An appraisal of influence of eminent personalities on ambedkar political thought during early twentieth century

Historical Research Letter www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3178 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0964 (Online)
Vol 2, 2012

An Appraisal of Influence of Eminent Personalities on
Ambedkar’s Political Thought during Early Twentieth
Century

Ishita Aditya Ray
Bejoy Narayan Mahavidyalaya, Burdwan University, India.
E-mail:ishitaaditya@ymail.com

Sarbapriya Ray (Corresponding Author)
Shyampur Siddheswari Mahavidyalaya,University of Calcutta, India.
E-mail:sarbapriyaray@yahoo.com

Abstract
Born in a socially backward caste, educated according to the western system, rational in outlook, to some
extent, rebellious in temperament, Ambedkar, the great architect of Indian Constitution, came to the
appropriate moment to assume the natural and appropriate leadership and participated in the social
struggles and constitutional matters in a strategic way in India. Ambedkar was schooled in the liberal
political tradition which he imbibed through his interaction with the Western culture as result of his British
moulded higher education in India and his training in Columbia University and London School of
Economics and Political Science. He was fortunate enough to receive education in the West where he came
under the influence of the liberal- minded professors like Dewey, Harold Laski, Seligman and others.
Against this background information, this article attempts to depict the influence of various eminent
personalities on the political thought of B.R.Ambedkar. Ambedkar’s birth in an untouchable community
and in a system based on graded inequality and injustice and deprivation of basic human rights to his
community was responsible for giving a purpose and a mission to his life.

1. Introduction:
Born in a socially backward caste, educated according to the western system, rational in outlook, to some
extent, rebellious in temperament, Ambedkar, the great architect of Indian Constitution, came to the
appropriate moment to assume the natural and appropriate leadership and participated in the social
struggles and constitutional matters in a strategic way in India. Ambedkar was one of the most brilliant sons
of India. He was the chief architect of the constitution which is the most famous constitution of the world.
Born in an untouchable family of India, he was to be a minister of Law. He was not only a constitutional
expert, an administrator, a legislator but also a great nation builder, educationalist, social reformer and
religious leader. He is remembered not merely as a father of Indian constitution but also a front- ranking
crusaders against untouchability. His relentless and sustained efforts culminated in legal abolition of
untouchability in India although its perpetuation continues in one form to another in social intercourse and
political arena. The overview of Ambedkar’s position on the social, political and economic system and
being Indian citizen, vision of Ambedkar on issues that continue to confront us as critical will help in
unfolding the various dimensions related to the contemporary society and its polity. The complex issues
which Ambedkar explained and defended, although not always to the satisfaction of many and sometimes
not as rigorously as required ,have continued to claim intellectual and political attention to this day in many
societies and specially in India.
There was a time when the untouchables were denied the use of public wells and were asked to drink only
filthy water they could find. There children were not admitted to schools. The Hindu temples were closed to

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them. The caste Hindus did not show any sympathy for them. D.R .Jatava in his book wrote “In short, there
was absolute lack of social humanism. They took birth as untouchables, they lived as untouchables and they
died as untouchables” (1). In these social circumstances, Ambedkar was born on 14th April, 1891. “The ills,
insults and wanton humiliation hold on this lad by the schizophrenic left an indelible impression in his
tender mind” (2). To become such a towering figure of a surprisingly uncanny foresight, Dr Ambedkar was
influenced by so many factors.
His father Ramji Sakpal was the instructor in the military school. He had fourteen children. He became a
follower of Kabir Panth and was an admirer of Jatibao Phoole who pioneered major reforms among the
lower classes in Maharastra from the later part of the nineteenth century. Ambedkar’s mother Bhima Bai
was the gentle and self respecting woman. She and her husband Ramji Sakpal was the great social worker
of the day. He was sincere and hard working and patient because of his father’s and mother’s influence.
Ambedkar and Gandhiji began social and political activities for eradication of untouchability almost in
same period in the early 1920.Ambedkar firmly believed in social movement rather than political
movement. In the struggle for the freedom of the country, Gandhi had support of the millions of Indians,
but in the struggle for liberation of the untouchables millions opposed him.Ambedkar was for the
establishment of absolute equality in all spheres of life.

2. Social status of untouchables during the birth of B.R. Ambedkar in 1891:
Dr. Ambedkar’s whole life was shaped and influenced by his bitter and degrading personal experiences, by
those of other untouchables when he came of age to observe life and things and also by those his forefathers
who had suffered in the past when untouchability as a social practice had started being observed by the
Hindu society and became institutionalized and so get embedded in the Hindu social system.
The severe social disabilities which the untouchabilities were made to suffer at that time have been very
vividly summed up by Babasaheb’s biographer Dhananjay Keer in the following words, “Their
(untouchables) touch, shadow and even voice were deemed by the caste Hindus to be polluting. So they had
to clear the way at the approach of a caste Hindu. They were forbidden to keep certain domestic animals, to
use certain metals for ornaments, were obliged to wear a particular type of dress, to eat a particular type of
food, to use a particular type of footwear and were forced to occupy the dirty, dingy and unhealthy outskirts
of villages and towns habitation where they lived in dark, in sanitary and miserable smoky shanties or
cottages. The dress of the male consisted of a turban a staff in the head, and a rough blanket on the shoulder
and a piece of coin cloth. The women were bodies and rough sarees barely reaching the knees”. (3)
“These untouchable Hindus were denied the use of public wells and were condemned to drink any filthy
water they could find. Their children were not admitted to schools attended by the caste Hindu children.
Though they worshipped the gods of Hindus, observed the same festivals, the Hindu temples were closed to
them. Barbers and washer man refuse to render them service. The caste Hindus, who fondly threw sugar to
ants and reared dogs and other domestic pets and welcomed persons of other religions to their houses,
refused to give a drop of water to the untouchables or to show them an iota of sympathy. These untouchable
Hindus were treated by the caste Hindus as sub-humans, less than man, worse than beasts. Cities have now
mostly overcome this prejudice”. (4)
“Their miseries did not end at this. They were illiterate, ill-treated and untouchable for ages, all public
service including police and military forces were closed to them. Naturally, they followed hereditary
occupations. Some of them plied trades of a lower and disregarding order such as those of street-sweepers,
scavengers and shoemakers. Some skinned carcasses, tamed hides and skins, worked in bamboos and came
and mowed grass. Others who were more fortunate filled the land as tenants, worked as labourers in field, a
great number of them subsisted on food or grain given to them as village servants and also ate carrion. Thus
being deprived of social, religious and civil rights, they had no chance of bettering their conditions; and so
these untouchable Hindus lived in the life of a by gone and dead age, dragging on their miserable existence
in insufficient accommodation, in sanitary surroundings and social segregation. In short, they were born in
debt and perished in debt. They were born untouchables, they lived as untouchables and they died as
untouchables”. (5)

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As an untouchable, Babasaheb was subjected to serve insults and indignities not only during his student
days but also during the days he was occupying important positions in Government. The ghost of
untouchability was closely hunting him whenever he went. That made him fight tooth and nail to remove its
root and branch.
According to Bapuji “untouchability is a gangrenous limb of Hindu society and if measures are not taken
to remove it, the society would become crippled. And a crippled society cannot go on like that so that it will
ultimately perish. But the untouchability was described by a handful of social reformers and thinkers
without diagnosing the root cause of the disease. Consequently, their remedies, not being based on a sound
footing, touched only a fringe of the problem. Babasaheb was the first who attempted a systematic a
theory of untouchability to prove into its origins, causes and reasons for its sustenance.
According to Babasaheb, “untouchability” is notion of defilement, pollution, contamination and the way
and means of getting rid of that defilement. (6) Basically untouchability is related to the idea of segregation
based on the belief that physical touch would bring about pollution, defilement and contamination. .
Although notion of untouchability was prevalent in the primitive and ancient societies such as that of New
Zealand, Tonga Fiji, Uganda, South Africa and Egypt etc, it has been firmly deep-rooted in the Hindu mind
due to the dictates of Manu Smriti The event such as birth, death, menstruation have been prescribed,
according to many, to get rid of the evil effects of pollution and defilements such as by touching the low,
looking at the such after sipping water etc.
It is significant to note that the untouchability among Hindus is permanent is nature. There is no way out
for the untouchables to get themselves purified. Babasaheb observed “The Hindus who touch them and
become polluted thereby can become pure by undergoing purification ceremonies. But there is nothing
which can make the untouchables pure. They are born impure, they are impure while they live, they die the
death of the impure, and they give birth to children who are born with the stigma of untouchability affixed
to them. It is a case of permanent hereditary stain which nothing can cleanse”.(7)
The unique feature of the Hindu system of untouchability is the territorial segregation of untouchables.
Babasaheb has observed “The Hindu will not live in the quarters of the untouchables and will not allow the
untouchables to live inside Hindu quarters. This is the fundamental features of untouchability as it is
practicised by the Hindus. It is not a case of social separation a more stoppage of social inter course for a
temporary period. It is a case of territorial segregation and of a cordon sanitaire putting the impure people
inside a barbed wire into a sort of a cage. Every Hindu village has a ghetto. The caste Hindus live in the
village and the untouchables in the ghetto”. (8) Ambedkar was the first major leader of the untouchables in
modern Maharashtra, who rose from amongst the untouchables themselves. Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890) and
Vitthalrao Shinde (1873-1944) who had worked for the untouchable cause were both caste Hindus- Phule, a
Mali and Shinde, a Kshatriya Maratha. Shinde’s work was almost exclusively dedicated to the untouchables,
but it took on the character of a movement for amelioration, education and advocacy. The significance of
this difference between Phule and Ambedkar is often lost when one emphasizes the similarity between the
protests against “Brahmanism” launched by Phule and by Ambedkar..(9) In 1870 , raising the banner against
Brahmanism, Phule emphasized the unity of interest of all the non-Brahman groups i.e. of all the shudras
in Marathi society. In the 1920s, Ambedkar raised his protest against Brahmanism; he was speaking against
all caste Hindus and emphasizing the community of interests of the untouchables in Marathi society. He
attributed Brahmanism not only to Brahmans, but also to all other castes Hindu who treated the
untouchables as low caste and therefore, undeserving of social respect or social equality. (10)
Against this background information, this article attempts to depict the influence of various eminent
personalities on the political thought of B.R.Ambedkar.

3. Discussion and results:
Several factors that Ambedkar encountered with, contributed to the formation of his political ideas. In fact,
the experiences he gathered during his life at different levels-personal, intellectual as well as socio-political
exerted deep influence on the formulation of his ideas.
(a) Personal:

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Experiences of personal humiliation and inhuman treatment meted to him were so bitter that Ambedkar
could not but revolt against the social taboos created by the Hindus against the untouchables. Those bitter
experiences led him to search for ways to eradicate them and to reconstruct society on the lines of social
democracy. Dhananjay Keer observes: “Under the pressure of all sorts of such disabities and maltreatment
attendant on the birth of an untouchable of humble rank, Ambedkar was cultivating a spirit of patience in
the school of experience. All such insulting refusals and ill-treatment must have engendered in him a
burning hatred for Hinduism. It was thus in his boyhood that Ambedkar experienced at the hands of his
co-religionists the galling humiliations and the inhuman treatment under which his whole community had
been labouring for untold ages.”(11)
His experiences, however, did not embitter Ambedkar against Hindus at the individual level. But he
worked actively against Hinduism, especially Brahminism, because it stood in the way of the establishment
of an egalitarian society. The aim of human society, he thought, must be to enable ever person to lead a rich,
all round life involving as much the cultivation of the mind as also the satisfaction of basic physical wants.
There was a time when the untouchables were denied the use of public wells and were asked to drink
only filthy water they could find. Their children were not admitted to schools. The Hindu temples were
closed to them. The caste Hindus did not show any sympathy for them. D.R .Jatava thus sums up their
conditions as: “In short, there was absolute lack of social humanism. They took birth as untouchables, they
lived as untouchables and they died as untouchables”(12).
The severe social disabilities which the Untouchables were made to suffer at that time have been very
vividly summed up by Ambedkar’s Biographer Dhananjay Keer in the following words:
“Their (Untouchables) touch, shadow and even voice were deemed by the caste Hindus to be polluting .So,
they had to clear the way at the approach of a caste Hindu. They were forbidden to keep certain domestic
animals, to use certain metals for ornaments, were obliged to wear a particular type of dress, to eat a
particular type of food, to use a particular type of footwear and were forced to occupy the dirty, dingy and
unhygienic outskirts of villages and towns for habitation where they lived in dark, insanitary and miserable
smoky shanties or cottages. The dress of the male consisted of a turban, a staff in the head, and a rough
blanket on the shoulder and a piece of loin cloth. The women wore bodices and rough sharees barely
reaching the knees”(13)
Some of the recorded incidents of insults and indignities heaped on Ambedkar as an untouchable have
been briefly explained below:
(i)Class Room Episode:
In the school at Satara, the caste Hindu children used to keep their tiffin boxes behind the blackboard. One
day the Class-teacher called upon Ambedkar to come to the blackboard to solve a mathematical sum. This
instantly sparked of an uproar in the class.Dhananjay Keer had beautifully described the reaction of the
caste Hindu children in these words:” Since they feared that their food would be polluted by Bhim’s
presence near the board, they dashed to the blackboard and hurled their tiffin-boxes aside before Bhim
could reach and touch the blackboard. This crackling sound of the tiffin-boxes was not less piercing than
the croaking voices of the children’s parents at home and in the streets at the Untouchables”(14)

(ii).Barber’s refusal to cut Ambedkar’s hair:
At Goregaon, the barbers who claimed social superiority over the Untouchables, refused to cut the hair of
Ambedkar.Describing this incident, Keer, the Biographer, wrote:
“ It was indeed a touching scene when Bhim came to know that his hair defiled the purity of the rajor of the
barber who regarded even the buffalo-shaving as a better and holier than tonsuring a human being who
was his co-religionist and his country man”(15)
(iii).Thrown out of a Bullock-cart:
During his school days, on a summer day, Ambedkar and his elder brother, Balaram,had set out from Satara
to meet their father, Ramji Sakpal, who was working as a Cashier at Goregaon after his retirement from
Millitary.As their father did not receive their letter in time ,he did not turn up at Mansur Railway station.

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They waited at the station for a long time .At last, with the good offices of the Station Master, they secured
a bullock –cart and set out for Gurgaon.After the cart had moved a few yards, the cartman who was a caste
Hindu,enquired about their caste.On hearing that they belong to Mahar community ,he got enraged and
instantly threw them out on the road as one overturns the dustbins,“for he felt that they had polluted his
wooden cart and destroyed the purity of his domestic animals!”(16) However, his anger subsided when they
offered him double the fare. The cart-man followed the cart on foot while young Balaram drove the cart.
They reached the destination at midnight.
(iv) Gujarati Professor’s objection to his drinking water from the same pot:
In November 1918, Ambedkar was appointed Professor of Political Economy in Sydenhum College
through the good offices of Lord Sydenhum, former Governor of Bombay. His success as a Professor could
not mitigate the evils of untouchability in the temple of learning .His Gujarati Professor colleagues objected
to his taking water from the pot reserved for the teaching staff of the college.(17)
During his school days, it is learnt, only a few teachers encouraged Ambedkar to pursue his studies. The
orthodox Hindu society did not encourage or create a favorable environment for the untouchables to acquire
knowledge and get them educated. They were denied admission to schools, and if admitted, they were
asked not to sit with other students in the classroom. Further, they were denied to learn Sanskrit on the
ground that the Vedic text prohibits untouchables to learn or to hear Sanskrit. It was at the school that
Ambedkar had the first experience of untouchability. However, fortunately for Ambedkar, a few teachers
came forward to get Ambedkar out of the ruts.
Thus, at Satara, Ambedkar completed his primary education and began his high school career. One day,
at Satara, he went to school in soaking rains. The class teacher by name Pendse by name, who was a
Brahmin was moved by the sight of little Ambedkar. He at once asked his son to take Bhima to his
residence to give Ambedkar a hot bath and a piece of cloth to cover his body and also to hang up his wet
clothes to dry.(18)This incident had a profound effect on young Ambedkar’s mind.
(b)Influences of contemporary intellectuals:
Encounter with English education in India and abroad helped Ambedkar to come into contact with several
contemporary great intellectuals. However, in some cases the contact was not personal, but through their
ideas, Ambedkar was enriched intellectually.Influence of contemporary social reformers and educationists
that left a deep impression on Ambedkar has been discussed in this section.
Gautama Buddha:
Ambedkar believed in Buddha’s philosophy that a man himself is responsible for his weal and sadness.
Man according to him is the builder of his own fate- good or bad, and he is not the mere hand-puppet of
internal causes which fix his fortune for him. A man can overcome sorrow and achieve happiness by his
own sustained efforts. In the same way Ambedkar said, “Man therefore is a factor in making of history and
environmental forces whether impersonal or social if they are the first and not the last things” (thus spokes
Ambedkar pp28-31).
Buddha’s doctrine of Annicca (transitoriness) and Annatta (egolessness) exercised a profound influence
on Dr. Ambedkar. Buddha revolted against Vedas, Brahmans and Upanishad as there are no uniform social
values. Lord Buddha led him to question the infallibility of the Vedas, the faith in the salvation of the soul,
the efficacy of rites, ceremonies and sacrifices as means of obtaining salvation; the theory that God created
man or that he came out of the body of the Brahma (God of Creation); and in the doctrine of Karma which
determines man’s position in present life by deeds done by him in his past life. The impact of teaching of
Buddha can be seen in Ambedkar’s writing. This can be seen through his book ‘Buddha and his Dharma’.
Dr. Ambedkar tested the validity of the Vedas, the Brahmans and the social organization which is based on
Chaturvarna by applying the Buddha’s doctrine of Annicca and Annatta. He wrote that Lord Buddha
revolted against the Vedas and Brahmanas because they assumed that (a) the Vedas are not only secret but
they are infallible and are not be questioned ;(b) that salvation of the soul or escape from transmigration can
be had only by the due performance of Vedas’ sacrifices, religious ceremonies, and the offering of gifts to
Brahmans; (c)that the ideal religion is contained in the Vedas along with a theory for an ideal society ; (d)
that the pattern of this ideal society is based on Chaturvarna. Therefore, Ambedkar was influenced a great

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deal by Lord Buddha. The reason being that from the life works of Lord Buddha, he could determine that a
man could become great not merely due to his royal birth but because he was motivated by the dynamics of
social purposes and acted as the scourge and scavenger of society. The republican principles of Buddha’s
constitutional set-up of the Sangha had a lasting influence on Ambedkar.
Kabir:
Dr. Ambedkar has regarded Mahatma Kabir as his second Guru. His family belongs to the devotional Kabir
school of thought. As his father was a follower of Kabir, he used to encourage young Ambedkar to recite
the poems of Kabir. According to Ambedkar, Kabir’s poems express in gracefully imaginative terms, the
rational and secular ideas of the Buddha (19). The thoughts of Kabir taught Dr. Ambedkar not to regard any
one as a great man or a mahatma, since it is difficult to be human let alone to be a saint. “Manus hona
kathin haya tou sadhu kahanse hoya.”(Doha of Kabir)[In English, to be a man, it is very difficult task, so,
how will you be a priest?].Therefore, Ambedkar never thought Gandhi as ‘Mahatma’ rather Mr. Gandhi.
Jyotiba Phule:
Dr. Ambedkar thought that all men were equal by birth but social evil created discrimination among men.
He wanted to provide opportunity to the suppressed classes to raise them socially, economically and
politically. He held Jyotiba Phule in great respect. In 1951, Phule started the first school for women and
worked for the uplift of the downtrodden classes. Phule wanted the women and the shudras to be given
compulsory education. He criticized Manusmriti because he realized that it was the largest obstacle in the
way to social change; he also criticized the unchangeability of the Vedas and the Brahmanas. The unjust
claim of the Brahmins as divine arch for themselves and treating the rest of the mankind as inferior,
sub-human, sub-animal being was completely intolerable for the just man like Jotiba Phule. After
surpassing a long -drawn tyranny of the Brahmins, the Brave-heart Jotiba appeared in the scene of
despondency, with his boundless courage stimulated the truth to awaken the divine slaves of the country.
He resorted to strip the corrupt and criminals before the eyes of the downtrodden people who were to
accumulate courage and inspiration to rise in revolt against the paper tiger. Phule took up the cause of
female education first. In India, women irrespective of caste were debarred from education. He began by
throwing an open challenge to the Manusmriti and established a school for mangs and Mahars and he made
the shudras rebel against injustice by making them aware of their slavery. Therefore, Ambedkar dedicated
his books, ‘Who were Shudras?’, to the memory of Jyotiba Phule. The dedication runs as follows:
“Inscribed to the memory of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule 1827-1890, the greatest Shudras of modern India who
made the lower classes of Hindu conscious of their Hindu slavery to the higher classes and who preached
the gospel that for India, social democracy was more vital than independence from the foreign rule”.
Tukaram:
His father Ramji Sakpal sang also the spiritual song from the Marathi saint-poet like Tukaram. The one of
his children, Ambedkar derived immense benefits from these songs .Constant recitals, recitations and
exposition of these songs etc.helped to develop a taste in his children and provided them with a certain
matching and command of the language in their early ages.
Seligman:
Ambedkar’s orientation and the inclination to Edwin Seligman, his guide, the London School of
Economics seemed a better option, given his progressive ambience. The one professor that he was
enamoured of was Edwin R.A Seligman. He was a friend of Lala Lajpat Ray who was introduced to
Seligman by Sidney Webb. Ambedkar took to Seligman as ‘duck takes to water’ as depicted by his
Biographer, Dhananjay Keer, and ran after the professor from class to class with his special permission to
attend his class. This professor, who was fond of dogearing the pages of the book in hand while
teaching ,taught well and guided his students with affection , and thus produced a lasting effect on
Ambedkar. When asked by Ambedkar as to the method of research, he advised him to go on earnestly so
that he might evolve his own method. In 1916, Ambedkar published his thesis under the title “The
Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India”. The work opens with an introduction by Edwin
R.A .Seligman who taught Ambedkar the first lesson in public Finance. Observing that the problems
discussed by Ambedkar in his excellent dissertation was one that was arousing a growing interest in all

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parts of the world, the professor remarked “ Nowhere to my knowledge has such a detailed study of the
underlying principles been made.” In this thesis, Ambedkar traces the growth of the financial arrangements
from the Act of 1833 under the imperial system. The chapter on the budget is very valuable in their
educative and illustrative aspects with regard to the nature and enlargement of the Provincial Finance. The
style of the professor becomes one with the soul of the patriot and Ambedkar bitterly exposes the British
bureaucracy, denounces the designs and objects of the imperial system and also lashes out at all the
reactionary forces in the country.
John Dewey:
John Dewey became his teacher at the time when Ambedkar was the student of the Columbia University.
His philosophy of instrumentation might have led Ambedkar towards a critical analysis of the concrete
problems which humanity faced. His pragmatic approach might have persuaded him that any philosophy
which sought to offer a way out from the troubles in which humanity was caught must be dynamic and
pragmatic. He might have been influenced by Dewey’s method of inquiry which indicated a way to deal
with painful solutions. He was also impressed by Dewey’s activist epistemology and the idea of a realist
school of political scientists and therefore he paid sharp attention to practical rather than mere academic
politics. Dr. Ambedkar fully approved Dewey’s stress on education as a means to change the world and not
merely to understand it. Education should be capable of creating human values which have universal
applicability. Therefore, he established the Peoples’ Education society, Bombay, in 1946 in order to raise
the cultural level of the depressed and oppressed classes who did not have any valuable cultural heritage as
they were denied the educational facilities.
Dr. Ambedkar first recounted that at Columbia, he experienced social equality for the first time. ‘The best
friends I have had in my life, he told The New York Times in 1930, were ‘some of my classmates and my
great Professor John Dewey’. When Ambedkar arrived at the Columbia University, he was only twenty
years old. John Dewey had already established himself at the peak of American Intellectual life. The young
mind of Ambedkar had been influenced by Dewey’s concept of instrumentalism. Dewey’s idea provided the
foundation which led Ambedkar for a systematic analysis of problems relating to politics, economics,
society, religion and history .There is a string running through these problems which calls for an integral
rather than a piecemeal approach. This integral approach enabled Ambedkar to find that society is equally
aggressive and tyrannical than government (20).
Ranade:
Ambedkar had deep attraction to Ranade who was considered to be progressive and liberal leader in his
approach towards the problems of society and economy .It is Dr. Ambedkar who, throughout his political
life, struggled for eradicating untouchability and gave priority to social reform as against political
independence. Amongst the galaxy of social reformers of Maharashtra of the 19th century, Justice Ranade
(1842-1901) is one of them whose social and political thinking inspired Ambedkar for his movement of
uplifting downtrodden classes. Ranade firmly advocated the reorganization of Hindu society on the
principles of equality and absence of casteism. In this respect, Ambedkar’s policy comes closer to the
concept of social reform of Justice Ranade.
Although Ambedkar heard of Ranade at the age of nine, several years after, he found a copy of petition,
from the old papers of his father, sent by the ‘Commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the Mahar
Community (untouchables resided mainly in Maharashtra) to the Government of India against the order
issued in 1892 banning the recruitment of the Mahar in the Army’ which was eventually ‘drafted by Ranade
to help the aggrieved Mahars to redress’. This incidence generated curiosity about Ranade in the mind of
Ambedkar which subsequently encouraged him to study carefully Ranade’s career and writings and formed
an idea about him.Ranade first made a dispassionate analysis of the causes of downfall of Hindu society
and spent a major portion of his life in promoting social reforms .Ambedkar was influenced by the
impartial opinion about the weakness and evils of the Hindu religion.Dr. Ambedkar finds in Ranade’s views
the justification of his movement against the caste Hindus, particularly the Brahmins who had legalized
untouchability.
The political philosophy of justice Ranade also had an impact on the mind of Dr. Ambedkar. It
made his pragmatic approach to problems systematic and evolutionary. The political philosophy of Justice

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Ranade was summed up by him in three propositions:
1) We must not set up as our ideal something which is purely imaginary; an ideal must be such that it
must carry the assurance that it is a practicable one.
2) In politics, sentiments and temperament of the people are more important than intellect and theory;
3) In political negotiations, the rule must be what is possible, that does not mean that we should be
content with what is offered.
Why Ambedkar agreed with the terms of the Poona Pact of 1932 by sacrificing the benefits of the
communal award can be assessed from the above mentioned political philosophy. Ranade wanted to vitalize
the Hindu society to create social democracy and he lived in a time when social and religious customs were
sacrosanct. Just as Ranade’s aim was to cleanse the old order and improve the moral tune of the Hindu
society, Ambedkar’s had formed similar view which partly lends strong influence from Ranade and for
cleansing odds of Hindu Society, Ambedkar worked throughout his whole life.
J.S. Mill:
The writings of J.S.Mill, the political thinker had a great influence on Ambedkar. Ambedkar’s advocacy in
favour of freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of action was similar in line with Mill. The
absolute responsibility of these concepts moulded the political philosophy of Ambedkar. Mill’s writing
impressed on him the importance of individual initiative and personal responsibility. Like Mill, he was also
convinced that unless men are free to form and maintain their own opinions, they cannot develop that
mental good on which everybody depends. ‘Freedom of thought is absolutely indispensable although
freedom of action is limited. The liberty of individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a
nuisance to the other (21).
That the actions of an individual must not become an annoyance was pointed out by Ambedkar in his
forceful statement before the Constituent Assembly while he dealt with the exceptions and qualifications of
the Fundamental Rights. He said, “In the opinion of the critics fundamental rights are not fundamental
unless they are also absolute rights. The critics rely on the constitution of the United States and the Bill of
Rights embodied in the first ten Amendments to that Constitution in support of their contention. It is said
that the fundamental rights in the American Bill of Rights are real because they are not subject to
limitation.” (22)
Instances of personal humiliation and inhuman treatment were so many that Ambedkar could not but
revolt against the social taboos created by the Hindus against the untouchables. This pungent experience
made him explore ways to reconstruct society on the lines of social democracy.
Bernand Russell:
Ambedkar’s mind was busy with the ideas of intellectual conquest. About this time, he wrote a review
article on Bertnard Russell’s book ‘Reconstruction of Society’ in the journal of Indian Economic Society.
Describing it as a war book , he observed that Russell was right in believing that war could not be banished
by rationalistic appeal alone but by positive life of impulses and passions antagonistic to those that led to
war. Russell opined that activity led to growth and quietism was another name for death Force was such an
energy that must be used constructively to achieve any definite objective. At the end , Ambedkar added that
Russell full credit for having emphasized the psychic basis of social life(23) .
Harold Laski:
Dr. Ambedkar appreciated H.Laski for his insistence on the moral order as a requirement of democracy. He
says that if there is no moral order, democracy will go to pieces. It requires a public conscience.
In India, all citizens were not considered as equally tangible units of society. The people from the upper
strata of society were entitled to special privileges and others specially the untouchables, well denied all
facilities for self development. It produces a society of social decrepit. Similar is the opinion of
Laski .He says ‘ Those who were denied the power to authority assume the subordinate position of
obedience and those who enjoy the privileged position of authority struggle to maintain their power and
prestige and tend to justify their retention by most specious and fallacious kinds of arguments. Whenever
men become only recipients of orders they lose their individuality and ability to realize their own good.

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Vol 2, 2012
Edmund Burkey:
There is the emphasis on moral order for which he sometimes kept company with Edmund Burkey. The use
of force is but temporary. Therefore, in the Round Table Conference, 1940, he asserted, “we feel that
nobody can remove our grievances as well as we can, and we can not remove them unless we get political
powers in our own hand (24).
4.Conclusion:
Ambedkar was born in a society based on inequality. Ambedkar was schooled in the liberal political
tradition which he imbibed through his interaction with the Western culture as result of his British moulded
higher education in India and his training in Columbia University and London School of Economics and
Political Science. He was fortunate enough to receive education in the west where he came under the
influence of the liberal- minded professors like Dewey, Harold Laski, Seligman and others. It was, therefore,
quite natural that he imbibed the spirit of liberty. But, in dazzling contrast to the intellectual tradition of
liberalism he was brought upon, he was destined to live and suffer in an anti-liberal Indian universe. This
made a strong impression on his philosophy. Liberalism led him to his confidence of an ideal social order
based on individual right and dignity. Yet at the same time, his social experience of a system which
deprived of Justice to individual and recognized him only with social group led him to think in terms of
activities. Thus he made an attempt to analyze the social problems from Marxist viewpoint. This explains
why he was against dictatorship, autocracy and totalitarianism. As a social philosopher, Ambedkar had
developed logical structure of interrelated ideas which he used as a theoretical framework to explain the
social phenomenon as well as to suggest changes in the existing pattern of social relations. Being an
integral and organic part of that stratum of society which for generations together had been the victim of
organized exploitative system, he had the advantage of having clear vision of the problems and
complexities of the social system. Ambedkar tried to eliminate inequality and injustice and reformed the
untouchables through the weapon of education.Ambedkar’s birth in an untouchable community and in a
system based on graded inequality and injustice and deprivation of basic human rights to his community
was responsible for giving a purpose and a mission to his life.

References
1. D.R. Jatava: The Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, p.24.
2. Dhananjay Keer: Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission,p11.
3.Keer Dhananjay, Dr.Ambedkar life and mission, Popular Prakashan Private Limited, Bombay first
published, Reprint 1991, p-1.
4. Ibid, pp-1-2
5. Ibid, p.2
6. Ambedkar, B.R., The untouchables, second Edition, Bheem Patrika Publications, Jalandher, pp.21-22.
7. Ibid, p.47
8 .Ibid, p.48
9. M.S.Gore, The social context of an ideology- Ambedkar’s political and social thought.pp-73.
10. Ibid pp-73-74.
11.KeerDhananjay:Dr.Ambedkar:Life and Mission,p-13.
12. Jatava. D.R.: The Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, p.24.
13. Keer, Dhananjay, Dr.Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Popular Prakashan Private Limited, Bombay, First
published 1954, Reprint 1991, pp1-2.
14. Ibid, p-18.
15. Ibid, p-13.
16. Ibid, p-12.

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17. Ibid Vol.9,p24.
18 Op.cit..Keer.Dhananjay, p-9
19. G.S.Lokhande: Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar,p9.
20. Ambedkar, B.R, Annihilation of caste, Bheem Patrika Publications, Jullundur, 1968, p73.
21. Mahajan, V.D, Recent Political Thoughts, S.Chand & Co., Delhi, 1965,p45.
22. Pylee, M.V., op.cit. p18.
23. Dhananjay Keer: Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, p38.
24. G.S.Lokhande: Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar,p13.

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