Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

Anyone ever hear of Dr. Ambedkar? I certainly hadn’t before I got to India and he was a marvelous man!Born an Untouchable in 1891, he became the first leader of any movement to end caste discrimination. He invented the term “Dalit”, meaning “low caste” although it’s usually translated as “former Untouchable”. He got a masters degree in economics from Columbia in 1915ish, and a law degree at Gray’s Inn soon thereafter, but when he tried to pursue a law practice in India no one would retain him because of his caste, so he became a political activist. He and Gandhi did not agree on much: he wanted separate electorates, which would have given Dalits real political power, but Gandhi feared this would impair “Hindu unity” (a fiction when you consider caste abuse), and when the British were agreeing to Ambedkar’s position, Gandhi went on a fast. (The only one he ever used against another Indian, knowing Ambedkar was also a believer in non-violence.) Ambedkar gave in to prevent the Mahatma’s death, signing the Poona Pact in 1932, which promised no separate electorates, just “reservations” for low caste people, which are not places for them to live off on their own (after all, who would do the work?) but are seats in the legislature, jobs in the civil service, places in schools and universities, reserved for people of low caste origin. Sometimes it’s called Indian affirmative action, but that’s a serious misnomer. The reservation system continues today, and is a fine tool to divide and rule: most caste violence is by the low upon the lower. Meanwhile, Ambedkar converted to Buddhism shortly before he died unexpectedly in 1956, having asserted he would not die a Hindu, with its “vile” [his word] caste system. He also rejected as patronizing Gandhi’s term “harajin” (children of god) for Untouchables. The more I read about Ambedkar, the less I care for Gandhi. How come Ambedkar has been lost to history in the West?