Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Marathi: भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर) ([bʱiːmraːw raːmdʑiː aːmbeːɽkər]; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Dalits, women and labour. He was Independent India's first law minister and the principal architect of the Constitution of India.[4][5][6][7]
Ambedkar was a prolific student, earning a law degree and various doctorates from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, and gained a reputation as a scholar for his research in law, economics and political science. In his early career he was an economist, professor, and lawyer. His later life was marked by his political activities, where he became involved in the negotiations for India's independence campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for 'untouchables' and contributing significantly to the establishment of the state of India. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism, initiating mass conversions of Dalits.[8][9][10][11]
In 1990, Ambedkar was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.[12][13][14][15] Ambedkar's legacy includes numerous memorials and depictions in popular culture.
Early life and education[edit]
Ambedkar was born in the town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh).[16] He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal, a ranked army officer at the post of Subedar and Bhimabai Murbadkar Sakpal.[17] His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade (Mandangad taluka) in Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. Ambedkar was born into a poor low Mahar (dalit) caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination.[18] Ambedkar's ancestors had long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the British Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment.[19]
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, someone 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; the situation he later in his writings described as "No peon, No Water".[20] He was required to sit on a gunny sack which he had to take home with him.[21]
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.[22] His Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname
Higher education[edit]
Matriculation[edit]
In 1897, Ambedkar's family moved to Mumbai where Ambedkar became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School. In 1906, his marriage to a nine-year old girl, Ramabai, was arranged.[2]
In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and in the following year he entered Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to the University 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.[2]
Degree in Economics and Political science[edit]
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 old, had just moved his young family and started work, when he had to quickly return to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.[23]
Postgraduation in Economics, Columbia University[edit]
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 Gaekwad of Baroda that was designed to provide opportunities for postgraduate education atColumbia University in New York City. 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 M.A. 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.
Economics, Columbia University[edit]
In 1916 he completed his second thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study for another M.A. and finally he received his PhD in Economics in 1927[24] for his third thesis, after he left for London. On 9 May, he read his paper Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar conducted by the anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser.
London School of Economics[edit]
In October 1916 he enrolled for the Bar course at Gray's Inn, and also at the same time enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. But 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 to submit his thesis within four years. His thesis was on the "Indian Rupee." Ambedkar came back to London at the first opportunity and completed his studies. At the London School of Economics he took a Master's degree in 1921 and in 1923 he took his D.Sc.in Economics, and the same year he was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn. His third and fourth Doctorates (Ll.D, Columbia, 1952 and Ll.D., Osmania, 1953) were conferred honoris causa.
Incidentally, in his journey (1917) he travelled 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.[23]
Opposition to untouchability[edit]
As Ambedkar was educated by the Princely State of Baroda, he was bound to serve it. He was appointed as Military Secretary to the Gaikwad but had to quit within a short time. He described the incident in his autobiography, Waiting for a Visa.[20] 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.[25] In 1918 he became Professor of Political Economy in theSydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai. Even though he was successful with the students, other professors objected to his sharing the same drinking-water jug that they all used.[26]
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.[27] In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Shahaji II (1874–1922), Maharaja of Kolhapur.[28]
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".[29]
Protests[edit]While practicing 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.[30] For the protection of Dalit rights he started many periodicals like Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, andEquality Janta.[31]
He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon Commission in 1925.[32] 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.[33]
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. He also began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples. He led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.[34] In a conference in late 1927, Ambedkar publicly condemned the classic Hindu text, the Manusmrti (Laws of Manu), for ideologically justifying the system of caste discrimination and “untouchability,” ceremonially burning copies of the ancient text. On 25 December 1927, thousands of people burnt copies of Manusmriti under leadership of Ambedkar.[35][36]
In 1930, Ambedkar launched Kalaram Temple movement. This was a non-violent movement for which he was preparing for three months. About 15000 volunteers assembled atKalaram Temple satygraha making one of the greatest processions of Nashik. The procession was headed by a military band, a batch of scouts, women and men walked in discipline, order and determination to see the god for the first time. When they reached to gate, the gates were closed by Brahmin authorities. This movement was for human dignity and self-respect.[37]
Poona Pact[edit]
In 1932, British announced the formation of separate electorate for "Depressed Classes" in the Communal Award. Gandhi fiercely opposed a separate electorate for untouchables, saying he feared that such an arrangement would divide the Hindu community into two groups.[citation needed] Gandhi protested by fasting while imprisoned in theYerwada Central Jail of Poona. Following the fast, Congress politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organised joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yerwada.[38] On 25 September 1932, the agreement known as Poona Pact was signed between Ambedkar (on behalf of the depressed classes among Hindus) and Madan Mohan Malaviya (on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement gave reserved seats for the depressed classes in the Provisional legislatures, within the general electorate and not by creating a separate electorate. Due to the pact, the depressed class received 148 seats in the legislature, instead of the 71 as allocated in theCommunal Award earlier proposed by the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The text uses the term "Depressed Classes" to denote Untouchables among Hindus who were later called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under India Act 1935, and the later Indian Constitution of 1950.[39][40]
Political career[edit]
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.[41] 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.[41] 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.[42]
Ambedkar published his book Annihilation of Caste in the same year. It strongly criticised Hindu orthodox religious leaders, the caste system in general[43] and included "a rebuke of Gandhi" on the subject.[44]
Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee[45] and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.[45]
In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of Untouchables. He saw the Shudras and Ati Shudras who form the lowest caste in the ritual hierarchy of the 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.
Babasaheb Ambedkar contested from Bombay North in the first Indian General Election in 1952 but lost to the Congress candidates Narayan Kajrolkar, who had been his assistant once. Ambedkar became a member of Rajya Sabha, probably as an appointed member. He tried to enter Lok Sabha again in 1954 when he contested the by-election from Bhandara but he was placed third in the ballot won by Congress. By the time the second general election was held in 1957, Ambedkar had already passed away.
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.
