Ambedkar, Gandhi and the fight against untouchability
Dalits led by B. R. Ambedkar fight for access to water, temples and political power; Gandhi seeks reform within Hinduism; Ambedkar finally leaves for Buddhism.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- Annihilation of Caste — B. R. Ambedkar (1936)
- Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope — Judith M. Brown, Yale University Press (1989)
- B. R. Ambedkar — Encyclopaedia Britannica
In 1927 Ambedkar led thousands of “untouchables” to drink from a public water tank at Mahad in Maharashtra, from which they had been barred, and that December publicly burned the Manusmriti, the ancient law book that sanctioned caste hierarchy. Temple-entry campaigns, such as at Vaikom in Kerala in 1924–25, pressed the same demand for dignity.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- B. R. Ambedkar — Encyclopaedia Britannica
In 1932 the British granted the Depressed Classes separate electorates. Gandhi, in jail, began a fast unto death against what he saw as a division of Hindu society. Under enormous pressure, Ambedkar agreed to the Poona Pact, giving reserved seats within joint electorates instead. Gandhi then campaigned against untouchability across India, but Ambedkar never forgave the pressure.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope — Judith M. Brown, Yale University Press (1989)
In 1935 Ambedkar declared that although he had been born a Hindu he would not die one. His speech Annihilation of Caste (1936) argued that caste could not be reformed without rejecting the scriptures that upheld it. After drafting the constitution that outlawed untouchability, he converted to Buddhism at Nagpur on 14 October 1956 with hundreds of thousands of followers, and died less than two months later.
- Annihilation of Caste — B. R. Ambedkar (1936)
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation — Granville Austin, Oxford University Press (1966)
At Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, Ambedkar took the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Burmese monk and then administered 22 vows to his followers, including rejecting the Hindu gods and the idea that the Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu, and affirming the equality of all people. Waves of further conversions followed, mostly among Mahars in Maharashtra.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- B. R. Ambedkar — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ambedkar chose Buddhism because it was born in India, rejected caste and rested on reason and compassion. His reading, set out in The Buddha and His Dhamma, stressed ethics and social liberation over rebirth and ritual. For his followers, conversion was an act of self-respect and a rebirth into equality.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
- B. R. Ambedkar — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Untouchability is a sin and a corruption of Hinduism, not its essence. Hindus must purify their religion and open temples and wells, but Dalits ("Harijans", people of God, in Gandhi's term) should not be politically separated from other Hindus.
- Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope — Judith M. Brown, Yale University Press (1989)
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
Caste is rooted in Hindu scripture itself, and upper-caste reform is paternalistic. Dalits need political power of their own, and freedom may require leaving Hinduism. Many Dalits reject the word "Harijan" as condescending.
- Annihilation of Caste — B. R. Ambedkar (1936)
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement — Eleanor Zelliot, Manohar (1992)
Caste divisions weaken Hindu unity, which must be restored through social harmony (samarasata). The RSS honours Ambedkar as a great Indian, while downplaying his rejection of Hinduism.
- Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy — Christophe Jaffrelot, Princeton University Press (2021)
Why it matters today
The Gandhi–Ambedkar argument, whether caste can be reformed from within Hinduism or requires leaving it, is still alive. Every 14 October and 6 December huge crowds gather in Nagpur and Mumbai to honour Ambedkar, and many Dalits identify as Buddhist or reject Hinduism, while others remain devout Hindus.
Ambedkar is now honoured by every party, and his statues are everywhere. The Poona Pact's reserved seats are still part of India's constitution, and caste discrimination and violence remain painful realities.
Ambedkar's conversion began the largest movement into Buddhism in modern times and brought the faith back to India as a religion of equality. Most of India's Buddhists today are Ambedkarites, and the blue flag, his portrait beside the Buddha's and the 22 vows he set out are signs of a Buddhism focused on dignity and social justice, which some call Navayana, the "new vehicle".