Educate | Agitate | Organise
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, fondly known as Babasaheb, was a visionary leader whose contributions have profoundly shaped modern India. As an economist, politician, social reformer, and the principal architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy continues to influence the nation’s journey towards equality and justice. This article explores his multifaceted contributions and enduring impact.
Born into a Dalit family on April 14, 1891, in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Ambedkar faced significant social discrimination from a young age. Despite these challenges, he excelled academically and earned degrees from prestigious institutions such as Columbia University and the London School of Economics. His education equipped him with the tools to challenge the oppressive caste system and advocate for the marginalized.
One of Dr. Ambedkar’s most significant contributions was his role as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution. His vision for a democratic, inclusive, and just society is enshrined in the Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and equal protection to all citizens. Key elements of his constitutional work include:
Dr. Ambedkar’s relentless fight against untouchability and caste discrimination is a cornerstone of his legacy. He led numerous movements and campaigns, including:
As an economist, Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions extended to India’s economic development and labor rights. He believed in state intervention to achieve social justice and economic equity. Some of his key economic ideas include:
Dr. Ambedkar was a strong advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. He played a pivotal role in framing laws to protect women’s rights, including:
In 1956, Dr. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with millions of his followers, seeking liberation from the caste system and promoting a religion that embraced equality and non-violence. His conversion was a significant moment in India’s socio-religious history, leading to the spread of Buddhism among Dalits and reinforcing his vision for an egalitarian society.
Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions continue to inspire movements for social justice and equality in India and beyond. His vision for an inclusive and democratic society remains relevant, and his teachings guide contemporary efforts to combat discrimination and promote human rights.
Education has an immense impact on human society.It trains the human mind to think and take the right decision. In other words, human beings become rational when they are educated. It is only through education that knowledge and information are received and spread throughout the world. Uneducated persons cannot read, write and all knowledge and wisdom are closed to them. In contrast, an educated person lives in a room with all its windows open towards outside world. Education does not mean to acquiringknowledge or getting an academic designation only. It must lead to the creation of a free mind and free thinking.
Agitate
The word ‘agitate’ does not simply mean agitating physically;it is a mental revolution. It does not mean going out and protesting violently on the streets. After being educated by understanding Babasaheb’s thoughts and strategy an individual can start agitating mentally. An agitated mind, as Dr. Ambedkar presumed, would force educated people to form organizations and they would know how to tackle problems. The slogan agitate has a wider connotation. Amedkar’s actual message is that one must have faith in one’s strength.
Organize
Educated and agitated minds will easily organise and unite for a common mission and emerge as a collective force. Dr. Ambedkar was of the view that education opened up channels for rational thinking and inspired people to come together to counter exploitation. The battle is not for power or wealth. It is for freedom, reclaiming the human personality and for the emancipation of human society-at-large.
Dr. Ambedkar’s call for educating, agitating and organizing was a reflection of his belief in launching a movement for removal of caste induced barriers. Since these three principles are the guiding force of any progressive movement, Dr. Ambedkar’s call serves as a vision for chalking out an action programme for any movement that strives to uphold human dignity. Since he was a great believer in the power of education, Dr. Ambedkar developed a programme of education as part of the general manifesto of the Indian Labour Party before the general elections of 1937.He stressed the need of a liberal education that also recognised the need for provision of scholarships for those who did not have access to supporting means.
Relevance of Dr. Ambedkar’s Philosophy on Education Today
The influence of John Dewey, one of the greatest educationists of the 20th century, on Dr. Ambedkar appears to be deep and permanent. Therefore, he approached the question of educational development of the masses as a pragmatist. To him education was a basic need of life. It was for this reason that he had advocated a strong system of primary education which would serve as the base for social and political upliftment of the depressed groups. He put all his efforts to guarantee that education without any discrimination was available to all citizens of a free India.
Dr. Ambedkar had a deep relation with education and his writings contain an in-depth analysis of the subject. He is a world leader whose charisma extends beyond region, religion, caste, race or class. He saw education as a force that could bring about radical changes in an oppressive social order. His perspectives on education have enormous contemporary relevance and must find a place in all educational discourses. It is also equally important for teachers and educational administrators to integrate the thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar in pedagogical models and work towards evolving a system of education that inculcates the principles of ‘self-actualization’ and ‘creation of a just society’. When discussing the paths that education has to take, we must remember that access to knowledge was denied to large sections of our society based on their birth, gender or class. The exclusive privilege given to certain groups for learning further resulted in children from marginalised sections being kept away from education with the primary intention of reinforcing caste and class hierarchies. It was Dr. Ambedkar’s pioneering work in questioning caste based oppression and denial of opportunities to vulnerable groups for emancipation that paved the way for the creation of a new social order in India. Since education is the most powerful symbol of social equality his thoughts on education which upheld the role of factors such as intellectual assertion and resistance to oppression have immense significance not only for contemporary educational discourse but also in the entire movement for social justice. The need to ‘question’ hegemony and usher in a new social order, two dominant thoughts that run as an undercurrent in Dr. Ambedkar’s life and work must in fact form the bases on which modern educational theory and practice need to be designed and implemented.
Dr. Ambedkar further maintains that work without knowledge is aimless and futile. When people are engaged in work without education, it is equivalent to wastage of human resource. He was concerned about leaders who without education would lead people to destruction. He was of the opinion that for any organized struggle to sustainit self, people involved must be educated failing which they are exploited. Just because Brahmins and other upper castes have had the educational system under their control for centuries, they are depriving castes forced to suffer untouchability for centuries from getting access to knowledge. They are perpetuating a form of social slavery which reinforced caste and class based oppression. It is this denial of educational opportunities that comes in the way of most dalits sustaining themselves in competition for life. To counter this oppressive situation it is not enough if there are just acts, but a system created to implement these acts. Since primary education constitutes the base of the education system Dr. Ambedkar expressed the need for an act that makes primary education compulsory. His other important thoughts on education that had a long standing impact on the formulation of a socially just education policy in India were that there should be no discrimination in the matter of education for boys and girls and that the state must take the responsibility for educating all.
The Right to Education Act 2009 contains many of the progressive thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar who had insisted on laying a firm foundation for making primary education accessible to children of all social and economic groups. In fact he Constitution even as early as in the 1950s had paved the way for a programme of compulsory, primary and free education and the RTE is only a byproduct of this thought. He was the true harbinger of this Act.