B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956)

I was born a Hindu, but I shall not die a Hindu.

People know that Ambedkar 'bowed before Gandhi's superior popularity' and had to 'surrender' and sign the Poona Pact in 1932, which effectively ended the concept of Reserved Electorates, as envisioned by him - meaning that the system of dual representation for the Depressed Classes (or the Scheduled Castes, as they are now called), that Ambedkar had envisioned as a means of upliftment, effectively died a premature death. Arundhati Roy, S. Anand, and Ambedkar demolish this argument to smithereens, and express in no unclear terms that Gandhiji's fast unto death was a method of blackmail, and that Gandhiji was not so 'radical' as the nation was made to believe. That, alone, is worth the read.

In this manifesto against caste (yes, the Marx comparison that most people assign to this is very apt), Ambedkar speaks with the logic of a pragmatist, who believes that the caste system was founded as a method of segregation, not so different from the racial segregation practiced in the West (and in some ways, he argues, even worse). He believes that the caste system pollutes even religious conversions - in some ways, Ambedkar says, the Muslim and the Sikh religions grew caste systems because of mass conversions of the downtrodden Hindu populace looking to escape their chains. He believes that the methods adopted by 'moderate' reformers such as the Arya Samaj (and even its more radical offshoots, such as the Jat Pat Todak Mandal), such as inter-dining and inter-marriages between castes, were always doomed to fail. Above all, he believes that the system of pandits should be made on the basis of merit, not on birth - and the number of pandits 'passing out' each year should have a fixed quota.

Writing this masterpiece now would be ahead of its time. Writing it in 1936? No wonder it remained as just a speech manuscript, which Ambedkar had to print with his own money. Gandhiji also started an argument from his own magazine, Harijan, which started an intellectual clash that is responsible for much of Ambedkar's maligned image. Because, who, after all, would dare to argue with the Mahatma?

The Outlook, a magazine of some renown, carried out a poll in June-August 2012, which asked readers and scholars - who, according to you, is the greatest Indian, after Mahatma Gandhi? Ambedkar won by an overwhelming margin. If you read Annihilation Of Caste, you'll understand why. One of the most important Indian pieces of literature ever written.… (meer)

From the depths of Scribd, an early 20th century attack on the caste system, arguing that its insistence on endogamy is a fatal flaw that prevents social cohesion. Includes a response from Gandhi and a response to the response, where it becomes obvious that a huge amount of sexism can coexist with an attack on the caste system—I think he’s being flip and possibly critical about the problem of widows in a closed system and how the simplest solution is for them to burn themselves on their deceased husbands’ pyres, but it was still pretty brusque treatment. Anyway, interesting to see a window on a debate that I don’t know much about.… (meer)