PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2002 ID-41954
.
13.04.04 .
.
Association(AISA) .
-_.._ I .
411 I.ndia Students' .
14.4.04 .
All India Students' Association (AISA) .
Facing Ambedkar .
Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by the relentless .
. .
struggles...Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions"-Ambedkar. .
Babasaheb Ambedkar is a luminous name in the calendar of Indian martyrdom. Not as a saint or hero in the Christian sense, .
who bears testimony to a truth. Ambedkar was a martyr to a cause that precedes and outlives him: Untouchability. He was an .
who voluntarily suffers death as a penalty for a cause. But one who in the ancient Greek sense of term was a "witness": one .
extraordinary witness to how Hindu society created and condemned a class of people from whom labour was wrested without .
.
dignity and their identity fixed under a primitive, ethno-racist discourse of differentiation. .
He was one of the first Indian Intellectuals to historicize the genesis of caste system, and blast its false bearings with rigour .
and acumen. With chilling Kafkan accuracy, Ambedkar could see the symbolic relationship of power in Hindu society: u Some .
closed the door. others found it closed against them". The inner door was the door to the Brahmin's house, his temple, his .
door, which prevented exit of those who were deprived the status of the sanctorum, because without their slavery it wasn't .
knowledge system, his matrimonial life his extra-human status. But outside this door, as Ambedkar realized was another He exposed the negative pr-axis of the Hindu social system and its idea of work: fixed into compartments in a most bizarre ~ .
possible for the Brahmin to pretend his greatness. .
mythology of regulated labour, where people who were 'ordained' by gods to pursue knowledge were nevertheless too shy to .
clean their own shit, and people who were dark-skinned were meant to feel like shit because their labour could only sparkle .
the lives of the community of holy-cows, but darken their own status as human beings. .
worse than the idea of labour In the West because the cultural identity of the Dalit as much as the Brahmin was considered Caste, Ambedkar knew, was a "relation", with one feeding the other's self-image. A closed system that, in a way, was even .
fixed and eternal. It's in this respect that Ambedkar slightly differs from the purely Marxian approach: the analysis of the idea .
of caste in India is not complete without understanding the history of the cultural symbolic along with material structure. .
Ambedkar gave a radical "context" through which Marxian Ideas could enter into a dialogue with the question of Dalit .
r .
-.
He equated Buddha's idea of "dukkha" or suffering, straightaway with the abolition of private property. On the one side, .
emancipation. --' .
; Ambedkar desired to nationalize land, and on the other extreme, he wanted Dalits to convert to Buddhism: both, radical .
') .
agendas in the face of ruling-class conservatism. His idea of a religious brotherhood was inspired by egalitarian, non-.
1 .
exploitative ideas of the enlightenment. Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism was an act of exasperation and protest: .
.
Hinduism had no business in telling him how to die when it couldn't help him and his people live with dignity. i .
I .
.
Today, as right-wing communalists resist all the ideas of resistance to its grand idea of hatred and suppression. the memory .
.
of Ambedkar reminds us of the "hole" which he left behind at the heart of nationalist claims: he engaged with every political .
.
problem the country faced but the country never managed to engage with his political commitment in the way he wished. .
.
j .
"There is no nation ofIndians In the real sense ofthe word: It Is yet to be created'', asserted Ambedkar. Let us .
remember that Dr Ambedkar', apart from pioneering the anti-brahminical struggle, also gave shape to secular Indian .
s constitution. In a trenchant battle against the Hindu fundamentalist lobby, over theHindu Code Bill, he resigned from the e Nehru cabinet to defend his uncompromising principle of secularism. Today, It Is time for each one of us to believe in the .
ideals of equality, social justice and secularism to stand united and defend his legacy for the struggle ahead. .
It.
e .
lnspite of his quarrel with Hindus, Ambedkar did live in a generous spirit. Steadfastly refusing to gather the token of upper-j .
c questions were engaged in tearing off the masks of false and oppressive mythologies. Ambedkar's legacy will. therefore. a caste "generosity". He always faced the other with questions and faced himself with questions In face of the other. His lt .
continue to haunt Hindu society because afterall history Is not a mythology. .
tl8 .
..For a successful revolution, It Is not enough that there Is discontent. What Is required Is a profound and thorough :n .
Today, it is in the radical struggles for social change, justice and democratization that Dr Ambedkar's legacy lives on. When .
conviction ofthe justice, necessity and Importance ofpolitical and social rights." .
agrarian labourers (90% of whom are Dalits) issue their revolutionary challenge to feudal armies and assert their right to land .
and social dignity. .
Whenever tribals make their destiny by claiming their right over forest, land and rivers, .
Whenever Dalits refuse to accept the daily humiliations and demand the right to drink from the common well, .
When they struggle for the right to vote to realize their aspirations for political participation and leadership, .
When they challenge the 'two-tumbler' system and demand to use the common glasses in hotels, Sdl~ Sanjay Kumar, Jt. Secy AISA,JNU .
They pay the most meaningful tribute to Ambedkar's legacy and his vision of an egalitarian India. .
, Sd/-Mona Daa, President, AISA,JNU .
.
PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2002 ID-41954
.
13.04.04 .
.
Association(AISA) .
-_.._ I .
411 I.ndia Students' .
14.4.04 .
All India Students' Association (AISA) .
Facing Ambedkar .
Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by the relentless .
. .
struggles...Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions"-Ambedkar. .
Babasaheb Ambedkar is a luminous name in the calendar of Indian martyrdom. Not as a saint or hero in the Christian sense, .
who bears testimony to a truth. Ambedkar was a martyr to a cause that precedes and outlives him: Untouchability. He was an .
who voluntarily suffers death as a penalty for a cause. But one who in the ancient Greek sense of term was a "witness": one .
extraordinary witness to how Hindu society created and condemned a class of people from whom labour was wrested without .
.
dignity and their identity fixed under a primitive, ethno-racist discourse of differentiation. .
He was one of the first Indian Intellectuals to historicize the genesis of caste system, and blast its false bearings with rigour .
and acumen. With chilling Kafkan accuracy, Ambedkar could see the symbolic relationship of power in Hindu society: u Some .
closed the door. others found it closed against them". The inner door was the door to the Brahmin's house, his temple, his .
door, which prevented exit of those who were deprived the status of the sanctorum, because without their slavery it wasn't .
knowledge system, his matrimonial life his extra-human status. But outside this door, as Ambedkar realized was another He exposed the negative pr-axis of the Hindu social system and its idea of work: fixed into compartments in a most bizarre ~ .
possible for the Brahmin to pretend his greatness. .
mythology of regulated labour, where people who were 'ordained' by gods to pursue knowledge were nevertheless too shy to .
clean their own shit, and people who were dark-skinned were meant to feel like shit because their labour could only sparkle .
the lives of the community of holy-cows, but darken their own status as human beings. .
worse than the idea of labour In the West because the cultural identity of the Dalit as much as the Brahmin was considered Caste, Ambedkar knew, was a "relation", with one feeding the other's self-image. A closed system that, in a way, was even .
fixed and eternal. It's in this respect that Ambedkar slightly differs from the purely Marxian approach: the analysis of the idea .
of caste in India is not complete without understanding the history of the cultural symbolic along with material structure. .
Ambedkar gave a radical "context" through which Marxian Ideas could enter into a dialogue with the question of Dalit .
r .
-.
He equated Buddha's idea of "dukkha" or suffering, straightaway with the abolition of private property. On the one side, .
emancipation. --' .
; Ambedkar desired to nationalize land, and on the other extreme, he wanted Dalits to convert to Buddhism: both, radical .
') .
agendas in the face of ruling-class conservatism. His idea of a religious brotherhood was inspired by egalitarian, non-.
1 .
exploitative ideas of the enlightenment. Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism was an act of exasperation and protest: .
.
Hinduism had no business in telling him how to die when it couldn't help him and his people live with dignity. i .
I .
.
Today, as right-wing communalists resist all the ideas of resistance to its grand idea of hatred and suppression. the memory .
.
of Ambedkar reminds us of the "hole" which he left behind at the heart of nationalist claims: he engaged with every political .
.
problem the country faced but the country never managed to engage with his political commitment in the way he wished. .
.
j .
"There is no nation ofIndians In the real sense ofthe word: It Is yet to be created'', asserted Ambedkar. Let us .
remember that Dr Ambedkar', apart from pioneering the anti-brahminical struggle, also gave shape to secular Indian .
s constitution. In a trenchant battle against the Hindu fundamentalist lobby, over theHindu Code Bill, he resigned from the e Nehru cabinet to defend his uncompromising principle of secularism. Today, It Is time for each one of us to believe in the .
ideals of equality, social justice and secularism to stand united and defend his legacy for the struggle ahead. .
It.
e .
lnspite of his quarrel with Hindus, Ambedkar did live in a generous spirit. Steadfastly refusing to gather the token of upper-j .
c questions were engaged in tearing off the masks of false and oppressive mythologies. Ambedkar's legacy will. therefore. a caste "generosity". He always faced the other with questions and faced himself with questions In face of the other. His lt .
continue to haunt Hindu society because afterall history Is not a mythology. .
tl8 .
..For a successful revolution, It Is not enough that there Is discontent. What Is required Is a profound and thorough :n .
Today, it is in the radical struggles for social change, justice and democratization that Dr Ambedkar's legacy lives on. When .
conviction ofthe justice, necessity and Importance ofpolitical and social rights." .
agrarian labourers (90% of whom are Dalits) issue their revolutionary challenge to feudal armies and assert their right to land .
and social dignity. .
Whenever tribals make their destiny by claiming their right over forest, land and rivers, .
Whenever Dalits refuse to accept the daily humiliations and demand the right to drink from the common well, .
When they struggle for the right to vote to realize their aspirations for political participation and leadership, .
When they challenge the 'two-tumbler' system and demand to use the common glasses in hotels, Sdl~ Sanjay Kumar, Jt. Secy AISA,JNU .
They pay the most meaningful tribute to Ambedkar's legacy and his vision of an egalitarian India. .
, Sd/-Mona Daa, President, AISA,JNU .
.