The Architect of Modern India: Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

By Mahesh Ambedkar

The heart-rending sufferings that Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar has to endure in his childhood proved to be a boon for the whole of India in the end. Being demoralised by the social system in his childhood and with the firm determinations to get justice for the so-called ?untouchable, when Bhim Sakpal (his childhood name) reached Bombay in search for higher education, he told a shopkeeper about his being a Mahar. A soon as the shopkeeper get to know that Sakpal was a Mahar by caste, he rebuked him and chased him away from the shop in such a way that Sakpal fell into a ditch. But the child, who gathered himself together and rose that day, rose so high that he shone like a star in the Indian social firmament. Later that same Mahar boy Sakpal became ?Baba Sahab Bhimrao Ambedkar?? the architech of the Indian Constitution and the messiah of the untouchables and the downtrodden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Aug 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9789350830383

Book preview

BACKGROUND

Idon’t have any doubts about the future social, political, and economic progress of this country. I know that today we are divided on the political, social, and economic fronts. Tension and discord have spread amongst the people. I also know that I myself am also the leader of this dissatisfied group of people. Despite so much tension and discord, I have full faith that when the time comes and when the situation changes, there can be no barrier in the unity of this country. I can say without hesitation that despite our various castes and differences of opinions, we will become one nation in one form or the other. I have no hesitation in saying that despite the demand of the Muslim League for the partition of India, a day will come when the Muslims themselves will start thinking and understanding that a united India is in everyone’s interest."

The above lines are excerpts from the speech given on 17 December 1946 in the meeting of the Constituent Assembly. These feelings of his expressed that day are true even today. People struggling sincerely for the unity of India can understand this.

The then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had made this famous legislator, Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution of India. It was Dr. Ambedkar who changed the name of the people called ‘shudras’ to the special name of ‘scheduled castes’ in this Constitution. Dr. Ambedkar himself was a part of this ‘scheduled caste’. He said in relation to this same scheduled caste — "The shudras are the lowest class, and they are trapped in a web of restrictions that does not let them flourish. People have not yet understood the significance of the problem of the shudras. They have forgotten that in Hindu society the shudras are in a majority, and the society cannot progress if the shudras don’t progress. The future of India and the unity of Hindu society depends on all the four classes…"

Afterwards, he started calling the members of the scheduled castes as the exploited and depressed (dalit) class. He had said of them —

…it is my pledge that I will sacrifice my whole life in the service of these exploited people, of whom I am also one; these people among whom I have grown up and whom I am a part of. I will not budge even an inch from this duty of mine and neither will I worry about the criticism of my competitors and opponents.

Here, the exploited class that Dr. Ambedkar is talking about is the dalit class ‘Mahar’. The Mahars are in a majority in Maharashtra, and they are found in varying numbers in different provinces and states of India, which is proven by this saying of Marathi — Wherever there is a village, Marathwada will also be there; and wherever there are Marathi speaking people, the Mahars also go there. In this way, the Mahar caste has been an integral part of Maratha, Marathi, and Marathwada and is even today. It is believed that 9% of the total population is from the Mahar caste.

The Mahars believe that the Mahar caste is the bravest caste of the state of Maharashtra. In Chattrapati Shivaji’s army, the lion of Maharashtra, and in the armies of the Peshwas after him, the Mahar soldiers were considered as the backbone of the army. They took part in many battles. After the establishment of the British rule, in the 19th century, the fourth formation of the Bombay Presidency Force of the army consisted of Mahars. After the independence of India, when the Indo-Pak war broke out, in that 14-day historic battle, the Mahar Regiment demonstrated its warfare skills very bravely.

The people of the Mahar caste have considered themselves landlords since the beginning. It was famous in Maharashtra that whenever there was a problem of division of land in any family, then the Mahars would be called to solve that problem. That Mahar not only used to divide the land according to the rules, but also used to make walls there and mark the boundaries. The responsibility of looking after the fields of the village and their security was also in the hands of the Mahars. The work of carrying messages from one village to another was also performed by Mahar messengers.

According to the age-old tradition that everything must change, the Mahars also adopted change and left their traditional work and started doing tasks like supplying wood to the crematoriums, picking up dead animals and throwing them out of the village etc. Due to this reason, a negative feeling started developing in the Marathi society about the Mahars and slowly this feeling became the reason for the Mahars being called untouchables. At that time, there was British rule in India. Ramoji Maloji Ambedkar, the father of Dr. Ambedkar, was a Subedar Major in the Grenadier Regiment of the British army. The news that the enlisting of the Mahars in the army had been stopped had disturbed him a lot. Ramoji Maloji soon went to Justice S.C. Ganesh and got an appeal prepared against this decision of the British government, stressing the issue of Mahars not being allowed in the army. Ramoji sent this appeal to the Indian government. But, the Indian government did not pay any attention to this. The result of this was the launching of a movement to protest against this.

To launch a movement is not a child’s play. For this, the support of the people is needed and also a leader to control the huge numbers of people and to lead them. But, Ramoji, a man of conviction, performed this difficult task with the help of Shivram Janva Kamble, Bahadur Bhatnagar, Subedar Ghatge, and Subedar Sebdekar and launched a strong movement against the decision not to allow the Mahars in the army. The result of this movement was also in favour of the Mahars. The doors of the British army were opened for the Mahars.

The Mahars are considered brave soldiers. This is proved by the fact that there were 25 Mahar Regiments of the East India Company in Bombay with 750 Mahar troops. In the First and the Second World War, the Mahars had given a good account of their unsurpassable bravery and courage. Due to this bravery of theirs, it was named the Mahar Regiment. After independence, the President of India presented the flag of ‘Yashsiddhi’ to this Mahar Regiment and gave them a prominent place in the army.

During the First World War, there was once again a lot of problem on the Mahars’ enlistment in the army. It was natural that a volcano of anger would burst forth in the Mahars due to this restriction. As a result, the Mahars started revolting. Till the end of the World War, no official decision was taken on this issue. Not only this, as soon as the First World War ended, the Mahar Regiment was disbanded and the admission of the Mahars into the army was completely stopped.

Here, the protagonist of our book had started shining like a bright star on the Indian horizon at about the same time. He had passed the law examination in 1923. The issue of the Mahars’ admission into the army was still alive. Dr. Ambedkar took this matter into his hands, and with full preparation and taking the help and support of Subedar D.V. Khambe and other Mahar military officials, fought this case in the court himself and was successful in getting this restriction removed.

It is the result of Dr. Ambedkar’s hard work and true dedication that today the Mahar Regiment has 15 battalions. Not only this, it also has the glory of being the Indian army’s biggest regiment. In 1946, the Mahar Machine Gun Regiment was also constituted. Even today, it has the glory of being the strongest and the most resourceful regiment in army. Whatever the Mahars achieved in the army, the full credit for that should be given to Ramoji and his son, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. If the father and the son had not tried untiringly to save this regiment, then who knows where the Mahar Regiment would have been buried in the deep recesses of time.

* * *

AMBEDKAR’S CHILDHOOD

Dr. Ambedkar’s childhood name was Bhim Sakpal. He was the fourteenth child of Subedar Major Ramoji Sakpal. Being the youngest in the family, he was also everyone’s pet. But, a mother’s love was not in his fate for long. When he was 7 years of age, his mother Shrimati Bhimabai left for her heavenly abode depriving him of motherly affection. Bhim Sakpal’s childhood was spent in the famous Ratnagiri region of Maharashtra, but the lack of motherly affection had its effect on him. Only a person who has gone through a similar situation himself can imagine the mental state of Bhim Sakpal during those childhood years without mother.

At the time of Sakpal’s birth, the image of the Mahars as a class as low as the shudras was established. The reason for this has been explained in the previous pages of the book. But, there was an atmosphere of happiness in the whole family because a son had been born in Ramoji Maloji Ambedkar’s house. According to the Maharashtrian traditions, the child was blessed by the Mahar Swami and named as Bhim Sakpal.

Like other tribes, the ancestors of Ramoji Maloji Ambedkar were also worshippers of their gods and goddesses Jakhai, Mosai. In addition to this, they also used to worship Vetaal, Mahasa, Bahri, Madvi, Maripai, etc. The places of these gods and goddesses were in a corner of the village, where they were worshipped.

There has been a famous saint of the Mahar caste named Chokhamela. Being a poet at heart, he used to write devotional songs. With time, the influence of his devotional songs grew in the Mahar caste and a deep feeling of devotion was inculcated in the Mahars. When the saint died, at the site of his grave in Pandherpur, a temple was constructed. Even today, there is a very strong belief and faith in this temple of the Mahar poet saint. The people of the Mahar caste come to this temple from far off places to express their devotion and faith, and offer the flowers of their devotion at his feet.

How could the family of Ramoji Maloji Ambedkar remain untouched by the soul-stirring devotional songs of saint Chokhamela? His songs used to be sung often in their house, and his family also went from time to time to worship the gods and goddesses at the Pandherpur temple. It is said that a person’s personality is largely shaped by his friends and companions. So, slowly, the child Sakpal also got influenced by the atmosphere in his family. Due to being born in the house of a brave Mahar soldier, the bravery of his father and of the Mahar caste was also ingrained in him. It was natural that his father’s beliefs, struggles, and revolt would have an effect on Bhim Sakpal. Even otherwise, children are of impressionable minds. An event or incident is deeply etched in their minds and makes a permanent place there. Seeing an atmosphere of struggle around him at home and outside, a feeling of questioning and protest grew strong in him.

The events of the childhood leave an indelible impression on the mind of a child. Whether that influence has been of good events or bad events, the effect is permanent. Something like this happened with Sakpal at the age of only six years. Once, Sakpal was going in a bullock cart with his elder brother to another village. The driver of the cart did not know anything about their caste, because anybody’s caste is not written on his forehead. The outward appearance of all human beings is the same.

But, fate had something else in store. There were some other people also in the bullock cart besides Sakpal and his brother. To pass their time, they all started talking to each other. From their talk, everyone came to know that Sakpal and his elder brother belonged to the Mahar caste. Suddenly, the driver’s behaviour towards Sakpal and his brother changed. He became extremely angry. He forgot that both of them were small, innocent children who had no knowledge of Mahar or Pandit castes. What had they to do with castes or caste system? But, the driver had become mad with rage. He asked both the young children to get down from the cart. But, the problem with the driver was that he