B. R. Ambedkar

{{Bronze}}
[[File:Young_Ambedkar.gif|thumb|right|165px|Babasaheb in 1912]]{{IndianPolitics}}{{cquote|History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''What Congress & Gandhi Have done to the Untouchables''}}
'''Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar''' (Marathi: डॉ. भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर), or simply '''Babasaheb''' (Marathi: बाबासाहेब) {{lived|14 April 1891|6 December 1956}} was an Indian [[Economics|economist]], [[rationalist]]-[[humanist]] [[philosopher]], social activist and politician. Ambedkar was a prolific scholar and he held two doctorates in Economics — one each from Columbia University and London School of Economics. He was one of the first people to study and analyze Indian history from a [[rationalist]] perspective.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41855567 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF Dr. B. R. AMBEDKAR], The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 52, No. 3 (July - Sept., 1991), pp. 357-375 (19 pages)</ref> After deconverting from [[Hinduism]] in 1936, he led the atheist revolution in modern India along {{wpl|Periyar E. V. Ramasamy}}.<ref>[https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/04/relevance-br-ambedkar-modern-india.html The Relevance of BR Ambedkar in Modern India], Marginal Revolution</ref><ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/42742756 DR. B.R. AMBEDKAR HIS IDEAS ABOUT RELIGION AND CONVERSION TO BUDDHISM] by Meena Bardia, The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 70, No. 3 (JULY - SEPT., 2009), pp. 737-749 (13 pages), Published By: Indian Political Science Association</ref><ref>[http://www.bbau.ac.in/Docs/FoundationCourse/TM/MPDC/Ambedkar-TheMakerofModernIndia.pdf Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: The Maker of Modern India] (See last part for citations)</ref> He converted to [[Buddhism]] less than 2 months before his [[death]].<ref>[https://theprint.in/opinion/why-ambedkar-chose-buddhism-over-hinduism-islam-christianity/237599/ Why Ambedkar chose Buddhism over Hinduism, Islam, Christianity], The Print</ref><ref>[https://thewire.in/books/ambedkar-democracy-buddhism Ambedkar, Buddhism and Democracy], The Wire</ref> Babasaheb is widely recognized for his research work covering law, economics, political science, history and religion. He is often mischaracterized as the “father of the Indian [[constitution]]”, even though the constitution was written by {{wpl|B. N. Rau}}.<ref group="note"> In fact:
{{cquote|The credit that is given to me does not really belong to me. It belongs partly to Sir B. N. Rau, the Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly who prepared a rough draft of the Constitution for the consideration of the Drafting Committee.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, saying to himself}}[https://prasarbharati.gov.in/whatsnew/whatsnew_653363.pdf]</ref> He authored more than 15 books and numerous other publications based on original research work.

==Background==
Ambedkar was born into a {{wpl|Mahar}} ({{wpl|Dalit}}) [[caste]], and for this reason was treated as an [[Caste#Untouchable and defiling castes|untouchable]]. However, against all odds, he pursued higher education and obtained his doctoral degrees from {{wpl|Columbia University}} and the {{wpl|London School of Economics}}. Following this, he returned to India but continued to face caste-based discrimination.<ref>Keer, Dhananjay (1995). ''Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission'' Popular Prakashan, India. p. 12-14. ISBN 81715423</ref> Ambedkar built his rationalist thought and [[philosophy]] through careful and extensive reading. {{wpl|John Dewey|}}, a professor at Columbia University and noted pragmatist, formed a big impression on Ambedkar during the period of his studies there. In [[London]], Ambedkar found another significant influence in [[Bertrand Russell]], even though the two never met in person.<ref>[https://www.forwardpress.in/2017/08/exploring-the-influence-of-russell-on-ambedkar/ Exploring the influence of Russell on Ambedkar], Forward Press</ref>

==Views on religion==
Being a self-professed [[Atheism|atheist]] for the majority of his working life, Ambedkar viewed all [[religions]], except for Buddhism, as inherently flawed and rigid. He argued that religion has always been in direct conflict with philosophy and the two have been "adversaries if not actual antagonists."<ref>http://drambedkar.co.in/wp-content/uploads/books/category1/3hinduismphilosophy.pdf</ref> Ambedkar observed that [[morality]] has never been an integral part of religion, as the fundamental concepts of religion are always ideas like [[God]], [[soul]], [[prayers]], worship, rituals, ceremonies, and [[sacrifice|sacrifices]].
{{cquote|Morality is only included as a side wind to maintain peace and order.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_buddha/04_01.html The Buddha and his Dhamma, Book 4 - Part 1: His Place in His Dhamma] by B.R. Ambedkar</ref>}}
{{cquote|Be good to your neighbour, because you are both children of God. That is the argument of religion. Every religion preaches morality, but morality is not the root of religion. It is a wagon attached to it. It is attached and detached as the occasion requires. The action of morality in the functioning of religion is therefore casual and occasional. Morality in religion is therefore not effective.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''The Buddha and his Dhamma''}}

Ambedkar believed that religion was made for [[human|humans]], not humans for religion. Hence, any religion that refuses to incorporate within itself the ideas of reason and [[science]] as well as the fundamental tenets of [[liberty]], equality, and fraternity is doomed to fail.

{{cquote|Religion must mainly be a matter of principles only. It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it degenerates into rules, it ceases to be a religion, as it kills responsibility which is an essence of the true religious act.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''Annihilation of Caste''}}

In 1956, Ambedkar finished his book ''The Buddha and His Dhamma'' following the addition of the chapters 'There is no god' and 'There is no soul'.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1950s.html Timeline of B.R. Ambedkar: 1950s], Columbia University</ref> Later that year, he accepted Buddhism along with thousands of Mahars and other Dalits as a protest against Hinduism. However, he had made up his mind decades in advance. In 1935, he had publicly vowed that he "will not die as a Hindu."<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1930s.html Timeline of B.R. Ambedkar: 1930s], Columbia University</ref> In this book, and in two others that followed — ''Buddha or Karl Marx'' and ''Revolution and Counter-Revolution in India'', Ambedkar proposed Buddhism as a religion without gods or [[prophets]] and without [[pseudoscientific]] ideas like [[soul]] [or ''ātmán'' ([[Sanskrit]]: आत्मन्)]. He made human beings the focus of his "religion" as compared to the usual suspects — God or soul. In particular, Ambedkar argued that unlike [[Krishna]], [[Christ]], or [[Muhammad]], [[Buddha]] never made any claims to divinity.<ref>[https://www.forwardpress.in/2017/05/ambedkars-rethinking-of-religion/ Ambedkar's rethinking of religion], Forward Press</ref>

{{cquote|If a modern man who knows science must have a religion, the only religion he can have is the Religion of the Buddha. This conviction has grown in me after thirty-five years of close study of all religions.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''The Buddha and His Dhamma''}}

===Views on Hinduism===
{{main|Hinduism}}
Ambedkar renounced [[Hinduism]] in 1956 because he concluded it was a repressive and inhumane system. He felt Hinduism was "a menace to [[liberty]], [[equality]] and [[fraternity]]" and that it was "incompatible with [[democracy]]."<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Ziya_Us_Salam/smothering-with-affection/article8396864.ece Smothering with affection], Opinion Piece in ''The Hindu,'' by Ziya Us Salam, March 26, 2016. </ref> In his work ''What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables'', Ambedkar writes:

{{cquote|To put the matter in general terms, Hinduism and social union are incompatible. By its very genius, Hinduism believes in social separation which is another name for social disunity and even creates social separation. If Hindus wish to be one, they will have to discard Hinduism. They cannot be one without violating Hinduism. Hinduism is the greatest obstacle to Hindu Unity. Hinduism cannot create that longing to belong which is the basis of all social unity. On the contrary,y Hinduism creates an eagerness to separate.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''What Congress & Gandhi Have done to the Untouchables''}}

In 1916, Ambedkar presented one of the first papers on the topic of [[caste]] at Columbia University, USA.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/txt_ambedkar_castes.html Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development]by B.R. Ambedkar, 1916</ref> This paper entitled ''Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development'' investigated the origins as well as the functioning of caste and proposed that Hinduism was a pedantic system but, unlike any other religion, its laws were codified in the system of authority, namely the Brahmin (priestly) caste and the inherent hierarchy.<ref>[https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/caste-as-gang-why-hindu-society-is-anti-social/296958 Caste as Gang: Why Hindu Society is "Anit-Social"] by Soumyabrata Choudhury, April 18, 2016</ref> Ambedkar also noted in his now famous (undelivered) speech entitled ''Annihilation of Caste'' that the Hindu society existed merely as a collective of caste-based groups. Every Hindu's consciousness is limited to members of one's caste. Thus, selfishness is a distinct feature of the Hindu religion that prevents Hindus from trusting or helping one another without discrimination.<ref>http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/readings/aoc_print_2004.pdf</ref>

{{cquote|Why do you remain in a religion that does not treat you as human beings? Why do you remain in a religion which prohibits you from entering temples? Why do you remain in a religion which prohibits you from securing drinking water from the public well? Why do you remain in a religion which comes in your way for getting a job? Why do you remain in a religion which insults you at every step? A religion in which man's human behaviour with man is prohibited, is not religion, but a display of force. A religion which does not recognize a man as man, is not a religion but a disease. A religion in which the touch of animals is permitted, but the touch of human beings is prohibited, is not a religion but a mockery. A religion which precludes some classes from education, forbids them to accumulate wealth and to bear arms, is not a religion but a mockery of human beings. A religion that compels the ignorant to be ignorant, and the [[poor]] to be poor, is not a religion but a punishment.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''What Path to Salvation?<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/txt_ambedkar_salvation.html</ref>''}}

===Views on Islam===
{{main|Islam}}
Ambedkar criticized distinctions within [[Islam]]. He said:
{{cquote|Islam is a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction. The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity. The second defect of Islam is that it is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government, because the allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs. To the Muslim ''{{wpl|Ubi panis ibi patria|ibi bene ibi patria}}'' is unthinkable. Wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin. That is probably the reason why {{wpl|Mohammad Ali Jauhar|Maulana Mahomed Ali}}, a great Indian but a true Muslim, preferred to be buried in [[Jerusalem]] rather than in India.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/412d.html</ref>}}

===Views on Christianity===
{{main|Christianity}}
Ambedkar saw Christianity to be incapable of fighting injustices. He said:
{{cquote|It is beyond doubt that [[serfdom]] continued in [[Europe]] although Christianity was an established institution for several hundred years. It is an incontrovertible fact that Christianity was not enough to end the [[slavery]] of the [[African American|Negroes]] in the [[United States]]. A [[American Civil War|civil war]] was necessary to give the Negro the freedom which was denied to him by the Christians. The dependence of those in charge of Christian endeavour upon planting of an idea and leaving it to work a [[miracle]] is therefore one of the reasons why the untouchable has remained an untouchable notwithstanding his Christian faith.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B39DAAAAYAAJ Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Volume 5]</ref>}}

===''Annihilation of Caste'' controversy===
In 1935, the ''Jat-Pat Todak Mandal'' (Marathi: जात-पाँत तोड़क मण्डल, "Society for the Breakup of the Caste System"), an anti-caste Hindu reformist organization invited B.&nbsp;R. Ambedkar presided over their annual conference in 1936 as he was a renowned scholar on the topic of [[caste]] in India.<ref name=aoc>http://www.ambedkar.org/ambcd/02.Annihilation%20of%20Caste.htm</ref> However, when the organizers received the text of the speech Ambedkar had penned down (entitled ''Annihilation of Caste''), they were shocked, as the ideas presented were in direct conflict with their conservative religious beliefs. Ambedkar had proposed that "the real method of breaking up the Caste System was… [[Antitheism|to destroy the religious notions]] upon which caste is founded."<ref name=aoc/> Despite their repeated demands, Ambedkar refused to tone down the text of his speech to make it palatable for upper-caste Hindu organizers and attendees. This eventually led to the cancellation of the annual conference entirely as the organizers did not approve of the President's views.<ref>http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/prologue.html</ref> Ambedkar subsequently published the speech as a book at his own expense. It is noteworthy that Ambedkar had already anticipated that his views on religion would not sit well in a conservative group.<ref>https://scroll.in/article/727548/may-15-it-was-79-years-ago-today-that-ambedkars-annihilation-of-caste-was-published</ref> The opening words of his speech were:

{{cquote|I am sure they will be asked many questions for having selected me as the president. The Mandal will be asked to explain as to why it has imported a man from Bombay to preside over a function which is held in Lahore. I believe the Mandal could easily have found someone better qualified than myself to preside on the occasion. I have criticised the Hindus. I have questioned the authority of the [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mahatma]] whom they revere. They hate me.|||Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar|''Annihilation of Caste''}}
    
Following the publication of the speech, many Hindus took offence at the radical ideas proposed therein. Like many other of his conservative contemporaries, [[Gandhi]] too opposed these views and wrote in his weekly publication:<ref name=aoc/><ref>https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/how-gandhi-made-ambedkar-a-villain-in-his-fight-to-be-the-real-representative-of-dalits/237642/</ref><ref>https://thewire.in/history/mahatma-gandhi-jayanti-ambedkar-caste</ref><ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/24713655</ref>

{{cquote|Dr. Ambedkar is a challenge to Hinduism. Brought up as a Hindu, educated by a Hindu potentate, he has become so disgusted with the so-called Savarna Hindus for the treatment that he and his people have received at their hands that he proposes to leave not only them but the very religion that is his and their common heritage. He has transferred to that religion, his disgust against a part of its professors.|||[[Mahatma Gandhi]]|''Vindication of Caste, Harijan''}}

==Well-known publications==
*[http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar ''Annihilation of Caste'' (1936)]
*[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_buddha/ ''Buddha And His Dhamma'' (1956)]
*[http://drambedkar.co.in/books/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-ancient-india/ ''Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India'']
*[http://drambedkar.co.in/books/riddles-in-hinduism/ ''Riddles in Hinduism'']
*[https://books.google.co.in/books/about/The_Problem_of_the_Rupee.html The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution]
*[https://books.google.de/books?id=iH2nqo7ADeUC&pg=PA1&hl=de&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Untouchables: Who were they and why they became Untouchables'']

==External links==
*{{wpa|Annihilation_of_Caste|Babasaheb's ''Annihilation of Caste''}}
*[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/index.html Ambedkar at Columbia University],  a web page dedicated to the life and work of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
*[http://www.sacw.net/article2836.html The story of the Rationalist Movement in India] Book review of ''Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India, Johannes Quack, Oxford University Press, New York, 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-981260-8; 978-0-19-981262-2''
*[http://www.thoughtnaction.co.in/disenchanting-india-an-overview-of-rationalism/ An overview of rationalism in India]
*[https://www.forwardpress.in/2017/05/ambedkars-rethinking-of-religion/ Ambedkar's rethinking of Religion]
*[https://velivada.com/2016/01/31/pdf-writings-sppeches-of-dr-babasaheb-ambedkar/ The collected works of Ambedkar]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambedkar, BR}}
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Buddhists]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:Economists]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:Philosophers]]
[[Category:Philosophy of religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Rationalism]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Socialists]]
[[Category:Indians]]
[[Category:Indian politicians]]

Categories: Atheists, Authors, Buddhists, Feminists, Economists, Historians, Philosophers, Philosophy of religion, Philosophy of science, Rationalism, Skeptics, Socialists, Indians, Indian politicians