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| Anti-Caste Philosophy of Ambedkar: Social Transformation — A representative image. |
File Information
| Document Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Anti-Caste Philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar: A Quest of Social Transformation |
| Article Credit | International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), ISSN: 2320-2882, Vol.: 8, Issue: 11, Year: 2020, (Pubd in: Academia.edu) |
| Author | Hawaldar Bharti (Research Scholar, Centre for Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, Central University of Gujarat) Alok Kumar Verma (Research Scholar, Centre for Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, Central University of Gujarat) |
| Subject | A study of Ambedkar’s anti-caste thought as a project of social transformation, covering justice, democracy, education, economics, religion, and constitutional reform. |
| Category | Journal article |
| Institution | Central University of Gujarat |
| Main Topics | Anti-caste philosophy, Social transformation, Social justice, Democracy and political philosophy, Education and upliftment of depressed classes, Buddhism and religious philosophy, Constitutional rights and reservation, Economic justice |
| Number of Pages | 16 |
| Language | English |
| File Type | |
| File Size | 326.3 KB |
Summary Note of this Document
Anti-Caste Philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar: A Quest of Social Transformation
This article examines B. R. Ambedkar’s anti-caste philosophy as a program of social transformation rather than limited social justice. It argues that Ambedkar’s thought aimed at restructuring Indian society through the principles of liberty, equality, fraternity, and democracy, with special attention to caste inequality and the condition of depressed classes. The paper surveys his political, educational, social, economic, religious, and legal ideas to show how they work together in a broader emancipatory vision. Education appears as a central instrument of change, especially through the ideas of educate, organize, and agitate, and through Ambedkar’s support for institutions that expanded access for Dalits and other marginalized groups. The article also treats Ambedkar’s critique of caste, untouchability, and hereditary inequality, along with his support for parliamentary government, federalism, reservation, and constitutional safeguards. In the religious section, it presents Buddhism as a humane, rational, and egalitarian alternative to Brahmanical social order. Overall, the paper presents Ambedkar as a thinker of systemic social reconstruction whose goal was a casteless and democratic society grounded in human dignity.
Core Themes
- Caste abolition and untouchability
- Social transformation versus social justice
- Liberty, equality, and fraternity
- Education as emancipation
- Buddhism and humanism
- Reservation and constitutional safeguards
- Democratic and parliamentary politics
Keywords
About Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 as the fourteenth and youngest child of an army Subedar in Mhow. Born into the Mahar caste, which was considered untouchable, Bhimrao faced many hardships at school. He had to sit on a gunny sack that he brought from home. He was not allowed to touch the water vessel or cup, so he could drink water only when the school peon was present to pour it for him. He later described this experience with the words, “No peon, no water.” His mother died when he was very young, and he had a difficult childhood. However, he was the only one of his siblings to pass his examinations and continue to high school, becoming the first person from his community to attend Elphinstone College. With a scholarship from the Maharaja of Baroda, he went on to study at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He earned doctorates in economics and trained as a barrister at Gray’s Inn. According to the account supplied for this biography, his books were lost when his ship was torpedoed during the First World War.
Despite his education, Ambedkar continued to face prejudice. When he returned to India, he was required to work in Baroda but had to leave the position because of discrimination. His business providing investment consultancy failed when clients learned that he belonged to a community considered untouchable. While working as a professor in Mumbai, his colleagues objected to the idea of him sharing a water jug with his students. These experiences helped spur his activism. He established newspapers to give a voice to marginalized people. He led the Mahad Satyagraha, asserting Dalits’ right to collect water from a public tank, and publicly burned the Manusmriti in 1927. In 1932, he negotiated the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi. Although it involved a difficult compromise, the pact provided reserved seats in legislatures for the Depressed Classes. Ambedkar was outspoken in public life but private by nature. His wife Ramabai died in 1935, and he filled his home in Bombay with a large personal library reported to contain more than 50,000 books. He declared, “I am born a Hindu, but I will not die as one.”
During the period of Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru invited Ambedkar to become India’s first Law Minister. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee that prepared the Constitution of India, which abolished the practice of untouchability and established civil liberties and constitutional safeguards, including reservations for historically oppressed communities. He acknowledged the contribution of other constitutional experts, including B. N. Rau, who had prepared an earlier draft. Because of his poor health, including diabetes, Ambedkar married Savita, a doctor who cared for him. In October 1956, he converted to Buddhism in Nagpur along with a vast gathering of followers, commonly estimated at around half a million. He died in his sleep just weeks later, shortly after completing his final major work, The Buddha and His Dhamma. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990. His message, “Educate, agitate, organise,” continues to inspire people seeking equality and social justice.
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