Ambedkar: a dispassionate assessment
I would like to share my individual and personal views on Ambedkar, a path breaker and rebel iconoclast I have tremendous regard for. This said, he perhaps needs to be also viewed through a prism that has been sidestepped in contemporary India.
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 Maratha empire and the British. Maharashtra demonstrated the spirit of intellectual defiance and social activism from the days of the medieval Hindu saints Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram to the reformer Jyotibha Phule in the 1800s. Ambedkar inherited that Maharastrian mantle to rebel and not conform.
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, a school I had incidentally studied at, and a second Ph.D. in Economics from the University of London. He was briefly enrolled 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 also 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 Jawaharlal Nehru for purportedly 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 India’s Dalits can never be disputed. He serves as a remarkable role model for millions of Dalits to this day.
In my personal view, Ambedkar had shortcomings as well, often glossed over in the Indian media and academia. 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 anti-colonial 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 Indian history and religion were far fetched and unsupported by evidence. Towards the end, he became 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 after all is to jettison caste, not reinforce it.
A desperate Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in a dramatic fashion just seven weeks before he died! Malcolm X in the United States rejected Christianity for similar reasons and adopted Islam in order to provide dignity to the African-American. Ambedkar was harsh in his assessment of Hinduism. Many traditional Buddhists do not consider his radical interpretation of their religion to be in keeping with the teachings of the Buddha. He rejected the central Buddhist concepts of Samsara and rebirth. Indian neo-Buddhists view him as a Bodhisattva. On Islam he made these comments in 1946:
“No words can adequately express the great and many evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery to a Muslim woman. Take the caste system. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. […] [While slavery existed], much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries. While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse. But if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans has remained”.
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 inner reconciliation and healing. Theirs 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 and universal humanism that healed the injustices of the past. Mandela had been jailed for 27 years in contrast to Ambedkar who was never imprisoned. The British in fact had made Ambedkar a cabinet minister. Both King and Mandela attributed their political inspiration to Mohandas K. Gandhi.
That said, Ambedkar remained an outstanding lawyer, politician, economist and educationalist. He reminds us of our shared guilt as Hindus i.e. the injustice of “untouchability”. The Dalit agenda of dignity, respect and equal opportunity needs to be addressed once and for all not just in India but in the Sri Lankan North in order to heal the scars on our collective psyche.
I would recommend two books for the interested:
(i) Koenraad Elst, “Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar,” New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993
(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 useful information glossed over by the Indian media. Elst presents Ambedkar in a positive light while he simultaneously dismisses the contemporary Dalit re-rendering of Ambedkar’s legacy.
(This was first published in the Sri Lanka Guardian. Republished with permission.)
Ashley…. Amen!
hi naresh & all
the person who was brought up by britishers – educated by britishers – who was made famous by britishers and who served all his life for britishers while millions of innocent Indians brutally died at the hands of britishers and yet he is called the greatest Indian after Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi even after 67 years of our independence is a huge insult – abject humiliation & an absolute disgrace for 125+ crore people of our nation.
who was a slave of britishers – who followed all the rules – regulations & education of britishers – who created a deep wedge among hindus on the basis of caste – subcaste & sections as per the instructions of britishers and who enjoyed all the luxuries of life thanks to royal britishers while thousands of young – middle aged & old indian patriots were getting severely punished – horrendously tortured & savagely murdered in the prison cells of Andaman,Port-Blair all at the pure hands of his masters – the great britishers and surprise – surprise – yet – he is called the messiah of dalits – poor & underpriviled Indians.
I won’t say more – I won’t elaborate the amazing deeds of this great person any further – all I would say is – Demons ie. britishers destroyed India – Demons’s own child ie. Congress continued this destruction with perfection and that’s why Mr. Ambedkar is a ‘Hero’ of all our Indians.
regards to all the ‘Lovers of Shri-Shri-Shri Ambedkar’
Harihara, the Dalits are being slowly integrated despite severe setbacks on the road to equality. Its two steps forward and one step back. The Dalits are now represented in India’s central and state-level political leadership, judicial leadership, military leadership, civil service, education enrolment, corporate business and intermarriage. A lot lot more needs to be done but the road to integration has started. Its now a question of health for the poor, poverty alleviation, the rights of the agricultural landless worker and sanitation for the poor.
This is like the journey of the African American in the United States. After 300 years, they finally had a Black President while the Founding Fathers of America were slave owners in the late 1700s!
Btw, the Shruti, Itihasa, Purana will not and should not be replaced!
Very nice to hear ; but your saying “Btw, the Shruti, Itihasa, Purana will not and should not be replaced!’ may not be acceptible to the continuously “”integrating”” dalits and certainly not so to the reformer Ambedkar, as well known . So Ambedkar Smriti will prevail over Shruti angas Smriti Vedanta itihasa and purana all of which can be burnt or put in museum and periodically pulled out to heckle others
Dream on Harihara!! The Ambedkar Smriti will never prevail as it is a flawed one based on someone who did not know history or Buddhism. Its not Buddhism. Asian Buddhists do not accept his read of their religion. The Shruti, Itihasa, Purana and Vedanta will remain as the heritage of humanity.
Well; Reality is different; like anything on earth, in the road of time, the good in everything past, incluing that of heritage is interred in bones or in museum; Thisis specially so in our mahaan bhaarat ; as to smritis only those which enable easy pot boiling will sustain Not those which fill the mind and feeling and intellect
Amakant, the neo-Buddhists are not real Buddhists but quasi-Christians. The Christian evangelist project had targeted neo-Buddhists in India in the last 15 years precisely because their Buddhism is shallow. It is but Christianity with a “Buddhist” veneer.
The vast majority of Dalits in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan remained Hindu. Dalits in Pakistan and Bangladesh immigrated to India on account of the persecution they faced as Hindus. They retained their Hinduism rather than embrace Islam. And this led to their forced exodus to India as refugees.
The caste Hindu needs to integrate the Dalit. What happened in Badaun was heinous.
The Modi administration did the right thing in empowering
Dalits such as Ram Vilas Paswan who need to represent India as it is – inclusive, enlightened and Hindu.
“The caste Hindu needs to integrate the Dalit” is one view. But noone suggesting HOW ??This may be realized possible only when all follow through an amendment to constitution that irrespective of rights, all castees should marry the dalits only for SEVEN generations to respect the related Ambedkar smriti vaakyaas which shall replace all smritis shrutees sootras puranaas and itihasaas,bhajans stotras . However, reservations, concessions etc will not be availble for these reformed families for another 200 generations. It will be available for pure dalits only. So hopefully by the 2the generation that is about 200 X 25= 5000 years ,social justice will be achieved and the old arrears neutralized
All these are “charvita Charvana: on Ambedkar by those who do not want to face boldly to what he is supposed to have wantedThe only thing he really wanted as HIS solution to his perception of social injustice was abolition of caste system and the way he wanted that for a few generations all the caste people should marry an raise family from antyajaas He had nothing to yap on the realationship metween matter ans spirit,so took the simplistic apprioaches in the matter.Be these things as they are to feed as pastime materisl for the “thinkers”
Instead of confusing one an all on thesethings we will o better to promote sciences and get somethings like cost reduction, new comsumer durables etc to make life more easy and pleasurable
Balanced article. I can understand Ambedkars inclination towards the British rather than the nationalists. At end of the day Ambedkar knew that Hindu society, which INC represented would never offer Dalits the level footing and patronage that the British would, in pursuit of their divide and rule policy. And it would be a grave travesty to call him anti-nationalist, for the Parsis also grovelled before the British but were painted as Swadeshi. Instead Ambedkar, unintentionally maybe, did the greatest service to Hinduism. He rejected conversion to the Britishers Christianity and to Islam, instead opting for indigenous Buddhism which shares beliefs with Vedanta Hinduism. The neo Buddhist converts today have served to not only foil the assault of both the Judaic religions but also provided the shield for survival of indigenous languages whereas the Hindu upper classes have capitulated to English.