Essays

Kabasaheb Ambedkar has undoubtedly been the central figure tit the epistemology of the Dalit universe. It is difficult to imagine anything serious or important in their collective life is totally untouched by Ambedkar. For the Dalit masses he is everything together; a scholar par excellence in the realm of scholarship, a Moses or messiest who led his people out of bondage and ignominy on to the path of pride and a Bodhisaltva in the pantheon of Buddhism. He is always bedecked with superlatives; guile like God, whatever may be the context in Dalit circles.

It is not difficult to see the reason behind the obeisance and reverence that Dalits have for Ambedkar. They see him as one who devoted every moment of his life thinking about and struggling for their emancipation, who took the might of the establishment head on in defense of their cause; who sacrificed all the comforts and conveniences ROf life that were quite within his reach to be on their side; who conclusively disproved theory of caste based superiority by rising lobe the tallest amongst the tall despite enormous odds and finally as one who held forth the torch to illuminate the path of their future. Few in the history of millenniums of their suffering had so much as looked at them as humans and sympathized with them as fellow beings. He was their own among these few. It was he who forsook his high pedestal, climbed down to their level, gave them a helping hand and raised them to human stature. It is a commonplace occurrence to see dolts right from the humble landless laborer, in villages to the highly placed bureaucrats in corridors of power, emotionally attributing their all to him. They all believe that but for him, they would still be living like their fore fathers with spittoons around their necks and broom sticks to their behind.

 It is thus natural for Dalits to place him at the centre as their beacon and conduct Iheir collective affairs as directed by its beam. This beam, however, is not monochromatic like a laser beam, to use an analogy from physics, but is composed of many light frequencies, the filters for which are controlled not by the masses but by some others. They manipulate this beam as per their desire, sometimes letting some frequencies pass and sometimes some other. They could selectively amplify some part and de- amplify the other and present an entirely different spectrum. What reaches the masses? Thus, is not the holistic and true picture of 'Ambedkar' but its part, sometimes a distorted part. Carefully filtered out and amplified by the' technicians'. This fragmented and false Ambedkar is what reaches the masses. For them, Ambedkar is no more a histoncal personality named Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. He is already metamorphosed I into a symbol—a symbol for their collective aspiration and an icon for the thesis of I their emancipation. Because for the masses icons come handy. They are sans Complexity of the main body, practical usable artifacts. Ionization of the great hew and their ideas at the hands of masses is thus inevitable. Human history is replcli such icons; rather it is largely made of them. The Dalit politicians who never let the masses see the material aspects of their problems and kept them entangled in cobweb of emotional issues have moreover promoted ionization of Babasahd Ambedkar.

 As Constitutional Maker:

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, chiefly responsible for drafting of Tin Constitution of India and a champion of human rights was born on the 14th April 1891. After graduating from elfin stone College, Bombay inl912, he joined Clout University, USA where he was awarded Ph.D. Later he joined the London School Economics and obtained a degree o D.Sc. (Economics) and was called to the from Gray's Inn.

 On his return to India in 1923, he founded 'Bahishkrit Hitkariani Sabha the main objective of spreading education and improving the economic conditions^ the depressed classes. With the slogan of 'Educate-Agitate-Organize', the sod movement led by Dr. Ambedkar aimed at Annihilation of Caste and the Reconstniclia of Indian Society on the basis of equality of human beings.

In 1927, he led the march at Mahad, Maharashtra to establish the rights of untouchables to taste water from the Public Chawdar Lake', traditionally Orphism to them. This marked the beginning of anti-caste and anti-priest movement. H temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at the Kalaram Tea Nashik, Maharashtra is another landmark in the struggle for human rights, pot and social justice. Dr. Ambedkar held the view that "Only political power claims a panacea for the ills of the depressed classes. Their salvation lies in their elevation". As a Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council from July 1942hi instrumental in bringing about several legislative measures to protect the right labourers and workers.

One of the greatest contributions of Dr. Ambedkar was in respect of Fondant Rights & Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution of The Fundamental Rights providing for freedom, equality, and abolition of Untouchab and remedies to ensure the enforcement of rights. The Directive Principles ensure the broad guiding principles for securing fair distribution of wealth and better conditions.

On 14th October, 1956, Kabasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism. I continued the crusade for social revolution until the endofhisliieonthe6tnDeca«l 1956. He was honored with the highest national honour, 'Bharat Ratna' in a 1990.

"My final words of advice to you is to educate Agitate Orgaitise and have faith yourself. When justice is on our side, I don'/ see how we can lose our battle. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle Swiftly reclamation of the human personality."       —Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

Vocabulary

1.epistemology—philosophy, the philosophical theory of knowledge. 2. obeisance—bow. bowing. 3. reverence—a reverent mental attitude, revere, veneration. 4. struggling— clambering, shinnying. 5. emancipation—liberation from any onerous controlling influence, freeing. 6. conveniences—amenities, contraptions. 7. conclusively—once and for all. in a conclusive way. 8. occurrence—an event that happens, natural event. 9. spittoons—cuspidors. 10. holistic—emphasizing the organic or functional relation between parts and the whole. 11. Metamorphosed—transfigured, change completely the nature of something. 12. annihilation—disintegration, obliteration. 13. untouchables— castaways, outcasts. 14. legislative—relating to a legislature or composed of members of a legislature.