Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar : An Overview | |
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The 19th century India was a zone of upheavals and transformational changes. In this period eminent personalities emerged which affected not only the present but the future, ‘Babashaeb’ Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar being one of them. He was born in ‘Mahar’ caste that belonged to downtrodden and of low esteem sections. He had an early inspiration in the form of his father, Shri. Ramji Maloj Sakpal who served in the British Indian army, and also his mother Smt. Bhimabai who inspite of social constraints were able to cultivate values that made Dr. B.R. Ambedkar a man of integrity, velour and a person who was to dedicate his life to the cause of social equality.
He was a visionary and saw education as a means of uplifting the status of the then ‘untouchables’ and free them social injustice . Thus he strived for best possible education for which he had to face numerous challenges. It was only after his successful early academic pursuits that the then ruler of Baroda, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad took the initiative to fund his higher education. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar went to Columbia University, U.S.A. for studying economics in which he did his Post Graduation and Doctor of Philosophy. Not only this, he felt that justice was an important aspect in the fight for rights of the lower castes who were demeaned for small reasons, so he went to Gray's Inn for doing Bar-at- Law and simultaneously enrolled himself in the London School of Economic and Political Science. These two important phases in his life laid down the foundation of modern day ‘massiah’ of ‘dalits’.
After returning to India with one of the most coveted education, he was shocked to see the shabby treatment given to him. He felt humiliated and decided to dedicate his life for the welfare of the downtrodden. He did not want that others should face those hurdles which he had to face in such a short span of time. The education had inculcated the values of equality, liberty and fraternity and he decided to pursue these values of social justice untiringly for society at large. In his early academic writings, he focused on the working class and made a critique of imperialism. Ambedkar's idea of social justice was based on the Indian social order that was a hierarchical, unjust, fragmented, exploitative caste system. He attempted for the upliftment of the depressed classes to become responsible and capable citizen of india. Thus he established a chain of schools, colleges and hostels under the name of the People's Education Society which he had founded in 1945. He saw education as a means to make the Dalits aware of their social realities and to develop in them courage and commitment to fight caste inequalities and discriminations. He published four periodicals namely 'Mooknayak' (1920), 'Bahishkrit Bharat' (1927), 'Samatha' (1929) and ‘Janata’ (1930).
Politically speaking, Dr. Ambedkar made efforts and launched straggles to elevate the status of the deprived Due to his nationalism he agreed to the signing of Poona Pact, 1932 at the insistence of MahamanaPandit Madan Mohan Malaviya . This was also a step towards reconciliation between higher and lower classes and thus integrating Indian society towards a new egalitarian social order . He also set up the Independent Labour Party (1LP) to promote the cause of the depressed classes. When, under the Government of India Act 1935, election to the provincial legislatures was declared, his party contested the election in 17 seats in the Bombay Presidency and won15. As a member of the constituent assembly and as Chairman of the Draft Committee of Indian Constitution, Ambedkar included revolutionary clauses for downtrodden classes . The constitution established a uniform or single system of citizenship law for the country. It outlawed the stigma of untouchability and prohibited discrimination on the ground of religion, caste, race and gender.
Ambedkar’s Major Works: The Problem of Rupee, 1923 The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India, 1925 Annihilation of Caste, 1936 Thought on Pakistan, 1940 What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchable, 1948 Which way to Emancipation? 1936 Who were the Shudras?, 1946 The Untouchables: who were they and why they became untouchable? 1948 Maharashtra as a Linguistic Province, 1948 States and Minorities, 1947 Thoughts on Linguistic States, 1955 The Buddha and his Dharma, 1957 Waiting for a wisa (Autobiography), 1936 The rise and fall of Hindu Women, 1950 Castes in India, 1918 Small Holding in India and their Remedies, 1918 Need for checks and balances, 1953 Buddha Pooja Path (Marathi) 1956 The Present problem of Indian Currency, 1925 |
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