Indian Political Thinker - BR Ambedkar

Introduction
 Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, was
one of the main architects of the Indian Constitution.
 He was a very well known political leader, philosopher, writer, economist,
scholar and a social reformer who dedicated his life to eradicating
untouchability and other social inequality in India.
 He was born on 14 April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh in Hindu Mahar Caste. He
had to face severe discriminations from every corner of the society as the
Mahar caste was viewed as "untouchable" by the upper class.
Main Architect of Indian Constitution
 Babasaheb Ambedkar's legal expertise and knowledge of the Constitution of
different countries was very helpful in the framing of the constitution. He
became chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent
Assembly and played an important role in framing the Indian Constitution.
 Among others, his most important contributions were in areas of fundamental
rights, strong central government and protection of minorities.

o Article 32 guarantees judicial protection to the Fundamental Rights which

makes them meaningful. For him, Article 32 was the most important
article of the constitution and thus, he referred to it "soul of the
Constitution and very heart of it".
o He supported a strong central government. He was afraid that Casteism
is more powerful at the local and provincial levels, and the government at
this level might not protect the interest of lower caste under pressure of
upper caste. Since the National government is less influenced by these
pressures, they will ensure protection to lower caste.
o He was also afraid that the minority which is the most vulnerable group in
the nation may convert into political minorities too. So democratic rule of
'One man one vote' is not sufficient and the minority should be
guaranteed a share in power. He was against 'Majoritarianism
Syndrome' and provided many safeguards in the Constitution for the
minorities.
 Indian constitution is the lengthiest constitution in the world because various
administrative details have been included. Babasaheb defended it saying that
we have created a democratic political structure in a traditional society. If all
details are not included, future leaders may misuse the Constitution without
technically violating it. Such safeguards are necessary. This shows that he was
aware of the practical difficulties which India will face once the Constitution
would have been implemented.
Constitutional Morality
 In Babasaheb Ambedkar’s perspective, Constitutional morality would mean
effective coordination between conflicting interests of different people and
administrative cooperation.
 It will help to resolve the conflict amicably without any confrontation amongst
the various groups working for the realization of their ends at any cost.
 According to him, for India, where society is divided on the basis of caste,
religion, language, and other factors, a common moral compass is needed,
and the Constitution can play the role of that compass.
Democracy
 He had complete faith in democracy. While dictatorship may produce quick
results, it can not be a valid form of government. Democracy is superior as it
enhances liberty. He supported the parliamentary form of democracy, which
aligns with other national leaders.
 He emphasized 'democracy as a way of life', i.e. democracy not only in the
political sphere but also in the personal, social and economic sphere.
 For him, democracy must bring a drastic change in social conditions of society,
otherwise the spirit of political democracy i.e. 'one man and one vote' would
be missing. Democratic government can arise only from a democratic society,
so as long as caste hurdles exist in Indian society, real democracy can not
operate. So he focused on the spirit of fraternity and equality as the base of
democracy to bring out social democracy.
 Along with the social dimension, Ambedkar focused on the economic
dimension also. While he was influenced by liberalism and parliamentary
democracy, he also found the limitation of them. As per him, parliamentary
 democracy ignored social and economic inequality. It only focused on liberty
while true democracy must bring both liberty and equality.
Social Reforms
 Babasaheb had devoted his life to remove untouchability. He believed that
the progress of the nation would not be realized without the removal of
untouchability, which means the abolition of the caste system in totality. He
studied Hindu philosophical traditions and made a critical assessment of
them.
 For him, Untouchability is the slavery of the entire Hindu society. While
Untouchables are enslaved by Caste Hindus, Caste Hindus themselves live
under slavery of religious sculptures. So the emancipation of the
untouchables leads to the emancipation of the whole Hindu society.
 Priority to Social Reform:

o He believed that Economic and Political issues must be resolved only

after achieving the goal of social justice. If political emancipation
precedes social emancipation, it will lead to the rule of upper-caste Hindu,
and atrocities on Lower Caste.
o The idea that economic progress will lead to social justice is ill-founded as
Casteism is an expression of the Mental Slavery of Hindus. So for social
reform, Casteism has to do away with.
o Social reforms consisted of family reform and religious reforms. Family
reforms included removal of practices like child marriage etc. He strongly
supports the empowerment of women. He supports women’s rights of
property which he resolved through Hindu Code Bill.
 On Caste:

o The caste system has made Hindu society stagnant which creates hurdles
in integration with outsiders. Even internally, Hindu society fails to satisfy
the test of a homogeneous society, as it is just a conglomeration of
different castes. The caste system does not allow lower castes to prosper
which led to moral degradation. Battle for the removal of untouchability
becomes the battle for human rights and justice.
o Factsheet
o In 1923, he set up the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha (Outcastes Welfare
Association)’, which was devoted to spreading education and culture
amongst the downtrodden.
o The temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at
Kalaram temple, Nasik is another landmark in the struggle for human
rights and social justice.
o Dr. Ambedkar attended all the three Round Table Conferences (1930-
32) in London and each time, forcefully projected his views in the interest
of the 'untouchable'.
o In 1932, Gandhi ji protested Communal Award of a separate electorate by
fasting while imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of Poona. This
resulted in the Poona Pact wherein Gandhi ji ended his fast and
Babasaheb dropped his demand for a separate electorate. Instead,
a certain number of seats were reserved specifically for the ‘Depressed
Class’.
o In 1936, Babasaheb Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party.
o In 1939, during the Second World War, he called upon Indians to join the
Army in large numbers to defeat Nazism, which he said, was another
name for Fascism.
o On October 14, 1956 he embraced Buddhism along with many of his
followers. The same year he completed his last writing 'Buddha and His
Dharma'.
o In 1990, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, was bestowed with Bharat Ratna.
o The period from 14th April 1990 - 14th April 1991 was observed as 'Year of
Social Justice' in the memory of Babasaheb.
o Dr. Ambedkar Foundation was established by the Government of India
under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on
March 24, 1992 as a registered society under the Societies Registration
Act, 1860.

o The main objective of the foundation is to oversee the implementation of

programmes and activities for furthering the ideology and message of
Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar among the masses in India as well as
abroad.
 o Few important works of Dr. Ambedkar: Mook Nayak (weekly) 1920; Janta
(weekly) 1930; The Annihilation of Caste 1936; The Untouchables 1948;
Buddha Or Karl Marx 1956, etc.
Methods Adopted to Remove Untouchability
 Creating self-respect among untouchables by removing the myth of inherent
pollution that has influenced their minds.
 Education:

o For Babasaheb, knowledge is a liberating force. One of the reasons for the
degradation of untouchables was that they were denied the advantages of
education. He criticized the British for not doing enough for the education
of the lower caste. He insisted on secular education to instill values of
liberty and equality among the students.
 Economic progress:

o He wanted untouchables to free themselves from the bondage of the

village community and traditional jobs. He wanted them to achieve new
skills and start a new profession and move to cities to take advantage of
industrialization. He described villages as 'a sink of localism, a den of
ignorance, narrow mindedness, and communalism'.
 Political strength:

o He wanted untouchables to organize themselves politically. With political

power, untouchables would be able to protect, safeguard and introduce
new emancipatory policies.
 Conversion:

o When he realized that Hinduism is not able to mend its ways, he adopted
Buddhism and asked his followers to do the same. For him, Buddhism was
based on humanism and believed in the spirit of equality and fraternity.
o “I’m reborn, rejecting the religion of my birth. I discard the religion which
discriminates between a man and a man and which treats me as an
inferior”.
 So at the social level, education; at the material level, new means of
livelihood; at political level, political organization; and the spiritual level, self-
assertion, and conversion constituted an overall program of the removal of
untouchability.
Relevance of Ambedkar in Present Times
 Caste-based inequality in India still persists. While Dalits have acquired a
political identity through reservation and forming their own political parties,
they lack behind in social dimensions (health and education) and economic
dimension.
 There has been a rise of communal polarization and communalization of
politics. It is necessary that Ambedkar's vision of constitutional morality must
supersede religious morality to avoid permanent damage to the Indian
Constitution.

Bhagat Singh
 Early Life:
o Born as Bhaganwala on the 26th September 1907, Bhagat Singh grew up in a
petty-bourgeois family of Sandhu Jats settled in the Jullundur Doab district of
Punjab.
 He belonged to a generation that was to intervene between two
decisive phases of the Indian national movement - the phase of the
'Extremism' of Lal-Bal-Pal and the Gandhian phase of nonviolent mass
action.
 Role in Freedom Struggle:
o In 1923, Bhagat Singh joined the National College, Lahore which was
founded and managed by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand.
 The College was set up as an alternative to the institutions run by the
Government, bringing to the field of education the idea of Swadeshi.
o In 1924 in Kanpur, he became a member of the Hindustan
Republican Association, started by Sachindranath Sanyal a year earlier.
The main organiser of the Association was Chandra Shekhar
Azad and Bhagat Singh became very close to him.
 It was as a member of the HRA that Bhagat Singh began to take
seriously the Philosophy of the Bomb.
 Revolutionary Bhagwati Charan Vohra wrote the famous article
Philosophy of the Bomb. Including the philosophy of the bomb, he
 authored three important political documents; the other two were
the Manifesto of Naujawan Sabha and the Manifesto of HSRA.
 Armed revolution was understood to be the only weapon with which to
fight British imperialism.
o In 1925, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore and within the next year he and his
colleagues started a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat
Sabha.
o In April 1926, Bhagat Singh established contact with Sohan Singh
Josh and through him the 'Workers and Peasants Party' which brought out
the monthly magazine Kirti in Punjabi.
 For the next year Bhagat Singh worked with Josh and joined the editorial
board of Kirti.
o In 1927, he was first arrested on charges of association with the Kakori
Case, accused for an article written under the pseudonym Vidrohi (Rebel).
o In 1928, Bhagat Singh changed the name of the Hindustan Republican
Association to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
 In 1930, when Azad was shot, the HSRA collapsed.
 Naujawan Bharat Sabha replaced HSRA in Punjab.
o To take revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh and his
associates plotted the assassination of James A. Scott, the Superintendent of
Police. However, the revolutionaries mistakenly killed J.P. Saunders. The
incident is famously known as Lahore Conspiracy case (1929).
 In 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai had led a procession to protest against the arrival
of the Simon Commission. The police resorted to a brutal lathi charge, in
which Lala Lajpat Rai was severely injured and later succumbed to his
injuries.
o Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a bomb on 8th April, 1929 in the Central
Legislative Assembly, in protest against the passing of two repressive bills,
the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill.
 The aim, as their leaflet explained, was not to kill but to make the deaf hear,
and to remind the foreign government of its callous exploitation.
 Both Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt surrendered thereafter and faced trial so
they could further promote their cause. They were awarded life
imprisonment for this incident.
o However, Bhagat Singh was re-arrested for the murder of J.P. Saunders and
bomb manufacturing in the Lahore Conspiracy case. He was found guilty in this
case and was hanged on 23rd March, 1931 in Lahore along with Sukhdev and
Rajguru.
o Every year, 23rd March is observed as Martyrs’ Day as a tribute to freedom
fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.