Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth (2000)
Director: Jabbar Patel
In a recent TV poll, Dr. Ambedkar had been voted as the most critical leader after Gandhi, even drawing more numbers than Nehru. In another article, the competition for the coveted title 'Father of the Nation' is between Gandhi, Netaji, and Ambedkar. Babasaheb, as he is popularly known, is remembered annually on 26th January as that was the day the Indian Constitution was drafted, and he was the main man behind its inception. The Indian Constitution is said to be one of the best in the world and, like the one it is based on, the American counterpart, promotes equality, justice, and liberty to every man.
It is ironic that a low caste boy who was denied a bench in his school and had to sit on the floor on a gunnysack was denied drinking water in class and was denied the offer to learn Sanskrit as he would contaminate the august Hindu religion end up as one of the most intelligent men in India. With degrees from Columbia University in New York and LSE in economics, Sociology, History, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Law, he was later handpicked to be the First Law Minister of India.
All through his life, melancholy seems to be his background score. Shied away like a leper in his childhood because of his birth, it is impressive why he should still return home to serve his people and country and fight a good fight against tyranny. With his vast paper qualifications, the world must have his oyster. He, instead, decided to return home, live in pathetic surroundings, denied even common drinking vessel even though in his capacity as a senior officer in the civil service.
Living in tumultuous times, he was naturally drawn into politics. His area of interest was naturally the welfare of the untouchables. His satyagraha was to demand drinking water from the common dam, which was out of bounds to the low caste. His band of people also rallied to gain entrance to temples, which another area that was restricted to them. He initiated a social movement to begin his members to self-improve and uplift themselves, ladies included, through cleanliness and education.
Like what we are facing in our country at the present time, Indians during the Second World War showed more interest in injustices in foreign lands but conveniently overlooking their deficiencies in treating their own kind.
Manu Smriti, the ancient Hindu scripture, is discredited to have categorised people into socio-economic constructs and subsequently divided people at birth by their profession. Sages now agree that what is now perceived as a caste system actually denotes aptitude of people to the vocation in daily lives, whether they are scholarly, physically endowed, economically shrewd, or a pencil pusher, meaning just fit to follow orders, a worker not a mover!
In a symbolic move on Christmas 1927, Babasaheb, from the Mahar caste (who disposes of death cattle), led a group who burned pages of Manu Smriti in a bonfire expressing their discontent to the unfair religion which had sent people to the fringes of the society for the own selfish needs.
Even though Gandhi had a lot of respect towards Dr. Ambedkar, as evidenced by Gandhi's nomination of Ambedkar for the Law Minister post, the feeling was not mutual. The film shows how Gandhi played emotional blackmail to garner sympathy from the whole nation just to get things his way. In a later BBC interview, Ambedkar is heard to have said that Gandhi is just a politician, he is anything but a Mahatma!
Babasaheb family life was anything but bliss. Losing four of his children in their early childhood and his ever subservient wife, who put up with all his absences during his studies, to chronic illness must have been tough. At the age of 57 years old, when he was stricken with diabetes and its complications, he tied the nuptial knots again to a Brahmin doctor who also was his caregiver and dietician!
His liaison with Hinduism and Indian politics came to an end when his idea, Hindu Code Bill, which sought to enshrine gender equality in the laws of inheritance and marriage, was booted out by Nehru and his cabinet. They were apprehensive of reprisal from Hindu elitists.
Being a prolific writer and a voracious reader, he delved into many religions after renouncing Hinduism. He and his followers of the lower caste were cajoled into entering the folds of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Buddhism. He finally embraced Buddhism together with 500,000 supporters. He was impressed with its concept of social equality and the absence of a caste system.
"I have seen people who are born in the lowest category of Hindu law, the Sudras, the untouchables, so intelligent: when India became independent, the man who made the constitution of India, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, was a sudra. There was no equal to his intelligence as far as Law is concerned – he was a world-famous authority." Osho, a spiritual teacher.
Director: Jabbar Patel
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| Mammoth in the starring role |
It is ironic that a low caste boy who was denied a bench in his school and had to sit on the floor on a gunnysack was denied drinking water in class and was denied the offer to learn Sanskrit as he would contaminate the august Hindu religion end up as one of the most intelligent men in India. With degrees from Columbia University in New York and LSE in economics, Sociology, History, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Law, he was later handpicked to be the First Law Minister of India.
All through his life, melancholy seems to be his background score. Shied away like a leper in his childhood because of his birth, it is impressive why he should still return home to serve his people and country and fight a good fight against tyranny. With his vast paper qualifications, the world must have his oyster. He, instead, decided to return home, live in pathetic surroundings, denied even common drinking vessel even though in his capacity as a senior officer in the civil service.
Living in tumultuous times, he was naturally drawn into politics. His area of interest was naturally the welfare of the untouchables. His satyagraha was to demand drinking water from the common dam, which was out of bounds to the low caste. His band of people also rallied to gain entrance to temples, which another area that was restricted to them. He initiated a social movement to begin his members to self-improve and uplift themselves, ladies included, through cleanliness and education.
Like what we are facing in our country at the present time, Indians during the Second World War showed more interest in injustices in foreign lands but conveniently overlooking their deficiencies in treating their own kind.
Manu Smriti, the ancient Hindu scripture, is discredited to have categorised people into socio-economic constructs and subsequently divided people at birth by their profession. Sages now agree that what is now perceived as a caste system actually denotes aptitude of people to the vocation in daily lives, whether they are scholarly, physically endowed, economically shrewd, or a pencil pusher, meaning just fit to follow orders, a worker not a mover!
In a symbolic move on Christmas 1927, Babasaheb, from the Mahar caste (who disposes of death cattle), led a group who burned pages of Manu Smriti in a bonfire expressing their discontent to the unfair religion which had sent people to the fringes of the society for the own selfish needs.
Even though Gandhi had a lot of respect towards Dr. Ambedkar, as evidenced by Gandhi's nomination of Ambedkar for the Law Minister post, the feeling was not mutual. The film shows how Gandhi played emotional blackmail to garner sympathy from the whole nation just to get things his way. In a later BBC interview, Ambedkar is heard to have said that Gandhi is just a politician, he is anything but a Mahatma!
Babasaheb family life was anything but bliss. Losing four of his children in their early childhood and his ever subservient wife, who put up with all his absences during his studies, to chronic illness must have been tough. At the age of 57 years old, when he was stricken with diabetes and its complications, he tied the nuptial knots again to a Brahmin doctor who also was his caregiver and dietician!
His liaison with Hinduism and Indian politics came to an end when his idea, Hindu Code Bill, which sought to enshrine gender equality in the laws of inheritance and marriage, was booted out by Nehru and his cabinet. They were apprehensive of reprisal from Hindu elitists.
Being a prolific writer and a voracious reader, he delved into many religions after renouncing Hinduism. He and his followers of the lower caste were cajoled into entering the folds of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Buddhism. He finally embraced Buddhism together with 500,000 supporters. He was impressed with its concept of social equality and the absence of a caste system.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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