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Ssc SOCIAL STUDY CIRCLE di (ESTD
1982) www.dalitindia.com ssc@dalitindia.com *********************************************************************** |
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January 15, 2001
Ambedkar
– Rebel, Reformer or a Revolutionary
Ambedkar
was definitely a Rebel – when he had himself chosen to lead a crusade against
the well-established & accepted social norms of the Society. In that, he
chose to question & violate the clearly defined roll & well delineated
prescribed & earmarked rights, privileges, discrimination, duties,
prohibitions and burdens of the various classes of the people in the Indian
Society. Thus he showed, and had very scant regard to the prevailing age-old
historic peace in the Indian Communities, where all aberrations are firmly
contained in the clear-cut class jackets of castes. But at the same time, the
same man the Baba Sahib becomes a great social Reformer par excellence for the
same act, when in the process of these very same actions is seen seeking, and
to a very large extent successfully too, through off the yokes of injustices
and break the inconsistencies and unfair sanctions placed on the large
productive toiling masses of the Nation.
He
is without doubt a Rebel, when he questions to violate & break the till
then unquestioned, in fact said to be the unquestionable, unchangeable,
unreadable laws, given by the greatest evil minds ever produced by the Indian
Society, who had in many ways cleverly & subtly codified & gave unjust
norms as the basic social laws of the land and unsurpassed political wizardry!
Thus he chose to throw off the pdestral the revered imageries of Manu and
Chanakya, and their laws and principles. Hence he raises up as almost the evil
unthinkable Rebel the Indian Society could ever think of. But once again he
becomes more than a social, legal & political Reformer when he compiled the
beautiful voluminous fundamental laws of the land, the Constitution of India.
That Constitution repeals specifically in an unquestionable and undebatable
manner, without any ambiguity what so ever, all the old laws, practices &
norms, as they are inconsistent with the provisions contained, and laws made
under the Indian Constitution.
Baba
Saheb thus is a Rebel & Reformer at the same time for the same act. But in
this, there are no inconsistencies or contradictions. Is this a dilemma for us,
or is he an enigma to the Indian Society? He is neither, when seen from Dalits’
points of views, and also academic & rational points of views. But he is a
puzzle, in fact an incarnation of the Devil for those who believe in
incarnations. Those who cannot understand him, his logic, his questions, and
his challenges to the Indian society that had long ago degenerated to the
shallows of semantic confusions of the history to believe and consider it self
as an unique mystic, distinctly different hindu community, different and far
removed from the rest of the Indian Society, hate him beyond words. When they
see him with their jaundiced eyes & study his works and actions with myopic
out look, they find him to be nothing less then a satan on earth who had
disturbed the social peace and destroyed the solidarity of the hindu community
by tearing apart the Indian (Hindu) Fabric.
So
is Baba Saheb a Rebel or a Reformer? Before one attempts to answer this
question & take a specific stand on his works, his life, and the emerging
issues of social change, advancement, progress, intellectual growth, ideologies
and Social Reconstruction that he had triggered off, one must try and first
attempt to answer to oneself as to what is understood by the ‘Rebel’ and
‘Reformer.’
As
long as one is not out to violate every norm to break the social fiber and the
fabric of the Nation, with a clear destructive action & totally confused
distorted mind as an irresponsible law breaker, then that person is really a
‘Rebel.’ On the other hand when one does conform oneself to mere preachings,
pleadings and prayers for change with a fond hope to modify the ways and norms
of the Society, its outlook and behavior, then the individual qualifies to be
rated as a (Social) Reformer. But then Baba Saheb does not fit in anyone of
these clear-cut jackets. Nor did he lead any open Revolution - like the once
the world had seen in France, America, Russia, China and elsewhere!
What
then do we say of an individual who has been on the one hand Rebelling to be a
Reformer? Rebelling to break all evil decadent unjust and unfair, in fact
inhuman social norms, and at the same time been meticulously studious,
analytical, hard working, struggling against the times of the day and also the
time available, and still be uniquely creative? What do we call a man who tore
and wanted to throw away lock, stock and barrel, all structures, foundations
and edifices of injustices? How do we rate one who proved to be an outstanding
great and that too fair and just lawgiver? Then the Rebel and Reformer becomes
the two sides of the same coin!
A
great soul like Baba Saheb who ceaselessly fought against all forms of
injustices, appeared to the common man and ordinary mortals to be Rebelling
against the whole system and social peace and order. H e was therefore
considered to be an evil incarnation on the earth. To the liberal ‘Reformers’
of the times, he was a very volatile impatient Revolutionary. Some of them
consider that he achieved nothing and succeeded nowhere in life. In reality, he
was fighting a great battle single handedly almost against the great walls of
historic traditions, unfair and unjust beliefs and faith of the mystic confused
hindu minds. He launched himself tirelessly, unmindful of the personal harm
that he might suffer and other consequences, against the conceptually nebulous,
abstract religion (?) full of aberrations, referred to as hinduism! But at the
same time he deeply dwelt on the questions of religion, studied the comparative
merits of different religions, weighed their suitability and acceptability to
his people, and the subject of human peace and emancipation. He then at last
chose to lay down, and took great pains to prescribe a modern scriptural Bible
to revive in the mainland of the country, the decimated Buddhist Religion. He
thus goes beyond the issue of injustices meted out and suffered by his troubled
Dalit Communities. He comes out with innumerable Labor Laws, and Laws for the
Welfare and Restructuring of the whole Society such as the Hindu Code Bill etc.
Thus he goes beyond the realms same time. ‘In fact he crosses the boundaries of
existence, living and work of mortals.’
By
his Long public political and private intellectual works and social religious
actions associated with his constructive, creative and re-constructive works,
he goes beyond our visions, and grows taller than any Statesman.
Baba
saheb thus becomes a Visionary par excellence. He is indeed a great Visionary
who mastered every thing he surveyed, came across or chose and touched upon.
That was, is and will be what Baba Saheb to the entire Humanity – not only to
his own Dalits, the Indian society, the people and the Nation, but to the whole
world! Therefore if we are to think, refer and see Baba Saheb, we have to
always approach him with great humility as the realest Visionary of all times,
for which this Nation should be rightly proud of!
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