Bhimrao Ambedkar

Bhimrao Ambedkar achieved a lot despite the disadvantage of birth. He rose through grit, academic achievement and politics. A complex personality, he remained the perennial outsider. The "untouchable" Mahar caste to which be belonged was a martial community that served under the Mahratta empire and the British. Maharashtra demonstrated the spirit of intellectual defiance and social activism from the days of the Hindu saints Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram in medieval times to the reformer Jyotibha Phule in the 1800s. Ambedkar inherited that mantle to rebel even further.

A renaissance man, he had a superb grasp of economics, law and politics. He was perhaps the first "untouchable caste" graduate from the University of Bombay in 1912 where he read Political Science. He obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in New York and a second Ph.D. in Economics from the University of London. He briefly studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Bonn. He qualified as a Barrister in England. He joined the civil service in Baroda. Ambedkar headed the Government Law College in Bombay. As a state legislator, he pushed for the abolition of agricultural serfdom, defended the right of workers to strike and advocated birth control. He founded schools and a newspaper. He agitated for social reform. Ambedkar chaired the panel of eminent jurists that collectively drafted India's constitution. He attacked Nehru as lacking resolve and foresight with regards to Tibet and Kashmir. While I dispute his legacy in certain respects, Ambedkar's commitment to the welfare of his people can never be disputed. He serves as a remarkable role model for millions of Dalits to this day.

Ambedkar had his shortcomings. He joined the Defence Advisory Committee of the colonial administration in 1941 and undermined his nationalist credentials. He was an active member of the Viceroy's Executive Council from 1942 to 1946. These were the years of the Quit India Movement. Blatantly pro-British, he dismissed the Indian freedom movement as a "dishonest agitation" and a "sham struggle". He failed to enter the Lok Sabha in 1952 and in 1953. He had to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha instead. His theories on history and religion were far fetched and unsupported by evidence. He was a bitter man.

Ambedkar's demand for caste-based electorates neatly fitted in with the colonial divide and rule policy. The British approved separate electorates for the "depressed castes" under the "communal award scheme" of 1932. Mohandas K. Gandhi's fast unto death campaign forced the colonial authorities to revoke the policy. The proposal would have further institutionalized caste divisions in the political arena had it been implemented. The objective is to jettison caste, not reinforce it.

A desperate Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in dramatic fashion just seven weeks before he died. Malcolm X in the United States rejected Christianity for similar reasons and adopted Islam to give dignity to the African-American. Ambedkar was harsh in his assessment of Hinduism and Islam. Many traditional Buddhists do not consider his radical interpretation of their religion to be in keeping with the teachings of the Buddha.

I would contrast Ambedkar and Malcolm X with the Rev. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. The actions of Ambedkar and Malcolm X did not lead to reconciliation and healing. Their's was an angry rhetoric. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, on the other hand, reached out to the oppressor. In so doing, they reaffirmed a profound humanism that healed the injustices of the past. Mandela had been jailed for 27 years in contrast to Ambedkar who was never imprisoned. In fact, the British made Ambedkar a cabinet minister. Both King and Mandela attributed their political inspiration to Mohandas K. Gandhi.

This said, Ambedkar was an outstanding lawyer, politician, economist and educationalist. He reminds us of our shared guilt i.e. the injustice of "untouchability". The Dalit agenda of dignity, respect and equal opportunity needs to be addressed once and for all to heal the scars on our collective psyche.

I would recommend two books for the interested. They are (i) Koenraad Elst, "Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar," New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993 and (ii) Arun Shourie, "Worshipping False Gods: Ambedkar, and the facts which have been erased", New Delhi: Harper Collins, 1998. I tend to disagree with Shourie's harsh assessment on Ambedkar though he provides extremely useful information glossed over by the national media. Elst presents Ambedkar is positive light while he dismisses the contemporary Dalit hard-liner.