CHAPTER V

AMBEDKAR’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE DALITS

Early Life

Ambedkar was born on 14th April 1891, in Ratnagiri District,

at Ambavadi Village, presently in Madhya Pradesh in Mahar Community.1

Ambedkar’s ancestral village is Ambavadi, 5 miles off Mandangad, a small

town in Ratnagiri District.2 Ramji Sakpal, father of Ambedkar, belonged

to Mahar Caste. His mother Bhima Bai died when he was just five years

old.3 Ramji Sakpal had fourteen children.4 The hero of this chapter was

the fourteenth child born to this man (Ramji) from a very dutiful wife.

Babasaheb was the great leader of the Dalit Movement in 20th century

India.

1
Mahar, one of the Hindu untouchable communities in India, also one of the
tribal communities in Maharashtra.
2
Fr. Manuel Alphonse, S.J., The Rally, Editorial Board, S.J. Packiaraj, John
Joseph, A. Jeya Kumar, Rajkumar, Andrews, Richard O’ Connor, New Delhi,
Vol.67, No.5 and 6, April 1991, p.2.
3
Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar Life and Mission, Mumbai, 1954, p.8.
4
Jyothi, Devindra, Social Philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Jaipur, 2011, p.14.
 130

When he was still at school, he felt the sting of

“Untouchability”. He could not sit with the other students of the class. He

had to drink water only when others poured it for him and even then he had

to cover his mouth with one hand. The boy could not understand the

reason behind it. These insults gave him a very deep impression in the

young boy’s mind. The boy felt that “untouchability” was a black mark on

Hindu Dharma. He made up his mind to remove it.5

At Satara, Bhim completed his primary education and began

his high school career along with his elder brother. Ambedkar entered the

Government High School at Satara at the age of 9. There was, a Brahmin

teacher who admired Bhima Rao’s lively mind. His family name was

Ambedkar. The teacher liked Bhima Rao so much that he changed his

name from Ambavadekar to Ambedkar.6

He joined the Elphinstone High School in Bombay. In the

high school he received a wound he could never forget in his life. It was

Bhim’s desire to learn Sanskrit. Other Hindus of the school could learn

Sanskrit. But it was denied to the Mahar Caste. This injustice made him

more bitter.7 Ambedkar passed his matriculation examination in 1907.8

He passed his Intermediate Examination from Elphinstone College. He

5
Athanur Chozhan, Dr. Ambedkar, Chennai, 2010, p.6.
6
Shyam Dua, The Luminous Life of B.R. Ambedkar, Noida, 2004, p.18.
7
Shivtarkar, S.N., The Janata, April 14, 1934.
8
Arupukottai Cycle Sundaram, Life History of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956),
Sivakasi, 2010, p.21.
 131

obtained his B.A. degree in 1912.9 His caste was denied drinking water

and prohibited from walking on the streets.10 Ambedkar’s father died in

1913, Ambedkar was then working under the Maharaja of Baroda. The

Maharaja of Baroda sent Bhimrao Ambedkar to America. Ambedkar was

very learned and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He returned to

India on the 21st of August 1917.11 In America, he studied Political

Science, Ethics, Anthropology, Social Science and Economics and

obtained his doctorate. Ambedkar was given a high post at Baroda, he held

a high office but from the moment he set foot in India he felt the sting of

“untouchability”.12 In 1920, Ambedkar left for London for higher studies.

In 1922 Ambedkar became a barrister and the next year he came back to

India.13

To proclaim and to bring to light the humiliations suffered by

the “untouchables” and to fight for equal rights, a periodical called “Mook

Nayak” was started. It was started on 31 January, 1920. “Mook Nayak”

9
Subhamani N. Busi, Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar Crusades
Against Caste and Untouchability, Hyderabad, 1964, p.25.
10
Hudlikar, Prof. Satyabodh, The Nowayug – Ambedkar, Special Number 13,
April 1947, p.198.
11
The Indian Antiquity, Vol.II, No.29, Maharashtra, 1917, pp.81-95 which was
published in the Journal Indian Antiquity 1917, Bhimrao returned to India as
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1917 itself and joined in Indian Antiquity.
12
The Journal of the Indian Economics Society, Ambedkar Social Work: Its
Theory and Practice (Dalit Journal), Indian Journal of Dalit and Tribal Social
Work, Vol.I, No.III, Delhi, 2014, pp.12-27.
13
Maharashtriya Dnyana Kosh, Vol.VIII, Calcutta, 1989, p.647.
 132

means Leader of the Dumb, to champion the cause of the depressed classes

in India.14

Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha

Ambedkar prepared to launch his social movement for the

uplift of the untouchables. To achieve his objective he convened a meeting

on March 9, 1924 at the Damodar Hall, Bombay to consider the desirability

of establishing a central institution for removing difficulties of the

untouchables and placing their grievances before government. After much

discussion and debate, it was resolved that an institution be established and

accordingly it was founded on July 20, 1924 under the title “Bahishkrit

Hitakarini Sabha” and was registered under Act XXI of 1860. Its activities

were confined to the Presidency of Bombay and its head office was

situated at Damodar Hall, Bombay 12. The aims and objectives of the

Sabha were as under a) To promote the spread of education among the

depressed classes by opening Hostels, b) To promote the spread of culture

among the depressed classes by opening libraries, social centres and classes

or study circles, c) To advance and improve the economic condition of the

14
The BAHISKRIT BHARAT, Bombay, 20 May 1927. Bahishkrit Bharat, a
fortnightly Marathi Paper. Dr. Ambedkar started a fortnightly Marathi paper,
Bahishkrit Bharat (out caste India). He himself as the editor on April 3, 1927
to highlight excluded masses in society on political scenario. The newspaper
was meant to meet the need for articulating the grievances and interests of the
depressed classes, especially in view of the impending constitutional reforms.
 133

depressed classes by starting Industrial and Agricultural schools, d) To

represent the grievances of the depressed classes.15

The chairman of the managing committee was Ambedkar.

This central organisation devoted itself to the raising of the depressed

classes from their downtrodden condition to a status of social and political

equality with others in Indian society and to promote their economic

interests. “Educate, Agitate and Organise” was its motto.

With the birth of the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha the age of

self-respect started. It started on January 4, 1925, a hostel at Sholapur for

High School students belonging to the Depressed Classes.16 The Sabha

bore the expenses incurred by the students on clothes, stationary and

boarding.

Nipani Conference

The depressed classes were now attracted towards

Ambedkar’s personality. The first public meeting held some days after his

arrival from London as a bar-at law, was not attended by any member of

the depressed classes except the organizers themselves. Some persons

were sitting on the door-steps of the houses surrounding the meeting place;

15
Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, Rules of Constitution, p.1. On July 20th, 1924, Dr.
Ambedkar set up the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (Association for the welfare
for the Depressed classes or Dalit or Untouchable caste) to promote education
and socio-economic uplifting of the depressed classes which he had till 1928.
The aims of the sabha were to educate, agitate, and organise.
16
The Journal of the Indian Economic Society, Vol.I, No.III, 1930, pp.12-27.
 134

a few smoking and other chatting in the corners. Unsupported by the press

and unaided by any purse, he moved through the hamlets, villages and

towns to stir up his people, stinging them into protest and driving them to

revolt. He attended and guided the first Provincial Depressed Classes

Conference held at Nipani in the Bombay Presidency. He presided over

the first conference of untouchables at Malwan in Ratnagiri District in

April 1925.17 In April 1926 Ambedkar visited Jejuri, there was a meeting

at which he suggested that the untouchables should seek some land for

colonization.18

Member of the Bombay Legislative Council

About this time the governor of Bombay nominated

Ambedkar to the Bombay Legislative Council. The Bombay Depressed

Class teachers called a meeting on February 2, 1927, and decided to

celebrate this event by presenting a purse to their leader. Accordingly, two

months later, on April 19, 1927, a meeting was held in Damodar Hall at

Parel,19 in Bombay, under the presidentship of S.B. Pendurtar, a Municipal

educational supervisor, who took deep interest in the spread of education

among the lower classes. The depressed classes began to look up. This

was a momentous event in the life of Ambedkar. That event was a march

17
Journal of Indian Economic Society, Vol.III, New Delhi, 1930, pp.12-27.
18
The Janata Special Number, April 1933, p.2 (quoted in Dhananjaykeer, 1950:
1966, p.195).
19
Ibid., p.2.
 135

on Mahad. This had its origin in the important resolution of the Bombay

Legislative Council moved by Bole and adopted by the Bombay

government. The Mahad Municipality had thrown open the chowder Tank

to the untouchables.

Bahishkirit Bharat

To represent the correct view and the ideal and to voice the

grievances of Ambedkar a newspaper is an inevitable necessity for a real

leader in these days. A leader without a paper is like a bird without wings.

So Ambedkar started his fortnightly Marathi paper, Bahishkirit Bharat, on

April 3, 1927 in Bombay, as there was a need for a paper to champion the

cause of the depressed classes. Justifying the need for a mouthpiece for the

depressed classes, Ambedkar now began to explain his views, define his

aims and reply to the critics of his movement through the new journal. He

said that the temples and watercourses should be open to the untouchables

because the untouchables were Hindus. He also appealed through his

paper to the government to punish the wrong-doers and trespassers who

opposed the execution of the Bole Resolution. The argument was to get

adequate representation in proportion to the population of a community.

Temples and waterways must be thrown open to the untouchables.20

The proceedings of the new Legislative Council commenced

on February 18, 1927, Ambedkar who was nominated to the Bombay

20
Sukhadeo Thorat and Narendar Kumar, B.R. Ambedkar: Perspectives on Social
Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, New Delhi, 2008, p.26.
 136

Legislative Council made efforts to make higher education cheaper for the

lower classes. He said that equality meant the raising of the level of the

lower classes to that of the higher. He stressed that teaching should not be

entrusted to Brahmins alone. On May 8, 1927, Ambedkar was

congratulated at Khara by Abraham on his being nominated to the Bombay

Legislative Council.21 In the third week of July 1927, Ambedkar addressed

a very important meeting at Mangwada in Poona. An important feature of

the meeting was that Ambedkar in a fighting speech, averred that his

movement aimed at the uplift of the whole suppressed people. And then

turning to the other side of the question, he warned the depressed classes

not to be stooges in the hands of interested groups who wanted to use them

against the non-Brahmins with a view to counterbalancing their forces. He

concluded his speech urging the depressed classes to assume the right of

drinking water at public water courses, and force their entry into public

temples.22 Ambedkar supported the view that the Backward and Depressed

Classes should have representation on the senate of Bombay University.

Ambedkar was very watchful about the welfare of the depressed classes.

He interpellated about the non-appointments of deserving members of the

depressed classes to higher posts in government services, and asked

government whether there was any selection board for selecting candidates

21
The Bahishkrit Bharat, 20 May, 1927.
22
Ibid., 1st July, 1927.
 137

for clerical posts, inquired about the strength of the depressed classes in the

public services. The news of the so-called purification of the Chowdar

Tank lacerated the hearts of the depressed classes and so deep was the

wound on Ambedkar’s heart that he grew indignant and decided to launch

a satyagraha struggle for the vindication of his people. December 25 and

26, 1927, were declared as the dates for offering the satyagraha.23 In the

end of the satyagraha, he warned the government that if it prevented the

depressed classes from exercising their legitimate rights, the matter would

be referred to the League of Nations. Untouchability has ruined the

untouchables, the Hindus and ultimately the nation as well. If the

depressed classes gained their self-respect and freedom, they would

contribute not only to their own progress and prosperity but by their

industry, intellect and courage would contribute also to the strength and

prosperity of the nation. On October 2, 1927, he presided over a

conference of the depressed class students in Poona. This was a move to

bring all the intellectual forces from the depressed classes into closer touch

with Ambedkar’s ideology and personality.

The depressed classes were now searching with new light for

scattered sources of their spiritual and historic inspiration. Early in January

1928, a meeting was convened by the depressed classes at Trymbak, near

Nasik, which is a place of pilgrimage of the Hindus. Ambedkar was

23
The Bahishkrit Bharat, Editorial, 27 November, 1927.
 138

specially invited to preside over the meeting. The meeting, after a full

discussion, decided that the real memorial of the saint consisted in devoting

themselves with unflagging energy rather to the removal of the blot of

untouchability than to the erection of a temple.24

Amendment to Bombay Hereditary Bill Act

But the most important Bill which showed an undivided

interest was introduced by Ambedkar himself. It was the Bill to amend the

Bombay Hereditary Offices Act, 1874. He introduced it on March 19,

1928. According to this Hereditary Offices Act, the Mahars, the holders of

the posts, were required to work all day and night and in the absence of a

Mahar servant, his father or any other member of his family were

impressed into the government service. And for this hard work they got

each a piece of land called watan, some corn from the villagers and a paltry

pittance varying from annas two to a rupee and a half per mensem. In

order to break these shackles of serfdom Ambedkar introduced this Bill. A

tremendous agitation had been thus made before the introduction of the

Bill in the legislative Council by the leader. Moving the Bill on August 3,

1928, Ambedkar observed that the Mahars were treated as maids of all

works of all government departments at any hour of the day and night for a

paltry pittance varying from annas two to a rupee and a half per mensem.

After a preliminary discussion on August 4, Ambedkar moved the Bill to a

24
The Bahishkrit, Editorial, 27 November, 1927.
 139

select committee, the Muslim members of the committee opposed the Bill,

finally Ambedkar withdrew the Bill.25 But Ambedkar submitted its special

report to the Simon Commission. In between, Ambedkar became a

Professor in government law college, Bombay. He was called to give

evidence before the Simon Commission and he demanded separate

electorates for the depressed classes. They observed that their Declaration

of Rights would be a panacea for all the ills affecting the depressed

classes.26 The attitude of the Congress party towards the problem of the

untouchables will be clearer, that the Congress working Committee issued

invitations, to all the Sabhas but not to depressed classes institute led by

Ambedkar.

The Simon Commission

The Simon Commission landed at Bombay on February 3,

1928. To co-operate with the Simon Commission, Central Government

appointed a Committee for all British India. As Ambedkar was co-

operating with the Simon Commission, he was dubbed British stooge, a

Juda, a ghoul and a traitor. 18 depressed class association gave evidence

25
Bombay Legislative Council Debates, Vol.XXIII, Part XI, (1921-1936),
Bombay, pp.708-721.
26
All Parties Conference Report, 1928, pp.59-60. (Quoted in Majumdar, R.C.,
ed., The History and Culture of Indian People, Vol.V, Bombay, 1957).
 140

before the commission and placed their memoranda before it.27 16 of them

pleaded for separate electorates for the depressed classes. On behalf of the

Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha Ambedkar submitted a memorandum to the

Simon Commission demanding joint electorates with reservation of seats

for the depressed classes.28 The memorandum complained that those in

charge of the nation’s affairs always forgot the dumb millions and added

that under the Act of 1919 injustice was done to the depressed classes who

constituted one-fifth of the population of British India. The Bahishkrit

Hitakarini Sabha demanded 22 out of 140 seats in the Bombay Legislative

Council, vehemently opposed the principle of nomination and insisted

upon the extension of the principle of election to the depressed classes.

The Madras Central Adi-Dravida Mahajana Sabha demanded

nomination for the depressed classes. The Bombay provincial non-

Brahmin party in its memorandum recommended separate electorates and

reserved seats for the depressed classes. On October 23, 1928, the Simon

Commission, the central committee and the Bombay Provincial Committee

examined Ambedkar in Poona. At the outset Sir John Simon asked

Ambedkar a number of questions about the population of depressed classes

27
Indian Statutory Commission, Vol.XVI, London, 1930, pp.37-47, Indian
Statutory Commission, Vol.XVI, Selection from memoranda and oral
evidence, Part I published by His Majesty’s stationary office, London, 1930.
This Commission is popularly known after its chairman Sir John Simon. Dr.
Ambedkar with the Simon Commission. Statement “D”, Evidence of Dr.
Ambedkar, before the Indian Statutory Commission on 23rd October 1928.
28
Report of Indian Statutory Commission, Vol.XVI, London, 1930, pp.37-47.
 141

in the presidency.29 Ambedkar was always watchful about the civic rights

of the depressed classes and he never missed an opportunity for educating

his people to assert them even in the face of danger. Another activity that

engaged Ambedkar’s thoughts about this time was the first textile workers

strike in Bombay which brought the working of mills to a standstill for

over six months involving 1,50,000 workers. During the strike workers

belonging to the depressed classes were the worst sufferers. The fact that

during the last eighty years of existence of the textile mills the depressed

classes were not allowed to work in any profitable departments like

weaving, was troubling his mind. The provincial committee was also

drafting their own reports. The Committee appointed by the Bombay

Legislative Council to co-operate with the Simon Commission, after

hearing both official and non-official evidence relating to the constitutional

problem30 submitted later their report on May 7, 1929. They suggested 10

reserved seats for the depressed classes with joint electorates and 33

percent of elected seats out of 140 seats to the Muslims with separate

electorates. Ambedkar then dealt with the Muslim demand for separate

electorates.31 Ambedkar started two hostels in the beginning of June 1928,

and closing down the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha on June 14, 1928, he

established the depressed classes Education Society to organise the school

education of his community on a sound basis. He appealed to the Bombay

Government to help the depressed classes education society in its work of

29
Report of the Indian Statutory Commission, p.37-49.
30
Ibid., Vol.XVI, Survey, p.56.
31
Ibid., Vol.III, Appendix D, pp.87-156.
 142

providing hostels for the benefit of students of the depressed classes, who

were unable to bear the burden of high school education. The Government

approved the scheme on October 8, 1928 and the governor declared that he

would sanction a scheme for five hostels for the special benefit of

secondary school students belonging to the depressed classes.32

Ambedkar’s Education Society was a recognized institution under the

charitable society registration Act XXI of 1861. Ambedkar himself was

the general secretary. The jobs in the lower categories of services and

military that were demanded by Ambedkar for the depressed classes were

not enough to raise them in the scale of life. So Ambedkar had to collect

donations from different quarters. Charity Fund in July 1929, giving

details about his institutions propagated that the aim of the Educational

Society was to do all that was possible to spread education among the

depressed classes of the Bombay Presidency. The problem of education of

the depressed classes or untouchables was beset with difficulty from one

more side. In spite of government directive in the matter of admission,

children of the depressed classes were refused admission to schools.

Ambedkar had to fight out the issue in schools.33

Jalgaon Conference

During the second and third quarters of 1929, Ambedkar

attended and guided a number of conferences. In April 1929, he was

32
Report of the Indian Statutory Commission, Vol.VIII, Appendix D., pp.87-156.
33
Ambedkar, B.R., Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol.I,
Maharashtra, 1979, p.79.
 143

invited to preside over the Ratnagiri District Conference at Chiplun. Great

efforts had to be made for securing a site for the conference pandal. Fear

lurked in the minds of the Orthodox Hindus that there would be a repetition

of the Mahad incident, and the untouchable Hindus might pollute their

wells if the conference was held in their town. So they closed their wells

with great care and caution as if there was an enemy raid. Ambedkar and

his party put up for two days at the Dak Bungalow in chiplun. Yet another

important conference was awaiting Ambedkar’s guidance at Jalgaon. It

was convened by the depressed classes of central provinces and Berar on

May 29, 1929.34 These conferences gave a fillip to Ambedkar’s

movement. The depressed classes adopted more drastic measures in their

internal boycott of the defaulters of their vows. As they refused to carry

away dead animals and wore the sacred threads, the high caste Hindus

harassed them in every possible way. In response to their complaints and

grievances, at a public meeting in Bombay, under the presidentship of

Bole, Ambedkar sounded a warning to the oppressors against harassing the

depressed classes. A controversy raged over the activities of the Social

Equality League conducted by Ambedkar and his friends. This year again

Ambedkar fought for the right of worshipping the image of Ganapati at a

public place, in Bombay. The leader of the depressed classes was now

busy with the proceedings of the State Committee appointed by the

34
The Bahishkrit Bharat, 31 May, 1929.
 144

Bombay government following a resolution by Dr. P.G. Solanki to inquire

into the educational, economic and social condition of the depressed

classes (untouchables).35

Round Table Conference

In November 1930 the Simon Commission recommended a

Round Table Conference in London. The leaders of different political

parties were called to London for it. Ambedkar was invited as the

representative of the untouchables. Ambedkar, the father of Indian social

unrest, launched his temple entry movement at Nasik, the depressed classes

at Nasik had formed a Satyagraha Committee and through its secretary,

Bhaurao gaikwad informed the Trustees of the famous Kalaram Temple

that they would launch Satyagraha. This historic struggle thus commenced

on the morning of March 3, 1930. Untouchables in several villages were

maltreated. The Nasik struggle had engaged his mind. In May 1930, the

Patro Committee appointed by the All-party Conference met in Bombay,

Ambedkar was invited to attend its meeting, which he did. First session of

the depressed classes congress was held at Nagpur on August 8, 1930

under the presidentship of Ambedkar. Ambedkar received the invitation to

the Round Table Conference through the Viceroy on September 6, 1930.

On the eve of Ambedkar’s departure for England, he was given a grand

send-off by the untouchables in Bombay. Ambedkar left Bombay for

35
Ambedkar, B.R., op.cit., p.80.
 145

London on October 4, 1930. As regards the Round Table Conference,

Ambedkar said it was definitely advantageous from the point of view of the

depressed classes.36 The curtain was raised on November 12, 1930.

During the course of a general discussion which took place from 17th

November to 21st November. Ambedkar made very sincere and impressive

speeches. Ambedkar upheld the demand for Dominion status, but

expressed doubts as to whether the depressed classes would heir to it unless

the political machinery for the new constitution was of a special make.37

The effect of this powerful speech of Ambedkar was a tremendous on the

newspapers also. The English newspaper and pressmen devoted their

attention to the leader of the depressed classes. The most important work

Ambedkar did to achieve his goal was the preparation of the Declaration of

Fundamental Rights safeguarding the cultural, religious and economic

rights of the depressed classes. He prepared the scheme with great labour

and statesmanship and submitted it to the Minorities Sub Committee for

being included in the future constitution of India. The title of the scheme

was “A scheme of political safeguards for the protection of the depressed

classes in the future constitution of a self-governing India”. The

36
Bose, S.C., The Indian Struggle (1920-1942), London, 1935, p.41.
37
Indian Round Table Conference, 1930-1931, Proceedings, pp.123-29. The first
Indian Round Table Conference was held in London, November 12 – January
19, 1931. 60 to 70 Indian representatives picked up by the Viceroy attended
the meeting. B.R. Ambedkar, a lawyer, was one of the most prominent Indian
delegates – representing the backward class – referred to as “Untouchables” in
India.
 146

Declaration of Fundamental Rights said that the depressed classes must be

given the right of equal citizenship in common with other citizens of the

state, abolishing untouchability and any other penalty, disadvantage,

disability or discrimination in law should be stopped. The result was that

the world came to know for the first time that the fate of the untouchables

in India was worse than that of the Negroes in America.38 Before leaving

London, Ambedkar expressed his opinion, but so far as the rights of the

depressed classes were concerned, it was tremendous success, he added.

The notable contribution of this session was the solid outcome of definite

emergence of the depressed classes in the political picture of India.39

Ambedkar arrived in Bombay on February 27, 1931. Meantime Ambedkar

had convened a Leaders’ Conference in Bombay, which met in the

Gokhale Education Society’s Hall at Parel, on April 1931. All prominent

depressed class leaders participated. Ambedkar submitted a report of the

work which he had done at the Round Table Conference – Just then the

government of Bombay announced that the police department was thrown

open for recruitment to the depressed classes. Ambedkar’s ceaseless

efforts now began to bear fruit. Although it was a small opening, it meant

38
Ambedkar’s letter, 19 December 1930 (Quoted in Kadam, K.N., Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar and the Significance of his movements: A Chronology, Bombay,
1991).
39
Ambedkar’s letter, 21 January 1931 (Quoted in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Writings
and Speeches (1982) Dr. Ambedkar in the Bombay Legislature, with the
Simon Commission and at the Round Table Conference, 1927-1939, Vol.2,
Maharastra, Mumbai).
 147

much, economically and fundamentally Ambedkar was now a force to

reckon with. The agitation he had sponsored, the work he did in India, and

the prestige he attained at the Round Table Conference were bringing

sufficient pressure upon the government to change its attitude towards the

depressed classes. In May 1931, according to Gandhi-Irwin pact, it was

agreed that the congress should participate in the Second Round Table

Conference. The crux of the whole discussion was the communal problem.

It included the question of separate electorates for untouchables. Gandhiji

had claims to the leadership of the untouchables, which Ambedkar

opposed. In June the untouchables of Trichur, in the Cochin State sought

Ambedkar’s advice whether they should participate in any congress move

for the temple entry. Ambedkar advised them not to depend upon

Congress help as it would not be renowned to their credit and added that

they should win their freedom by their own efforts. Just at this time the

names of the delegates to the second session of the Round Table

Conference were announced in the third week of July 1931.40

Ambedkar, Sastri, Sapru, Jayakar, Setalvad, Malaviya

Sarojini Naidu, Gandhi, Mirza Ismail, Jinnah, Ramaswami Mudaliyar and

others were invited to attend the Conference in London. Ambedkar went

to meet Gandhi on August 14, 1931, at Manibhuvan at two in the

afternoon. This period was called as Ambedkar’s war with Gandhi. After

40
Ambedkar’s Letter, 21 January 1931 and Speeches, 1982, Vol.2. p.96.
 148

talking with Gandhi, the interview sounded the beginning of a war between

Gandhi and Ambedkar. It is however, surprising to note here that Gandhi

thought that Ambedkar was not a Harijan. Till he went to London, he

thought he was some Brahmin who took deep interest in Harijans and

therefore talked intemperately.41 Ambedkar reached London on August 29,

1931, as a leader of the untouchables. The second session of the Round

Table Conference commenced on September 7, 1931. It represented the

depressed classes because removal of untouchability was a plan on the

political platform of the congress. Ambedkar was sure, the words

depressed classes would have been a matter of history by that time.

Ambedkar at once pointed out his own cause and said that in spite of his

education he was still an untouchable.42

Ambedkar then thundered that if the depressed classes were

not going to be recognized in the future constitution of India, as was done

by the minorities sub-committee during the first session of the Round

Table Conference, he would neither join that particular committee nor

whole-heartedly support the proposition for adjournment.43 As a result of

his successful compromise with the government just before he came,

Mr. Gandhi treated the whole non-congress delegation with contempt. He

41
The Diary of Mahadeo Desai, Vol.I, Ahamedabad, 1953, p.52.
42
Proceedings of Federal Structure Committee and Minorities Committe,
London, 1931, p.527.
43
Proceedings of Federal Structure Committee and Minorities Committee, op.cit.,
p.534.
 149

insulted them whenever an occasion furnished him with an excuse by

openly telling them that they were nobodies and that he alone, as the

delegate of the Congress, represented the country. Mr. Gandhi had many

platitudes to utter but no view or suggestion of a constructive character to

offer.44 The last meeting of the minorities committee in Round Table

Conference took place when leading representatives of the Muslims, the

depressed classes, a section of the Christians, Europeans and Anglo-

Indians jointly submitted a Memorandum. The memorandum also

demanded recruitment of the depressed classes to public services. Besides

this memorandum, Ambedkar and Srinivasan put a supplementary

memorandum, asking for special representation for the depressed classes in

all provincial legislatures and in the Central Assembly in proportion to

their population in India. Their last demand was for a change of

nomenclature namely, that they should be called “non-caste Hindus”,

“Protestant Hindus” or “non-Conformist Hindus” instead of depressed

classes.45 To the depressed classes Ambedkar now became a symbol of

strength, hope and ambition. The dead cells of the depressed classes were

filled with new energy, new blood and new inspiration. That energy,

vision and consciousness would hold on in spite of difficulties and dangers.

44
Ambedkar, B.R., What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the
Untouchables?, Bombay, 1945, p.55.
45
Proceedings of Federal Structure Committee and Minorities Committee, op.cit.,
pp.563-564.
 150

Ambedkar immediately left for Delhi to take part in the proceedings of the

Franchise Committee headed by Lord Lothian, on his way to Delhi, he was

enthusiastically received at every station by the depressed classes, the

depressed classes greeted Ambedkar with great enthusiasm at every

place.46 Depressed class leaders supported the scheme of separate

electorates as they feared that in the system of joint electorates with

reserved seats the candidates of the depressed classes would be at the

mercy of the majority of electorates and in order to win their votes

they would have to pander to their prejudices or there would be every

possibility of the seats being occupied by the stooges of the majority

community.

On August 14, 1932, British premier had given his Award on

the communal issue in India. According to this Award, the depressed

classes were granted separate seats in the Provincial Assemblies and the

right of double vote under which they were to elect their own

representatives and to vote also in the general constituencies. The

Communal Award perpetuated divisions among the Indians. It, so to say,

politically balkanized India. It gave separate electorates to the Muslims,

Sikhs, Europeans and Christians. The main object of the Award, in the

46
The Janatas, 30 January, 1932.
 151

words of the Bombay chronicle, was to turn the national majority of the

Hindus into a minority.47

Yet the communal Award was developing into a great

political crisis in which Ambedkar would be dangerously involved.

Gandhi opposed it and launched a fast unto death to get it changed.

Naturally all eyes turned to Ambedkar as a man of the moment. It was a

cruel irony of fate that the leaders and the press that had refused to

recognize Ambedkar as the leader of the depressed classes were now

compelled to recognize his leadership and spokemanship for the depressed

classes. He now became the cynosure of the whole country. The

declaration of the fast unto death by Gandhi made the people learn more

about the condition of the untouchables and opened their eyes for a while

to the passion that was smoothening in the bosoms of the untouchables.

Though Ambedkar was adamant on separate electorates with reservation of

seats at the intervention of Sapru, Jayakar, Malaviya and others,48 Gandhi

protested by fasting and was imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of

Poona. The fast provoked huge civil unrest across India and orthodox

Hindu leaders, Congress politicians and activists organised joint meetings

with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yerwada. Fearing a communal

repraisal and genocidal acts against untouchables, Ambedkar was coerced

into agreement with Gandhi. This agreement which saw Gandhi end his

47
The Bombay Chronicle, 18 August 1932. Bombay Chronicle was an English –
language Newspaper, Published from Mumbai, started in 1910, by Mehta.
48
Ibid.
 152

fast and Ambedkar drop his demand for a separate electorate, was called

the Poona pact, 24, September 1931.49 Instead a certain number of seats

were reserved specifically for untouchables who in the agreement were

called the depressed class.50 As a result of the pact, the caste Hindu leaders

seemed to have taken readily to the temple entry movement. In the early

twenties Gandhi was not in favour of temple entry of the untouchables and

was also against inter-dining. The struggle for temple entry launched by

Ambedkar at Nasik, in March 1930 and at Guruvayur by Kelappan in

November 1931 had been neglected so far by congressmen. Kelappan

went on a fast from September 21, 1932, declaring that he would not stop it

till the doors of the temple at Guruvayur were thrown open to the

untouchables. In the years 1932-1933, Ambedkar was a member of the

Third Round Table Conference held in London and in respect of the

depressed classes it was decided that provision should be made to

enfranchise a larger position of the depressed classes. At this Gandhi

extended the time-limit for entering upon the fast and declared that he

would not commence the fast till January 1, 1933, but would await the

decision of the governor-general. Ambedkar differed from Gandhi, he was

convinced that if the untouchables made progress in the economic,

educational and political fields, temple entry would follow automatically.

49
Omvedt, Gail, “Apart that Parted”, (National Essays), Outlook India, 12
August, 2012.
50
Vasant G. Gandhi, “Gandhi’s Epic Fast”, 1932, Article, Ambedkar Vs
Gandhi, was published in “ONE India ONE PEOPLE” Magazine.
 153

He stressed the same point in his message given to the first number of

Harijan started by Gandhi on February 11, 1933 to propagate the cause of

the untouchables. The untouchables were determined not to tolerate a

religion which tried to defend social inequality. Ambedkar visited the

Hostel of the depressed class students on April 4, 1933 which was then

removed to the Agakhan’s bungalow at Jhana. Next week Ambedkar

addressed a conference of the depressed classes at Sopare. On April 12, he

and V.G. Rao, the then chairman of the schools committee, Bombay

Municipality51 were honoured, the latter for his services to the cause of

education of depressed classes. In April 1933, Ambedkar had talks with

Gandhi for revision of the Poona pact. Between 1932-1934, he was a

member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Constitutional

Reforms. In June 1934, Ambedkar was appointed as a part-time professor

at the Government Law College, Bombay. In 1935, Ambedkar was

appointed as 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. 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 in

51
The Vividha Vritta, 26 March 1933. Vividha Vritta, a well known Marathi
Weekly.
 154

spite of the Hindus of Pandharpur who treated them as untouchables.52 In

October 1935, a provincial conference of the depressed classes was held at

Yeola in Nasik district. In his presidential address he announced his

decision to leave Hinduism “I was born in Hinduism but I will not die as a

Hindu” was his solemn resolve.53

In the middle of December 1935, Ambedkar addressed a

meeting at Foras Road, Bombay and declared that the issue of conversion

would be first decided at a Mahar Conference which he was contemplating

and he was invited to address the annual conference of the Jat-pat-Todak

Mandal at Lahore in 1936. His speech draft was not accepted by the

organisers and so, not delivered. This proposed speech was published as

“Annihilation of Caste” later. In May 1936, he addressed the Bombay

Presidency Mahar Conference and advocated his renunciation of

Hinduism.54 Ambedkar had declared that the untouchables by their

struggle would purify Hinduism and wash its stains with their blood. In

those days he had even signed the telegraphic memorandum sent to the

52
Pritchett W. Frances “In the 1930s” mentioned in A time line of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar Life, In the 1930’s Conflict, Controversy and Congress, America,
2006, p.3.
53
Narasinha Chintaman Kelkar, “Autobiography” (Marathi Literature), Bombay,
1944, p.959. Dr. Ambedkar was now in the midst of his career, this was the
central and perhaps most controversy filled decade of his whole complete life.
54
Kelkar, N.C., op.cit., p.960.
 155

Goa Government protesting against the arrests of the Hindu Missionaries

who had carried the re-conversion movement in Goa.55

Labour Party

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.56 On his report to the Viceroy about Bombay

Presidency Election, the Governor of Bombay Lord Brabourne said that

“Dr. Ambedkar’s boast of winning, not only the 15 seats which are

reserved for the Harijans, but also a good many more looks like completely

falsified,57 Ambedkar published his book “The Annihilation of Caste” in

the same year. In this book, he strongly criticized Hindu orthodox

religious leaders and the caste system in general.58 Ambedkar served on

the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy’s Executive Council as

minister for labour.59

55
Kshirasagar, S.D., “The History of Gomantak Shuddhi Movement” (Marathi),
1995, Appendix I, p.32.
56
Jaffrelot, Christophe, “Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability”, Analysing and
Fighting Caste, London, 2005, p.5.
57
Chopra, A.N., Experiments with Provincial Autonomy, Vol.I, 1937-1947, New
Delhi, Indian Council of Historical Research, 1985, pp.123-125.
58
Bhal Chandra, Mungekar. “Annihilating Caste”, Frontline, Vol.28, Issue 15,
2011.
59
Jaffrelot, Christophe, op.cit., p.5.
 156

The year 1936 was drawing to a close and the year 1937 was

to witness the inauguration of the Provincial Autonomy under the

Government of India Act, 1935. To that end Ambedkar, too began to lay

down his plans. After discussions with his colleagues, he founded a new

political party called the Independent Labour Party in August 1936 and

drew up a comprehensive programme which answered all the immediate

needs of the poor tenants, landless, agriculturists and workers. India was

now preparing for a giant stride for the removal of untouchability. A few

days earlier the Mysore State Government had declared for the first time in

its history that the Harijans would take part in the Dasara Durbar

celebrations. In the wake of this declaration came out a bold, revolutionary

temple entry proclamation by the Travancore State throwing open to the

depressed classes about 1,600 State-Controlled temples. It, indeed, opened

a new chapter in the history of Hindustan and Hinduism.60

Mahar Watan Bill

In the third week of August 1937, Mahar Watan Bill

proposing salaries for the ministers at rupees 500 per mensem plus house

and carriage allowances came up for consideration before the Assembly.

Ambedkar who was absent during the general budget discussion, opposed

the Bill on many grounds. On September 17, 1937 during the Poona

session of the Bombay Assembly, he introduced a Bill to abolish the khoti

60
The Times of India, 28 December 1941.
 157

system of land tenure in Konkan. Ambedkar was the first legislator in

India to introduce a Bill for the abolition of the serfdom of agricultural

tenants. By his bill, he aimed at abolishing the tenure with a view to secure

occupational rights to the tenants. He desired abolition of the khoti tenure

and substitution of the ryotwari system, to make provision for payment of

reasonable compensation to the khots for the loss of their rights and to give

those inferior holders, who were in actual possession of land, the status of

occupants within the meaning of the Land Revenue Code, 1879. But as the

Government postponed the issue, Ambedkar could not move the Bill.

Ambedkar also introduced a Bill to abolish the Mahar Vatan for which he

had been agitating since 1927. It was at last abolished under the Bombay

inferior Village Vatans Abolition Act I of 1939. On December 30, 1937,

Ambedkar left for Pandharpur to preside at the Sholapur District

Conference of the depressed classes. The conference supported whole-

heartedly the Mahar Vatan Bill introduced in the Assembly by their

leader.61 Meanwhile, the consideration of the Industrial Disputes Bill was

taken up in September 1938 by the Bombay Legislative Assembly.

Ambedkar and Jamnadas Mehta opposed the Bill tooth and nail. In the last

week of December 1938, Ambedkar presided over the Aurangabad District

Depressed Classes Conference at Aurangabad.62 In his message to the

61
The Times of India, 4 January 1938.
62
The Jatata, 31 December, 1938.
 158

Hyderabad Depressed Classes Ambedkar stressed the importance of the

self-respect movement. In 1938, the Congress Party introduced a bill

making a change in the name of untouchables (i.e. they would be called

Harijans) Ambedkar criticized the bill, saying that the change of name

would make no real change in their conditions. During the first quarter of

1941, Ambedkar was very busy with the problem of recruitment of the

untouchables, especially the Mahars who are famous for their fighting

qualities. Thereupon Government decided to raise a Mahar Battalion, and

Ambedkar issued an appeal to the Mahars to seize the opportunity both for

their own sake and for the sake of the country. In the last week of July

1941, Ambedkar protested against the injustice done to the claims of the

depressed classes. Two weeks later Ambedkar addressed some meetings,

stressing the needs for joining the military forces. Ambedkar took keen

interest in the militarization movement, and he attended the second session

of the National Defence Council in the first week of December 1941. The

third session of the Defence Council was held in February 1942. About

this time Ambedkar was working on a book entitled What The Hindus

Have Done To Us.63

Cripps asked Ambedkar whether he represented the labour or

the depressed classes and asked him also about the strength of his party.

63
It was subsequently published under the title “what congress and Gandhi have
done to the untouchables”.
 159

That gave a turn to his role and once again Ambedkar thought it wise to

resume the leadership of the depressed classes in the interest of his people

for whom he had been fighting all along the past 25 years. He therefore

convened on March 30 and 31, 1942, a conference of the leaders of the

depressed classes who were present in Delhi and held consultations with

them on the cripps proposals. After a gap of ten years, he held an All-India

Depressed Classes Conference at Nagpur, in July 1942, with a view to

creating an All-India organization with distinct aims and purposes in

co-operation with all the inter-provincial forces. In Conference, Ambedkar

described the cripps proposals as a great betrayal of the depressed classes.

From July 17 to 20, 1942 Ambedkar addressed the All-India Scheduled

Castes Conference at Nagpur. The political demands of the conference

were then incorporated in the paper he submitted to the pacific relations

conference, at Mont Termbland, Que bee. It was subsequently published

under the title of Mr. Gandhi and the emancipation of the uncouthables.64

In June 1942, Ambedkar was appointed to the Executive Council of the

governor-general of India as a Labour Member.65 In February 1945,

Ambedkar’s Pakistan or The Portion of India was published. He founded

the people’s education society which started a college on June 20, 1946. In

August 1945, Ambedkar spoke at the inauguration of the school of politics,

64
Quoted in full by Bhide Guruji in Free Hindustan, 14 April, 1946.
65
The Free Press Journal, 26 September 1944.
 160

Pune. He said “I do not propose to found a school or creed of my own”.

He appealed to the students to follow his lead only if they were satisfied in

their minds that he was right. The scheduled castes agitation started with a

march to the meeting of the All-India Congress Committee which was held

in Bombay on July 15, 1946. On June 20, 1946, the Siddhartha College

was started by Ambedkar in Bombay. Ambedkar was facing a political

paralysis and it was a very severe blow to the life long efforts which he had

made towards the cause of the untouchables. His only point was that the

scheduled castes should be given due representation in the Executives and

Legislatures.66 He was working desperately to achieve that end. The

Muslim League which joined the Interim Cabinet on October 26, 1946 had

been up with Jogendranath Mandal as Law Minister in the Interim

Government. The scheduled castes had now two seats in the central

cabinet. In September 1946, Ambedkar went to England to plead for

constitutional safeguards for the untouchables after the withdrawal of

British from India, which he visualized in the near future. On October 13,

1946, Ambedkar’s book “Who were the Sudras” was published. It is the

thesis of Ambedkar that the Sudras were Kshatriyas. They were Dasas and

Dasyus.67 On November 5, 1946 Ambedkar addressed a meeting of the

Conservative India Committee in the House of Commons. He demanded

66
Ambedkar, B.R., Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah, Bombay, 1943, pp.36-37.
67
Desai, H.V., Mothyancha Mulakati (Marathi), Pune, 1950, p.26.
 161

the abrogation of the Poona Pact and restoration of Mac Donald’s

Communal Award. In November 1946, Ambedkar was elected to the

constituent Assembly from Bengal. In the next month, in his first speech

in the constituent Assembly, he called for United India. In March 1947,

Ambedkar’s “States and Minorities” was published.68 In August 1947,

Ambedkar was appointed by the Constituent Assembly on the drafting

committee which elected him as its chairman.

Role of Ambedkar in Drafting Indian Constitution

Ambedkar served as the nation’s first law minister which he

accepted. On 29 August 1947 Ambedkar was appointed as the Chairman

of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write

India’s new constitution.69 Granville Austin has described the Indian

Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as “first and foremost a social

document”. The majority of India’s Constitutional provisions are either

directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to

foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its

achievement.70 The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional

guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual

68
The Free Press Journal, 28 November, 1947.
69
On August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee
under the Chairmanship of B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a Draft Constitution for
India.
70
Granville Austin, “The Indian Constitution, Corner Stone of a Nation”,
England, 1966, p.302.
 162

citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and

the outlawing of all forms of discrimination.71 As chairman of the drafting

committee he represented the Constituent Assembly to draft constitution of

India. He was called the “Architect of Indian Constitution”. India’s law

makers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities and lack of

opportunities for India’s depressed classes through these measures. The

constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent

Assembly. Ambedkar resigned from the Cabinet in 1951.72 He was

appointed to the upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in March

1952, and would remain as member till death.73

In October 1948 Ambedkar’s ‘The Untouchables’ was

published. On 5th February 1951, Ambedkar introduced his Hindu Code

Bill in Parliament, on behalf of the Government.74 On 5th June 1952,

Columbia University at its special convocation conferred the degree of

Doctor of Laws and Letters (LLD) on Ambedkar. Colombia University

hailed Ambedkar as one of India’s leading citizens, a great social reformer

and a valiant upholder of human rights. In January 12, 1953 – Osmania

71
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, Constitutional Law, Delhi,
1947, p.23.
72
Chandrababu, B.S., and Thilagavathi, L., “Women, Her History and her
Struggle for Emancipation, Chennai, 2009, pp.297, 298.
73
Alphabetical List of all members of Rajya Sabha since 1952, Serial Number 69
in the list.
74
The Times of India, 7 February 1951.
 163

University conferred on Ambedkar, the honorary degree of Doctor of

Laws.75 In December 1955, he published his book ‘Thoughts on Linguistic

States”. The working Committee of the Scheduled Castes Federation

under its president Dr. Ambedkar expressed itself by a resolution on

August 27, 1955 in favour of abolition of reservation of seats for scheduled

castes in the central and state Legislatures and District Local Boards

throughout the country from June to October 1956. Ambedkar stayed at

his Delhi residence, 26 Alipore Road76 and on December 6, 1956,

Ambedkar died. His death was mourned by lakhs of people as their

personal loss.

It was he who organised, united and inspired the Dalits to

effectively use political means towards their goal of social equality. Dr.

Ambedkar wrote books on Economics, History, Law, Sociology, Politics

and Comparative religion. He published “Moonk Nayak” (Voice of the

Dumb) the first of many newspapers of Dalits. He led numerous protests

and in 1935, when he felt that there was no way to change the Hindu caste

system, he declared “he would not die a hindu” setting in motion, a

movement, he founded political parties that successfully politicized the

Dalits throughout Maharastra and in due course all over India.77

75
The Illustrated Weekly of India, 12 July 1953.
76
Babasaheb Ambedkar, B,R, Buddha or Karl Marx, Delhi, 2009, p.20.
77
Narendra Jhadhav, Untouchables (My family’s triumphant journey out of the
caste system in Modern India), California, 2007, p.16.
 164

Dr. Ambedkar submitted a concrete programme of action called “A scheme

of political safeguard for the protection of the depressed classes in the

future constitution of a self-governing India. This document constituted

the declaration of fundamental rights for Dalits. It called for equal

citizenship for Dalits, abolition of untouchability and the banning by law of

discrimination. It demanded adequate representation for Dalits in public

service commission, in the legislature, separate electorates. Dr. Babasaheb

Ambedkar touched the lives of millions of Dalits. It is usual to hear all

those who feel moved by the deplorable condition of the untouchable

themselves by uttering the words ‘we must do something for the

untouchables”. One seldom hears any of the persons interested in the

problem saying “let us do something to change the touchable hindu”.78

Ambedkar became the chief spoke person for scheduled castes who

demanded recognition as a separate entity similar in status to Muslims,

Sikhs and Christians.79 Ambedkar is the “father of the constitution” as well

as “father of the Dalit Movement”.

The contribution of Dr. Ambedkar to the Emancipation of the

Depressed Classes, his advocacy of social justice and related subjects have

been studied in depth by the scholars. Ambedkar argued that “Depressed

classes needed full political protection because of their backwardness in

78
Chandra Dip Singh, Dalit Ethnography, Encyclopaedia of Dalit Ethnography,
Vol.I, New Delhi, 2009, p.95.
79
Eva-Maria Hareb Emann, The Dalit Movement in India, Germany, 2013, p.26.
 165

education, their poverty and social slavery. He demanded reserved seats

with adult franchise, separate electorates, tracing the growth of

constitutionalism at different stages such as the Act of 1853, the Act of

1861, the Act of 1862 and Act of 1909, he related that there had always

been an “ingenious attempt made by the British government to make the

legislature independent and at the same time to muzzle it”.80 During this

period Ambedkar was fully engrossed in welfare programmes for the

depressed classes and other oppressed sections of Indian society. The Act

of 1919 recognized the separate existence of the depressed classes for the

first time in Indian history. They had been given representation by

nomination in response to the demand of separate electorates and reserved

seats in proportion to their population made by Ambedkar before the South

Borough Committee (1918). The proposals made by Karam Veer Shinde

on behalf of the Depressed Class Mission (1920), that the representatives

of untouchables should be selected by the members of the Legislative

Council and not by government or an institution belonging to the

untouchables held on May 30 to June 1, 1920.81 Ambedkar viewed

untouchability as an institutionalized expression of socio-religious

oppression and exploitation by the dominant leaders. Ambedkar concluded

that nothing can emancipate the outcaste except the destruction of the

80
Kusum Sharma, Ambedkar and Indian Constitution, New York, 2000, p.14.
81
Kusum Sharma, op.cit., p.41.
 166

system. For many years, he tried to improve the lot of untouchables by

means of struggle. He argued that the salvation of the depressed classes

will come only when the caste Hindu is made to think and is forced to feel

in that he must alter his ways. Further he stated that “I want a revolution in

the mentality of the caste Hindus”. During all these years up till June 1947

Ambedkar sensed that the congress has usurped the politics of

untouchables.82 The period from 1947 to 1957 was for Ambedkar a period

of creative co-operation with congress government. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar was one of the great sons of Modern India. Dr. Ambedkar was

a profound scholar, a brilliant intellectual, an eminent lawyer, a

constitutional pandit, an able and efficient administrator, a gifted orator,

and effective parliamentarian, a great educationalist, a great patriot, a

dedicated democratist, a creator of social justice, a creative writer,

successful and powerful journalist, a militant champion of the

untouchables, a daring social reformer, great politician and party maker,

great editor, eminent professor and above all, a great humanist. All these

qualities are bundled in one personality, whose memory never fades in the

minds of the suffering masses and failing millions for many years to

overcome.83 Ambedkar was critical of Gandhi, despite his Harijan word

(Children of God) Cliché. He was skeptical of Gandhian philosophy. To

82
Mohammad Shabbir, Ambedkar on Law, Constitution and Social Justice, New
Delhi, 2008, p.43.
83
Jyothi Devindra, op.cit., Jaipur, 2011, p.13.
 167

reveal his suspicion he said “Examine the Gandhian attitude to strikes, the

Gandhian reverence for caste and Gandhian doctrine of Trusteeship of the

rich.84

Ambedkar’s life constituted a proof that the strength in the

seed to rise is not dead among the suppressed castes in India. His life

provides an example and an inspiration to the downtrodden masses of

humanity.

All these works of Ambedkar helped the Christian

Missionaries who settled in South Travancore which is the present

Kanyakumari District. Understanding the impact of the works of

Ambedkar, the missionaries taught equality and freedom of speech and

actions to the schedule castes are consequently the double tumbler system,

untouchability and other social liabilities began to vanish in Kanyakumari.

It gave a morale boost to the dalits to progress further.

84
Abdul Majid, Future of Untouchables in India, A Case Study of Dalit, South
Asian Studies, University of the Punjab, 2012, p.275.