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| Dalit Movement in India: An Introduction — A representative image. |
File Information
| Document Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Hkkjr esa nfyr vkUnksyu ¼,d ifjp;½ |
| Article Credit | International Journal of Advanced Research and Development, ISSN: 2455-4030, Vol.: 3, Issue: 2, Year: 2018, (Pubd in: Multireviewjournal.com) |
| Author | eukst dqekj (“kks/k Nk=] jktuhfr foKku foHkkx] bykgkckn fo"ofo|ky;] bykgkckn] mÙkj çns'k] HkkjrA) |
| Subject | An introductory study of the Dalit movement in India, its historical development, and its anti-caste political and social dimensions. |
| Category | Academic article |
| Institution | International Journal of Advanced Research and Development |
| Country of Publication | India |
| Main Topics | Dalit movement in India, Untouchability and caste discrimination, B. R. Ambedkar and Dalit politics, Non-Brahmin and anti-caste movements, Dalit consciousness and social reform, Dalit literature and protest, Political representation of Dalits |
| Number of Pages | 2 |
| Language | English |
| File Type | |
| File Size | 88.2 KB |
Summary Note of this Document
Hkkjr esa nfyr vkUnksyu ¼,d ifjp;½
This document presents an introduction to the Dalit movement in India, tracing its historical growth, social roots, and political significance. It argues that the movement emerged from long-standing caste discrimination, untouchability, and social exclusion, and that Dalit assertion developed gradually through reform, protest, and organisation. The discussion links the movement to anti-caste currents before and after independence, including non-Brahmin movements in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Adi movements in Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, coastal Andhra, and Hyderabad, as well as the rise of Dalit Panthers in the 1970s. It places B. R. Ambedkar at the centre of Dalit political consciousness, presenting him as a key figure who helped transform Dalit struggle into a political force. The article also refers to earlier devotional and reform traditions associated with figures such as Ravidas, Kabir, Pipa, Dhanna, and Sahajo Bai, while stressing that these efforts could not fully end caste oppression. Literary protest, political representation, and the demand to replace hierarchy with social equality are recurring themes throughout the text.
Core Themes
- Historical emergence of the Dalit movement
- Caste oppression and untouchability
- Ambedkar and Dalit political mobilisation
- Anti-caste reform and non-Brahmin politics
- Dalit Panthers and radical assertion
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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