Prameela K
Published on: 14 April 2023, 07:49 am
Over the decades, Ambedkar Jayanti has become a festival with several meanings— a celebration that captures the ecstasy, unflinching love, aspiration, assertion, inspiration and joy of struggle with which Ambedkar's followers connect. On April 14, his followers renew their pledge to wrestle with the daily discrimination of Hinduism. They call it 'Knowledge Day'. In 2021, British Columbia declared it as 'Equality Day'.
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THE significance of a thinker and statesman, or an iconoclast confronting injustice, is judged by time. Their thinking and actions set a benchmark for a timeless time. B.R. Ambedkar is one of those revolutionary thinkers who remain significant for future generations for he was ahead of his time.
A thinker is always judged by their intellectual contribution, but as Hindu scriptures sanctify that Shudra, Ati-Shudra and women should be denied education, intellectual pursuance of a person who belongs to an 'Untouchable caste' does not have the backing of inherited social capital nor are their thoughts easily accessed by others.
An 'Untouchable' or member of a lower-caste becoming an intellectual was punished. It was like a sin— violating the order of Varnashrama Dharma of Hinduism. There are several examples of such 'transgression' in Hindu scriptures. In the Ramayana, Shambuka was killed by Rama for crossing the boundary of caste order. Ekalavya chopping off his thumb as an offering to Dronacharya in the Mahabharata is another example.
