 |
| Ambedkar’s Struggle for India’s Independence — A representative image. |
File Information
| Document Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | AMBEDKAR’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA |
| Article Credit | IJMER, ISSN: 2277-7881, Vol.: 10, Issue: 3(5), Year: 2021, (Pubd in: Academia.edu) |
| Author | Prof. Dr. Lella Karunyakara (Director, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Sidho-Kanho Murmu Dalit and Tribal Studies Centre, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra, India) |
| Subject | This article examines Ambedkar’s role in India’s freedom struggle, emphasizing his engagement with British colonial power, Congress politics, and the demand for Dalit rights. It also connects his anti-colonial politics to social reform, social democracy, and the framing of India’s Constitution. |
| Category | Journal article |
| Institution | History Marg / IJMER |
| Country of Publication | India |
| Main Topics | Ambedkar and India’s independence movement, Dalit rights and political representation, Social reform versus political reform, Southborough Commission and franchise representation, Mahad Satyagraha and caste equality, Round Table Conferences and separate electorates, Constituent Assembly and the Indian Constitution |
| Number of Pages | 5 |
| Language | English |
| File Type | |
| File Size | 3.16 MB |
Summary Note of this Document
AMBEDKAR’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
This article studies Ambedkar’s struggle for India’s independence as a distinct strand within the wider anti-colonial movement. It argues that Ambedkar did not treat freedom from British rule as only a political transfer of power; for him, independence had to include social justice, equality, and safeguards for depressed classes. The essay contrasts his strategy with Congress politics, especially its abandonment of social reform, and presents his approach as a middle path that combined engagement with institutions and pressure from outside them. The discussion traces key moments from his 1919 evidence before the Southborough Commission to Mooknayak, Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, the Mahad Satyagraha, Simon Commission interventions, the Round Table Conferences, and the Poona Pact. It also shows how his politics expanded into labour and class questions through the Independent Labour Party and the Scheduled Caste Federation. The final section connects this freedom struggle to his post-independence role as Chairman of the Drafting Committee and to the Constitution of India, which the author presents as the culmination of Ambedkar’s commitment to social democracy and civil equality.
Core Themes
- anti-colonial politics
- social democracy
- Dalit emancipation
- constitutional politics
- middle-path strategy
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.
Complete Ambedkar Research Collection
Download the entire collection of Ambedkar research PDFs available on HISTORY MARG