on Biography.com it states “In 1906, Gandhi organized his first mass civil-disobedience campaign, which he called “Satyagraha”, in reaction to the South African Transvaal government’s new restrictions on the rights of Indians, including the refusal to recognize Hindu marriages” (Biography.com Editors). This is one of the ways Gandhi brought attention to how their human rights were being violated. Gandhi saw that the Indian people were having their human rights violated by the British and took a stand against it by bringing people together through his campaign, and bringing national
The word ‘Dalit’ encompasses communities known as untouchables, usually refers to that portion of the population falling outside the pale of ‘Indian caste society’. The term is an ancient Marathi words that may be define as ‘ground’ or ‘broken to pieces’. It has been said that the word was use in nineteen century by revolutionist thinker ‘Mahatma JyotibaPhule’, who used it to describe the appalling condition of the untouchables at the same time, it has been argued that Dr. Ambedkar first used the term ‘Broken men’ in his ‘The Untouchables’ published in 1948, to refer the original anceslaters of the untouchables for reasons which must have been self-evident. The concept ‘Dalit Identity’ has emerged as an avoidable phenomenon in intellectual and political sphere of this country due to the emergence of movement of the oppressed people. Walter Fernandes in his edited work understands the emergence of Dalit identity. His Contributions analyze the struggle of Dalit in different parts of India. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar chooses the term ‘broken men’ an English translation of ‘Dalit’, to refer to the original ancestors of the untouchables. The Dalit panthers revived the term and in their 1973 manifesto expanded its referents to include the schedule castes, schedule tribes, neo Budhists , the working people , the
Gandhi was known first for his nonviolence behavior and would condemn his own party opposing violence. Gandhi made use of nonviolent and passive resistance through non-cooperation as his weapon of choice in the conflict against the British. The butchery of civilians by British military personnel resulted in increased public anger and acts of violence. Mahatma Gandhi criticized both the activities of British Government and the revenge of the butchery from the Indians. He extended consolation to the British victims and denounced the riots. Initially his party was opposed to his declaration. Later, however, they accepted Gandhi’s principal stating that any retaliation or violence was hurtful and could not be justified. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi success with nonviolent activism, Martin Luther King Jr. pushed forward his Civil Rights Movement with nonviolent activism as well. Although the two have personally never had contact, Dr. King learned of Gandhi 's discipline while in the seminary. His first application of the nonviolent campaign came in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Here, he had a witnessed firsthand the power of a peaceful
In the article “Mahatma Gandhi” on Biography.com the text states, “Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one” As you can see Gandhi was worshipped worldwide for his peaceful and persistent ways of protesting, which proves his dedication to the cause of human rights. Another section of the text in the article “Mahatma Gandhi” shows, “… Gandhi led a campaign of civil disobedience that would last for the next eight years. During its final phase in 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South Africa, including women, went to jail, and thousands of striking Indian miners were imprisoned, flogged and even shot.” This once again shows Gandhi’s dedication to human rights for he led an eight year campaign for the freedom of human rights. Lastly, the article “Mahatma Gandhi” claims, “The Salt March sparked similar protests, and mass civil disobedience swept across India. Approximately 60,000 Indians were jailed for breaking the Salt Acts, including Gandhi, who was imprisoned in May 1930.” This shows Gandhi's Patience for his cause, because of the fact that he was willing to peacefully wait out his jail time until he was
Gandhi was pissed and so he withdrew from public life once again. Just them in 1935 the British gave the Indians a great amount of rights but they were not happy.
Nicholas B Dirks. (1989). The Invention of Caste: Civil Society in Colonial India: Social Analysis. The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice. No. 25, pp. 42-52
(Bio.com.) As a result, the British imprisoned more than 60,000 people. A year later, Gandhi accepted a truce and called off the civil disobedience movement. (“Gandhi, Mahatma”)
Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan, an autobiographical account of his birth and upbringing as an untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the1950s, is one of the first portrayals of Dalit life in India from an insider's perspective. The title of the book, ‘Joothan’ encapsulates the pain, humiliation and oppression suffered by the Dalit community as a whole, which has been relegated to the bottom of India’s social pyramid for years. Valmiki starts out his life story by insisting that: