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| Ambedkarism and Political Consciousness among Dalit-Backward Castes — A representative image. |
File Information
| Document Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Ambedkarism and the Development of Political Consciousness among Dalit-Backward Castes |
| Article Credit | International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies, ISSN: 2582-3647, Vol.: 4, Issue: 1, Year: 2022, (Pubd in: Academia.edu) |
| Author | Dr. Vikramendra Kumar (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi) Devi Prasad (ICSSR-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad-500046, India) Shiba Shankar Bibhar (Doctoral Research Scholar, Nabarkrushna Choudhary Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar, Odisha) |
| Subject | The article analyzes Ambedkarism as a source of political consciousness among Dalit and backward castes, with special emphasis on education, social justice, and resistance to caste oppression. It also links Ambedkar's ideas to Dalit-Bahujan mobilization and contemporary political and educational inequality. |
| Category | Journal article |
| Institution | International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies |
| Country of Publication | India |
| Main Topics | Ambedkarism, political consciousness, Dalit-Bahujan uplift, education and emancipation, caste discrimination, social justice, Kanshi Ram, Uttar Pradesh politics |
| Number of Pages | 4 |
| Language | English |
| File Type | |
| File Size | 141.4 KB |
Summary Note of this Document
Ambedkarism and the Development of Political Consciousness among Dalit-Backward Castes
This article studies Ambedkarism as a framework for developing political consciousness among Dalit and backward castes. It argues that B. R. Ambedkar's emphasis on education, organization, and agitation offers a path toward emancipation from caste hierarchy, social discrimination, and economic marginalization. The paper places education at the center of this transformation, presenting it as the key to rational awareness, self-respect, and collective mobilization among Dalit-Bahujan communities. It also situates Ambedkar's thought within a broader lineage of anti-caste resistance that includes Jyotirao Phule, Savitribai Phule, Kanshi Ram, and other social reformers. The discussion moves between historical background and contemporary politics, especially the condition of Dalits in independent India, the persistence of untouchability and violence, and the role of state policy in shaping access to schooling. Special attention is given to Uttar Pradesh, where the author links Ambedkarite politics, Dalit activism, and present educational restrictions to the continuing struggle for equality and social justice. The conclusion stresses that renewed commitment to Ambedkar's ideas is necessary for the political empowerment of Dalit-Bahujans.
Core Themes
- Ambedkarite political thought
- education as emancipation
- Dalit-Bahujan political mobilization
- caste hierarchy and untouchability
- social justice and equality
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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