A Neglected Message From Dr. Ambedkar to OBCs

 

A Neglected Message From Dr. Ambedkar to  OBCs

Dr. K. Jamanadas,

 

An article was published recently in Marathi local magazine by Suhas Sonwane based on daily Loksatta. The following is a gist of it, translated from Marathi.

Mr. Babasaheb Gawande, the founder president of an Organization of Marathas from Bombay called "Maratha Mandir" was a close friend of Dr. Ambedkar. Mr. Gawande asked Dr. Ambedkar, who was then a Law Minister in Nehru Cabinet in 1947, for a message for the Maratha people to be published in the Souvenir of "Maratha Mandir". Ambedkar declined saying that he had no relation with the Organization or the Marathas, but on persistent insistence, a message was given and published in the souvenir on 23rd March 1947. But unfortunately that special issue is not available in the office of the Organization today. But it was made available by Shri Vijay Survade recently and was undocumented till now.

Dr. Ambedkar said:

"This principle will apply not only to Marathas but all Backward Castes. If they do not wish to be under the thumb of others they should concentrate on two things, one is politics and the other is education."

"One thing I like to impress on you is that the community can live in peace only when it has enough moral but indirect pressure over the rulers. Even if a community is numerically weak, it can keep its pressure over the rulers and create its dominance as is seen by the example of status of present day Brahmins in India. It is essential that such a pressure is maintained, as without it, the aims and policies of the state can not have proper direction, on which depends the development and progress of the state."

"At the same time, it must not be forgotten that education is also important. Not only elementary education but higher education is most essential to keep ahead in competition of communities in their progress."

"Higher education, in my opinion, means that education, which can enable you to occupy the strategically important places in State administration. Brahmins had to face a lot of opposition and obstacles, but they are overcoming these and progressing ahead."

"I can not forget, rather I am sad, that many people do not realize that the Caste system is existing in India for centuries because of inequality and a wide gulf of difference in education, and they have forgotten that it is likely to continue for some centuries to come. This gulf between the education of Brahmins and non-Brahmins will not end just by primary and secondary education. The difference in status between these can only be reduced by higher education. Some non-Brahmins must get highly educated and occupy the strategically important places, which has remained the monopoly of Brahmins since long. I think this is the duty of the State. If the Govt. can not do it, institutions like "Maratha Mandir" must undertake this task."

"I must emphasize one point here that middle class tries to compare itself with the highly educated and well placed and well to do community, whereas lower class all over the world has same fault. The middle class is not as liberal as upper one, and has no ideology as lower one, which makes it enemy of both the classes. The middle class Marathas of Maharashtra also have this fault. They have only two ways out, either to join hands with upper classes and prevent the lower classes from progress, and the other is to join hands with lower classes and both together destroy the upper class power coming against the progress of both. There was a time, they used to be with lower classes, now they seem to be with the upper class. It is for them to decide which way to go. The future of not only Indian masses but also their own future depends upon what decision the Maratha leaders take. As a matter of fact it all should be left to the skill and wisdom of the leaders of Marathas. But there seems to be a lack of such wise leadership among the Marathas."

What he said about Marathas, equally applies to all OBCs, and still holds true after half a century. Dr. Ambedkar wrote much to educate the OBCs. It is only now that OBCs are awakening gradually. It must not be forgotten that the future of this country depends on them.

 

Reevaluating the Neo-Buddhist Movement

 

Reevaluating the Neo-Buddhist Movement

October 27, 2021

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The advancement of Hinduism leaves the symbols of Buddhism a residual space and undermines its revolutionary potential.

The followers of Buddhism in India were negligible till 14 October 1956. And as a religion, it was he who was on the verge of extinction. On this date, Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism at a grand ceremony in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and offered it to millions of his followers. Significant sections of the then untouchable castes divorced the degraded untouchable caste identity to find solace in the teachings of the Buddha.

Ambedkar’s influence

It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few days ago on 20 October 2021. Kushinagar International Airport In Uttar Pradesh, which will help in connecting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Kushinagar is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site. The Prime Minister declared Buddhist sites and teachings of Buddha as markers of India’s ancient civilizational heritage. However, he never acknowledged Ambedkar’s contribution in reviving Buddhism. Buddhism’s association with the Dalit liberation movement is largely neglected, and often, its ornamental spiritual side is presented instead.

According to the last national population census, Buddhists are one of the smallest minorities (0.7% of the total population) in India. Interestingly, most of them are Dalits from Maharashtra. Within the traditional Hindu social system, the untouchables were reduced to a sub-human category and treated subject to hatred and prejudices. Although there were effective social reforms to correct historical wrongs, the general social psyche of the dominant caste Hindus towards the lowest ranks remained pervasive. With the advent of Ambedkar on the national political stage, the Dalits realized their self-potential and started a struggle claiming an equal share in the modern institutions of power. Adopting Buddhism is declared as an intellectual choice of Dalits which links them to a strong historical past as well as prepares them to enjoy constitutional rights as secular citizens.

a force in maharashtra

Important cities of Maharashtra such as Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nagpur have seen the rise of powerful Dalit movements, social events and modern monuments. Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur, where Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, has emerged as a monumental heritage site, attracting lakhs of visitors every year. Here, Buddhism was revived not only as part of India’s cultural and civilizational heritage, but also as a tool to escape caste hierarchical cultural hegemony and social enmity. In the post-Ambedkar period, urban Buddhists—due to their educational achievements and newly attained middle class status—offered significant leadership to Dalit politics and organized various social and cultural struggles. Importantly, it is the constructive application of neo-Buddhist identity and ideology that has structured the Dalit movement as an autonomous political force in Maharashtra. During the growing period of activism by the Dalit Panthers in Bombay, a serious debate broke out between the Neo-Buddhists and the Marxist-Socialists. Namdev Dhasal, a vagabond revolutionary poet, offered a radical political alternative, suggesting that the ‘Dalits’ are a revolutionary group of all oppressed communities and that they would combat caste atrocities and state violence through radical violent means. Dhasal was influenced by the Maoist-Naxalbari movements and wanted the Dalits to forge a close association with the communist working class movement.

Raja Dhale, another founding member of the Dalit Panthers movement, criticized such a ‘leftist turn’ of the Dalit movement. As an alternative to Dhasal’s ‘Marxist Manifesto’, he offered a Buddhist perspective, suggesting that the social justice movement should be based on the primacy of Ambedkarite liberal principles and take a break from the ideas of a violent class struggle. Conversion to Buddhism helped the community to develop a genuine appreciation of the constitutional values ​​of secularism and social justice, and to develop a significant distance from ideologies that legitimize any brutal use of violence. Dhale saw the Neo-Buddhist movement not only as a communal project for the emancipation of the untouchables, but as a revolutionary project that would enlighten the wider Bahujan mass.

Second, the adoption of Buddhism also helped Dalits find a stronger sense of their cultural past. He created Buddhist cultural symbols (monuments, Vihar and religious places), customs and practices (by celebrating Buddhist festivals) as proud markers of their new social identity. Buddhist cultural claims and claims in public places became symbols of their rejection against Hindu cultural hegemony and its social web. Such assertiveness often pits them against right-wing ideologies.

niche ideological space

In Mumbai, under the leadership of Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena responded to neo-Buddhist social activism with street violence and riots. In the early 1990s, Neo-Buddhists launched a mass movement to free the Bodh Gaya temple from the control of Brahmin priests and also put a legal claim on the controversial site of the Babri Masjid, thus putting Hindutva politics in a jiffy. Diya – How to deal with it demands of Neo-Buddhists.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party regime at the center appears more liberal towards Dalit cultural and religious symbols and avoids much clashes on this front, it is difficult to attract neo-Buddhists to the right wing under the Hindutva project. As an ideological force, Neo-Buddhists offer an alternative reading of history and visualize Buddhism as the main challenger to Brahmanical Hindu traditions, the caste system, and orthodox ritual. Thus the Buddhist extremists are separate from the Hindutva hegemony and seek to maintain their autonomy in the socio-cultural spheres.

Non-affiliation with Left extremism and later opposition to Hindutva politics has created a distinct ideological niche for Dalits, especially among neo-Buddhists. However, as a political force, they have failed to pose any significant challenge to the dominant caste and class elite and have failed to organize other marginalized communities as part of their social or political programmes. In more recent times, Neo-Buddhism has produced a passive community specificity that is often associated with ritualistic and spiritual pursuits rather than the creation of influential struggles to gain social justice or political power.

a democratic dialogue

The revolutionary promises made during Ambedkar’s historic Buddhist conversion will be fulfilled only when politics is sensitive to secularism and social justice. The current progress of Hindutva is tremendous and supremacist as it gives residual space to Buddhist symbols and distances itself from its revolutionary anti-caste struggles. While it is important to protect the autonomous cultural space developed by the neo-Buddhist intellectual class, it is equally important to build a unified mass movement to defend the merits of India’s constitutional democracy. Neo-Buddhists can revive Ambedkar’s transformational project only by initiating democratic dialogue with other marginalized and struggling communities.

Harish S. Wankhede Assistant Professor, Center for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Courtesy : Bharat Times