Dr B R Ambedkar

• Intro: Amongst the galaxy of thinkers in modern India, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar stands on a pedestal quite different from others. This is because his life was a fight for the emancipation of dalits.

• His ideas:
• Critic of caste system. acc to him caste system does not make even economic sense. It forces  person to perform a task irrespective of his interest/talents.
• says w/o exogamy fraternity cannot develop and w/o fraternity nation cannot develop
• Caste is not a division of labor but of laborer
• Talks about Annihilation of caste
• educate.agitate.organise.
• for Ambedkar social justice in India cannot bypass the concern of bahujan samaj.
• for Gandhi and Marx, state was an instrument of coercion, but for Ambekdar state was an instrument of affirmative action (state as a source of virtue - Socrates and Aristotle)
• On social justice
• Dalits represented The most depressed section of Indian society.
• Acc to Pareto's circulation of elites, power has traditionally resided between foxes and lions , the upper castes and the OBCs in Indian context, with the dalits constituting the ruled masses.
• mentioned in Manusmriti as antyaj that is outside of Varna system
• Dalits in India suffer from multiple deprivations because of the birth
• Abolition of untouchability and giving life of dignity to untouchables
• he had first hand experience of the plight of untouchables from his childhood to his adult life when even after graduating in law from Columbia  university people did not approach him because of his caste
• For Ambedkar caste is the basic structure of society
• war of position: dalitism(counter hegemony)
• war of manouvre(fight against upper castes)

• Conclusion: no doubt he was the tallest dalit leader, no other leader could achieve what he could for the dalits.