“Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”
— B. R. Ambedkar.
I’m hoping this blog will allow people to learn more about the history of India and the various figures who attempted to, or succeeded, in making change throughout the years. This blog is NOT about Gandhi. But those who seem invisible beneath the shadow of his legacy and memory.
In my blogs, I want to look at how these individuals felt and reacted during the crucial period they faced. What was their thinking? What were their philosophies? What were their politics? …how controversial were they?
I had finally returned to my parent’s home state, Punjab, after almost 15 years away. During the long drive back from the golden city of Amritsar, there was something that caught my eye. A looming statue of someone, with a book at his feet and a finger pointed out to the sunset. There were many similar statues along the two-hour drive, but I kept asking myself: who is he? I finally asked my uncle who this man was, his statues were in every city, he replied: “Dr. Ambedkar” but nothing rang a bell, “who is he?” “he was the man who wrote the Indian Constitution after the partition of India.”
But
why had I never heard of him before? As a prolific historical figure, he is,
ironically, not spoken much about compared to other, more obvious figures of
the Indian independence movement. But what fascinated me was not only what he
was doing during the movement, but
his life and how it led to his position in the Indian government.
Statue of Dr Ambedkar in Jalandhar, Punjab, 2019. The Constitution resting in front of him. There were a number of these statues in the cities, possibly because Punjab had one of the highest populations of untouchables, presently it is unknown what the statistics are.
Bhimrao Ramji ‘Babsaheb’ (meaning ‘respected father’) Ambedkar was born to a Dalit caste family (untouchables), discrimination followed him throughout his life. Whilst it is incorrectly thought that the British brought the caste system to India, it is based on a hereditary class-based system, originally defined by people’s occupation (e.g. Brahmin – priest). Father’s passed down knowledge and skills to their sons as their education, and certain occupations allowed for greater or lower income resulting in a social divide that still exists today. The world ‘dalit’ means broken, they were and are the ostracised population in India doing jobs no one else would do. At school, Dalits were kicked out of classrooms, as they weren’t allowed to sit with their higher caste peers or use the same water supply systems.
After reading about Ambedkar, one of my favourite and, frankly, inspiring anecdotes refers Babasaheb’s school days. Like many untouchables of the time, he was not allowed to learn Sanskrit, instead his father forced him to learn Persian. It was the Brahmins, mainly men, who monopolised the Sanskrit language and was not allowed to be spoken, or even heard by the lower castes. Eventually, he taught himself Sanskrit – going against the ‘norms’ placed on him by a society that sought to remind him that his caste was his only identity. This remarkable achievement shows how tenacious he was – giving people the message that your caste does not define your future and it does not dictate your worth.
Whether you are from India or England, people wouldn’t expect an untouchable to have so many achievements. He was incredibly intelligent. He won a scholarship to study abroad in 1913, in the UK and US, he wrote a multitude of theses on the problems of India and how to resolve them, which eventually proved fruitful when the Reserve Bank of India was created in 1935, basing their ideas on Ambedkar’s writings. While getting doctorates and a PhD in economics, he also majored in History, Sociology, Philosophy, Law and Anthropology.
He abandoned his thoughts of being an untouchable in foreign lands, but this didn’t mean discrimination ended when he returned home. It hit hard but not unexpectedly, and not unlike his childhood experience. He was appointed Military Secretary in Baroda, in 1938, until the discovery of his caste forced him to quit, he also failed as an accountant because clients would not go to an untouchable.
So, what sets apart Ambedkar from the many Indians who also studied abroad, apart from his impressive degree set? One answer: his advocacy of equal treatment of Indians, not from the British but from other Indians. Ambedkar attempted to get rid of these demeaning labels, so when Congress adopted Gandhi’s term Harijan (scheduled castes) in 1938, Ambedkar and his party walked out of Bombay Legislative Assembly in protest. For him, the caste system was deeply rooted into Hinduism, in fact, he stated that the only way to get rid of castes, is to abandon Hinduism. The mistreatment of untouchables probably doesn’t surprise you, but this mistreatment soon paved the way for his change in philosophy – when we aren’t happy with a circumstance, we try and change it. It was at that time that Ambedkar contemplated Buddhist philosophy.
Image of Dr Ambedkar in his Buddhist Deeksha Robes, 1935. Ambedkar considered first converting to Sikhism, before deciding on Buddhism. His Dalit Buddhist movement, which rejected Hinduism, took place first in North India. Ambedkar vowed: “I solemnly assure you that I will not die as a Hindu.” He remained Hindu for 20 years, studying Buddhism for much of his life, before officially converting in 1956, only months before he died.
During
his time in England for the First Roundtable Conference, he gave numerous
interviews and wrote many articles in the foreign press to make others aware
and to expose the inhumane treatment of Dalits in India. This succeeded and a
deputation of various people asked for investments to help the depressed class.
Unlike many politicians who focused broadly on India’s Independence, Ambedkar focused on the finer details of making India a better society from the ground up. Ambedkar stated that the draft of the constitution written by Jawaharlal Nehru, only talked about rights, not remedies, so in his working of the constitution, he wanted to ensure the rights to not only the Dalits but to other minorities. His original draft in 1948 would outlaw caste discrimination, the creation of ‘The Hindu Code Bills,’ which ensured women equal rights, including more modern concepts (which continue to be controversial today) such as birth control. Relating to another modern debate, Ambedkar’s opposition to Article 370 – which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, arguing they should have equal status to India. His forward-thinking contrasted against conservative minds.
To answer my earlier question: who was to blame for my not knowing? The education system, reluctant to teach imperialism, or my parents? Who, like many Indians, wanted their children to fulfill their dreams, go to university and learn what they never did? Maybe the real question should be: is anyone to blame? As a British Indian, the only Indian history I ever learned was Gandhi and people referencing Gandhi as the ‘Father of the Nation.’ Yes, he was one of the first people to introduce non-violence, but Babasaheb Ambedkar was the driving force of equality for the Indian people. And what does that title mean, ‘Father of the Nation’? Surely it should be given to someone who helped construct the principles and functioning of a new country.
I called Ambedkar the ‘visionary,’ however, because of what he had achieved, he should be remembered as so much more than this. He was a modernist, an advocate for women’s rights, an economist, a political leader, a civil rights activist, an academic, an author, a journalist, a philosopher.
Now, Ambedkar’s story inspires me to write more about him.
Hi! My name is Serena and I’m currently doing an MA in Public History.
I chose to do Indian history because I’m a first generation Indian (surprise, surprise) from the UK but I wanted to avoid the history that I heard over and over, growing up. As I got older, I realised there were many things that I didn’t know. And I wouldn’t know for a long time.
Why do this?
I want to encourage people from outside of the Indian community to read about these people/topics and not just the obvious individuals.
I want Indians to be interested in more than just the narratives of people they may have already learned about – there are always questions to ask and to be answered.
I plan on writing about the more obscure people and groups I have come across in my studies, such as Lala Lajpat Rai. But I don’t want to look at these people alone, I plan to read their work and further comment on them – how it matches their views, the views of other Indians or political parties etc. Some individuals are considered controversial, but why? This is one of the questions I want to answer.
Drinking From The Same Well - India's Invisible Heroes 