The Internationalism of the Dalit Panthers Manifesto (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ambedkar’s Foreign Policy and the Ellipsis of the ‘Dalit’ from International Activism
Allen Lane, Penguin Random House, 2018
United States National Urban League leader, civil rights activist and labour organizer Lester B. Granger, while reflecting on global foreign policy programmes, invoked B.R. Ambedkar to describe the failing policies of peaceful coexistence and neutralism famous in the 1950s. This essay explores the historical intersectional struggle of Dalit rights in global politics. In order to understand it better, I suggest looking at the ideas of Ambedkar, one of the founding figures of modern Indian democracy, on national state formation. Various studies have commented on the international political imagination of Indian nationalist leaders, namely, Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru and M.K. Gandhi, alongside a stream of other privileged-caste leaders, M.N. Roy included. However, there is not a single study that analyses the international outlook of Ambedkar. The reasons have to do, perhaps, with ignorance about Ambedkar and the prejudice of the dominant privileged-caste academia.3 The Brahminical historiography of India as well as the country’s national narratives bears the responsibility for the egregious omission. This essay attempts to shed light on the global thinking of subalterns. With the story of Ambedkar, I wish to present the geopolitical thought process of marginalized groups to understand how under-represented groups envision(ed) their location in the international movements of human rights athwart civil and political representation.
Impact of Dr Ambedkar’s Philosophy on International Activism of the Dalit Diaspora
The emergence of a large and prosperous Indian diaspora across the globe obscures the fact that it is not a homogeneous and monolithic whole but is representative of the diversity of India. The Dalit diaspora emerged simultaneously but separately with a strong consciousness and commitment to ameliorate caste disabilities both at home and in the host land. One can discern a perceptible influence of Dr Ambedkar's dictum 'educate, organise and agitate' on Dalits. Therefore, the educated Dalits have organised themselves through various international organisations and are agitating against caste discrimination, in the process carving out a dignified identity for themselves. This article delves into the emergence and activism of the numerous international organisations and institutions working on Dalit issues in diasporic locations. It specifically analyses the attempts to incorporate caste as descent-based discrimination within the ambit of racism at various international forums and its inclusion as protected characteristics within the Equality Act, 2010, of the UK. These efforts have been successful in challenging the caste hegemony at both local and global levels and are a step forward towards its eradication.
Multiple, Shifting and Contested: Dalit Writings and Dr. Ambedkar Today
Subaltern History is a very interesting mirror of the society and after being quiet for such a long time, when it speaks, it shatters many myths, many stereotypes, many positions, many perceptions, many established narratives, and viewpoints. The re-positioning of the Dalit- Buddhist equation and the role of New writings in Dalit Literature has provided a good platform to re-discuss the entire narrative of positioning Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar today.
The extent of social transformation of any socially discriminated people may be better judged from the social philosophies propounded by their great leaders like Gandhi and Ambedkar in modern India. Gandhi is dead, so are Ambedkar and Marx. However, neither their philosophies-Gandhism, Ambedkarism and Marxism are dead nor could they posthumously suppress to one another. Their philosophical axis-may be different and dialectical such as for example absolutism versus relativism, positivism versus phenomenalism and theological versus metaphysical but remain the far sighted discourse for the liberation and emancipation of dalit in India. Our study also reveals that the protagonists of Gandhism, Ambedkarism and Marxism are either eating their humble pie in the circumstances of their failures or feeling like fishes out of water in the company of other outdated philosophies for the cause of dalit at present. Further, the change agents like heart, mind, conscience, science, violence, non-violence, constitutionalism, religion, state and village perceived in Gandhism, Ambedkarism and Marxism could not break loose the thread of casteism.
The present paper is an endeavour to explore Ambedkarite ideology and situate Dalit Literature in the canon of Ambedkarite principles. Emerged in the 1960s in Maharashtra later spread in other regions of the country, Dalit Literature essentially owes its origin to the revolutionary struggle led by Dr. Ambedkar for Dalit liberation, equality, fraternity, social justice and dignity of life; and for a change in the social, cultural, and economic hegemony of the caste Hindus. Dalit Literature aims at seeking modernization and change in Indian society in the light of the ideology of Ambedkar. The thoughts and works of Ambedkar have an immense impact on the emergence, growth, and development of Dalit Literature. Dalit writings are governed by the principles like liberty, equality, and fraternity; and self-respect, self-reliance, and selfdevelopment propounded by Dr. Ambedkar. Poems, short-stories, novels, and autobiographical narratives written by Dalit writers provide useful insights on the question of Dalit identity.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: The ultimate inspiration for Dalit literature
International journal of English research , 2016
Dalit literature is after a long time emerged as one of the famous literary representation of Post-colonial writings in India for Dalits for their rights and equality and freedom. There is a force behind the creation of all these writings. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is the sole inspiration behind the creation of dalit writing. Dalit panthers also drew their inspiration from Ambedakr's writings speeches and his movement. Today number of dalit writers composing their works centering the ideas of Ambedkar where every human is being treated equal. In this paper I tried to portray Dr. Ambedkar as the ultimate inspiration for Dalit literature.
Conjoint Effects of Caste: The National and the International in Ambedkar's Political Thought
Economic and Political Weekly, 2021
(Co-authored with Antaripa Bharali) This paper attempts to extend the remit of Ambedkar’s political thought to emerging questions about the history of India’s foreign policy and Indian international relations discourse at large. We begin by pointing towards instances of caste inequality persisting outside the borders of the postcolonial nation-state. Via an analysis of political sovereignty, the social question, and Buddhism, we seek to demonstrate how Ambedkar reworks the connections between the national and the international on the common register of human equality.
GAP GYan- A Global Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 2581-5830, 2018
Mohandas K. Gandhi's relationship with other eminent history makers of his time—whether personal friends and allies like Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, or the opponents and antagonistic rivals like Mohammed Ali Jinnah—was never straightforward, uncomplicated, or free of turbulence. But amongst this group of prominent people, one of his most controversial relationships was with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who is considered the messiah of the downtrodden and untouchables (Dalits) in India. As he served India in several capacities, He had various occasions for confrontations with Gandhi but the most famous ones are the differences in the positioning Dalits in India. This paper deliberates upon these differences and how the process of Nation-building was gradually shaped and how these differences affected today’s Indian people.
DR.B.R. AMBEDKAR AND PRESENT DALIT POLITICS: AN ANALYSIS
SOUTH INDIA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2023
This analysis explores the political legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a prominent figure in the Dalit community in India. The paper examines the historical context in which Ambedkar emerged as a leader, his role in drafting the Indian Constitution, and his contributions to the struggle for Dalit rights. The analysis also evaluates the contemporary Dalit political landscape and how Ambedkar's legacy has influenced the present-day Dalit politics. The study finds that while Ambedkar's ideas and principles continue to shape Dalit politics, there have been significant changes in the way Dalit movements and leaders approach their struggles. The paper concludes by suggesting that a nuanced understanding of Ambedkar's legacy is essential for a deeper understanding of the Dalit political landscape in India.
While the domestic political and legal thought of B.R. Ambedkar – champion of India's Dalits, shaper of its constitution and frequent critic of Mohandas Gandhi-has gained increasing notoriety, the international dimensions of his work have received relatively little attention. Ambedkar, in fact, staked out a distinctively universalistic approach to democratic citizenship and legitimacy which has important connections to and can inform current cosmopolitan dialogue. He rejected uncritical loyalty to the state, and he criticized presumptions of unity within states, arguing that foreigners' support for the self-determination of an 'Indian people' would merely perpetuate caste oppression within the country. The latter argument provides a significant challenge to some recent nationalist and moderate cosmopolitan accounts, which reject some comprehensive universal rights claims, or suprastate political structures to support them, in the name of respecting a state's domestic culture. Further, Ambedkar's thought on promoting democratic unity across linguistically and culturally diverse political units, as well as on pursuing domestic rights protections through suprastate institutions, offers valuable insights for the development of participation and accountability practices beyond the state.