Chanchal Kumar
Since I don’t have anything to pass off as an introduction, I would prefer to plunge straightaway to the topic at hand.
The fact that Dr Ambedkar studied and mastered so many different fields of knowledge, from something as diverse as Economics and Law, not only proves his extraordinary commitment and love to the cause of the upliftment of Dalits, it, on a broader view, serves as a case-in-point for the entire world that he was not only a beacon for Dalits and for Indians but for humanity as large. The reason we see memorials and plaques in honor of Dr Ambedkar in different countries around the world is because the people of these states recognize the philosopher, scholar and a never-again-to-be-born human being in him. The tragedy of savarnas in this country is that they are so blinded by hate and prejudice that they can’t even do the things that will actually benefit themselves, never mind people of other castes and creed. The apathy that Hinduism has sown in their minds can only be overcome by their embracing Buddhism. Just renouncing Hinduism and calling themselves atheists will not do. (I’m reminded of a cartoon sketch that I came across on the internet which portrayed a group of people standing close together and saying, pointing at another man standing apart: “He is an atheist like us, but from a different caste.”)
I grew up in a Hinduised Dalit family, with a sense of pride and under the illusion of Hinduism being an ancient religion, containing literature that dated back to centuries, unmindful of the fact that during the time when this literature was created, there was no “India” in existence. The work of acclaimed historians now proves that the country as we know it today got its name from a corruption of the word “Indus” and referred to the people living by the shore of the Indus river. This means that texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Geeta which glorified caste respectively were not talking about people who were living together in a society, much less a country. These texts were rather focused on the survival of the castes of their protagonists: The Brahmins and Kshatriyas in the case of the above-mentioned epics. Dr Ambedkar tried to show us the mirror and a path forward through the numerous volumes he wrote, all to be nearly forgotten but for the efforts of a few dedicated followers (mostly from the state of his birth) who revered him.
It seems like a truism to say that if savarnas want to progress in their individual lives and in the world, their advantage lies in that they heed to Babasaheb’s writings. It is almost too late for savarna Boomers to begin reading him since they probably won’t last the duration of going through his works (and neither do they seem enthusiastic about it) but it is a sincere call to action for savarna millennials and Gen Z to pick up, clear the dust off the cover of the Philosophy of Hinduism and Annihilation of Caste, two writings of his with which to begin reading him.
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Finally, a word to fellow Ambedkarites: Babasaheb probably realized that a system so entrenched in caste won’t be uprooted by degrees earned from universities alone, but he still went through studying such drudgery as Economics and Law. This was probably because he knew that the written word is everlasting. He worked his life away mastering the art of litigation because he knew that a new society can be built only if he first learnt the rules of the trade and then finally destroyed the system, to rebuild a country from scratch (by overseeing the drafting of the Constitution) — on the bedrock of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, and in the vision of the Buddha. This is his precious gift to all of us: He did not leave us in a godless alien world as that left behind by Karl Marx but to plant a seedling of Buddhism which still provides shade to the populations of multiple (developed and advanced) Asian countries. This is not the space to talk about how Communism has failed in countries such as Russia but writing this close to the release of a Hollywood movie which dealt with the creation of the Atomic bomb, the “Father” of who was supposedly inspired by Hindu scriptures. This is yet another instance of how self-destructive these texts can be and further proves my point that it is time to finally call the curtains on this “religion”.
I contend that since the time when these casteist epics were written there was no person called a “Hindu” in existence (because the country India hadn’t yet been created) but just a collection of castes, therefore, attempts to call these ancient literature as being a part of the Hindu canon is nothing but a well-thought out exercise in mischief by savarna historians and/or politicians.
Before concluding this essay, the final thought I’d like to leave my Ambedkarite friends with, is that we should dig deeper into whatever resources on Buddhist philosophy we can find. There is a well-known quote by a Zen master: If you find the Buddha on the road, kill him!, among the many interpretations of which is, if one already knows the purpose of their life and what they want to achieve, they don’t need a guru or a traditional God. As explained by a tweet I stumbled upon, written by a popular Ambedkarite handle, and referring to Manyawar Kandhiram and Behenji Mayawati— “The true leader doesn’t create followers, he creates more leaders.”
Jai Bhim!
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Chanchal Kumar is from Jharkhand and currently lives in Delhi, India. His poems have previously appeared and awarded in The Sunflower Collective, Hamilton Stone Review, Welter Journal, Name and None, Young Poets Network, UK including others. Recently, his poems were translated to Bengali by Harakiri Journal. He is pursuing M.Phil at University of Delhi.
