Ambedkar vs Gandhi | Who was right about Casteism | Two Ideologies that shaped India’s Freedom Struggle

Gandhi and Ambedkar are 2 people who played a crucial role after India’s independence to shape how India will look after freedom Today whatever happens in our life is a big impact of what these people thought at that time and the decisions that they took that’s why seeing them individually is very interesting 1861 and 1891 is their birth year They had a difference of 22 years You must be also be having a difference of almost 22 years with your parents A generational gap is developed If such people with generational gap work together then obviously there must have been clash of thoughts Today if you see Gandhi or Ambedkar then they don’t look like people but like big thoughts Gandhi is some big concept or Ambedkar is big concept If we see them like humans Like two individuals then it gets very interesting.

“There ofcourse I met him also and faced him also He had opened his real fang to me And I could see the inside of the man While others who generally went there and they would tease Saw nothing of him Except the external appearance which he had put up as a mahatma”

Caste Discrimination

That time’s history was also interesting The caste discrimination at that time even now in many parts of India it is prevalent and in such a situation India’s dalits and untouchables wanted to have a voice A voice that will represent them In such a time they got Gandhi and Ambedkar 2 solid voices 

Political Situation

Even the political climate at that time was interesting Imagine the year 1937 just 10 years left for India’s freedom Second world is going start after 2 years Just few years have passed after 1st world war you are standing on such a junction where many voices are rising for India’s independence But these voices are not coming on one table They are separate Congress is talking somewhere, somewhere it is Hindu maha sabha, somewhere its muslim league While somewhere it is swaraj party They had to be brought together And for that an idea of round table conference was put forth First one had failed But second one was successful People from all societies were invited over here parsi, anglo Indian, hindu, muslim In this even the dalits were called Their representatives should be on this table It had those 2 voices that I told you earlier Gandhi and Ambedkar

Ambedkar demand

When Ambedkar came and said something it created a clash He said that “dalits should have a separate electoral” like hindus, muslims and sikhs are discussed Gandhiji said “I will die but if needed I will fight till my last breath” but i won’t let this happen because this will create a rift in hindu society which we won’t be able to solve for decades But eventually the british government at that time passed a resolution in India that dalits will get a separate electoral for next 20 years At this time Gandhiji was in Yerwada jail in Pune. 

Gandhi’s Resistance

Gandhiji was in jail When he got this news he said “I am going to hunger strike i don’t want to listen to anyone” if this law is brought in India then i will fast till death Until this law is taken back On this Patel got thinking He asked to Gandhiji why you are doing this. gandhiji said patel you don’t know this maybe others also can’t think If dalits get separate electoral then we won’t be able to handle the rift that gets created in hindus already many divisions are ongoing in India Division of Hindu-Muslim is going on Gandhiji was right later on India got divided The divisions and bloodbath that will happen during freedom Would be out of your control But Ambedkar was firm on this thought Ambedkarji went to meet Gandhiji in jail on 22nd September he asked gandhiji why you won’t agree on this. Gandhiji refused and said Ambedkar if you have the will then keep fighting But I will be on a fast till death till this law is not taken back gandhiji’s health was deteriorating day by day Gandhiji had already established himself as a big figure All newspapers, all political commentators were supporting Gandhiji A special pressure was developed on Ambedkar Because if somehow Gandhiji dies during this Continuously he was continuously monitored for blood pressure and other things this will taint the whole of India’s dalit community that see these people didn’t listen to gandhiji The repercussion following it will be out of control 

Poona Pact

So on 24th September Gandhiji, Ambedkar ji and other met to sign on Poona pact They agreed that the reservation for dalits in seats will be increased Definitely the reservation for dalits should be more in Parliament But keeping a separate electoral is not right If a seat is reserved for dalits and that place has dalits in minority then that dalit candidate will have to win trust of upper castes as well All these things were written in Poona pact After that only it was signed

Ambedkar vs Gandhi

If you keep Ambedkar and Gandhi side by side and understand their perspective of dalits then you will see a stark difference Gandhiji used to think that this untouchability problem or caste discrimination is a social problem, Ambedkar used to think that it may be a social problem but it can only be solved making it a political problem This was the basis divide between Ambedkar Ji and Gandhiji which turned into a rift in future Such a rift that once Ambedkar Ji said during a BBC interview that 

“I have a feeling that I know him better than most of the people Because he had opened his real fang to me And I could see the inside of the man as other would went there and they would tease Saw nothing of him except the external appearance Which he had put up as a mahatma I saw him in his human capacity The bear man in him he was in my judgement is an apes old in the history of India Never any pockmaker”

If you want you want to understand Gandhi and Ambedkar then you can understand them using some things Ideas during 20th century like liberalism or fascism wrath then gandhiji wanted to come to India using a simple and new ideology Which was very simple and separate from these big terms While Ambedkar was very influenced by these terms He thought of him as a liberal and wanted to walk on those values when the constitution of India was to be written gandhiji said that we should make the genius of India as the base of constitution And take ideas from outside But not direct dictation Ambedkar said that we should borrow direct dictation Gandhiji had trust in villages He used to talk about Gram Vikas his idea of India was revolving around villages Ambedkar Ji was the exact opposite he used to say that it is the villages through which this caste discrimination taint is on India If we want to end it then we will have to focus on urbanization He did not feel proud about villages He used to openly say that I am very ashamed of the village situation in our country Gandhiji used to say about hind swaraj He said that britishers have come and divided us Otherwise were united before it Ambedkar Ji thought that because of britishers we could unite Before this we were in pieces You can observe that Gandhi and ambedkar had a generational gap It is visible in thought process 22 years of gap is a gap between parents and children Similar difference of thought process was here 

Conclusion

In conclusion I want to say that they are huge historical figures Anyways talking about historical figures becomes controversial Because people have strong opinion of these historical figures They want to keep attached to that they don’t want to change They start fighting so please don’t do it Because I will give this disclaimer That this blog is an attempt to tell you something in another way Other than thinking them as concepts See them as humans Keeping their age difference in mind Discuss about their different political thoughts I am no authority on Gandhi or Ambedkar

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