Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) is both the towering symbol of protest against age-old and contemporary forms of exploitation in India and a scholar-sage proposing fair terms of social association. An untouchable himself, he led a resolute and adroit struggle against untouchability and attempted to reformulate the terms of nationalist discourse in India. This selection draws from his major works, speeches, letters and memoranda.

"For years Ambedkar battled alone against the Indian political establishment, including Gandhi, who resisted his attempt to formalize and codify a separate identity for the Dalits. Nonetheless, he became law minister in the first government of independent India and, more important, was elected chairman of the committee which drafted the Indian Constitution. Here he modified Gandhian attempts to influence the Indian polity. He then distanced himself from politics and sought solace in Buddhism, to which he converted in 1956, a few months before his death." "Jaffrelot focuses on Ambedkar's three key roles: as social theorist, as statesman and politician, and as an advocate of conversion to Buddhism as an escape route for India's Dalits. In each case he pioneered new strategies that proved effective in his lifetime and still resonate today."--BOOK JACKET.

“What the Communist Manifesto is to the capitalist world, Annihilation of Caste is to India.” —Anand Teltumbde, author of The Persistence of Caste The classic work of Indian Dalit politics, reframed with an extensive introduction by Arundathi Roy B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste is one of the most important, yet neglected, works of political writing from India. Written in 1936, it is an audacious denunciation of Hinduism and its caste system. Ambedkar – a figure like W.E.B. Du Bois – offers a scholarly critique of Hindu scriptures, scriptures that sanction a rigidly hierarchical and iniquitous social system. The world’s best-known Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, responded publicly to the provocation. The hatchet was never buried. Arundhati Roy introduces this extensively annotated edition of Annihilation of Caste in “The Doctor and the Saint,” examining the persistence of caste in modern India, and how the conflict between Ambedkar and Gandhi continues to resonate. Roy takes us to the beginning of Gandhi’s political career in South Africa, where his views on race, caste and imperialism were shaped. She tracks Ambedkar’s emergence as a major political figure in the national movement, and shows how his scholarship and intelligence illuminated a political struggle beset by sectarianism and obscurantism. Roy breathes new life into Ambedkar’s anti-caste utopia, and says that without a Dalit revolution, India will continue to be hobbled by systemic inequality.

About the book Bhimrao Rao Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit, political leader, activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropo­logist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Born into a poor Untouchable family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna—the Hindu categorization of human society into four varnas—and the Indian caste system. Dr. Ambedkar's understanding, the prime factor responsible for the evolution of the system of untouchability was the religious persecution of Buddhists, while other social-psychological factors are secondary. This book is a comprehensive design to offer an in-depth analysis of the major, and rather disturbing, global problems in the human-centered, Ambedkar’s view of Indian caste i.e. Dalit, Harijan and untouchability and peace-oriented framework. Contents Preface .................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ............................................................................. 7 2. Ambedkar: The Source of His Life and Vision .................... 81 3. ‘Ambedkar’ for the Movement of Dalits ............................. 156 4. ‘Ambedkar’ as a Radical Thinker ........................................ 178 5. Caste and Untouchability .................................................... 215 6. Constitution and Ambedkar ................................................. 268 7. Ambedkar and the Degradation of the Sudras ..................... 283 Bibliography ..................................................................... 301 Index .................................................................................. 303

The Boy Who Asked Why follows the life of an extraordinary man, 'Babasaheb' Bhimrao Ambedkar, who energized the struggle against caste prejudice. This straightforward telling, visualized with quirky imagination, brings to children a man whose story will raise their awareness of discrimination - leading them, perhaps, to ask their own whys.