Post on 09-May-2015
Ambedkar, Democracy and peaceful social
Revolution
Vedic Creationism that supports that men were created from different parts of the body of a cosmic being: Bramha (Purush Sukta, Mandala X)
1. Head: Brahmans/Priestly Class2. Shoulders: Warrior Class3. Thighs: Business Class4. Foot: The slaves or Shudras5. The untouchables: unknown origin, some claim
that they are degraded Buddhists
What about women?They are too inferior to be taken into account in the
‘divine creation’ and have the same status as Shudras, if they have any.
Source of discrimination?
Caste and gender: discriminations mutually re-enforcing
• Caste discrimination and gender discrimination are interwoven
• All women are slaves according to sacred scriptures of Hinduism
• Control over sexuality of women keeps the caste alive
• The Dalits (The untouchables) women face three forms of discrimination based on: caste, class and sex
The population of Dalits
They constitute upwards of 25% of India’s population, over 250 million people
Every 18 minutes:• A crime is committed against a Dalit Every day:• 3 Dalit women are raped • 2 Dalits are murdered & 2 Dalits Houses are
burnt in India • 11 Dalits are beaten Every week:• 13 Dalits are murdered • 5 Dalits home or possessions are burnt • 6 Dalits are kidnapped or abducted
Caste based Atrocities: Visible Manifestations at its worst
Crimes against Dalits: The Holocaste
26,127 crimes were committed against Dalits (SC/ST) including 1172 rape against Dalit women and 669 cases of murder reported (India's National Crime Records Bureau, 2005)
Forced apart
Dalits are the segregated humanity
Living outcastes
Legal/political Social and Economic Ideological/philosophical
Mechanisms to fight caste/discrimination:
Dr. Ambedkar’s methods
Legal/Political
Constitutional Rights (Chief architect of Indian constitution is Dr. Ambedkar)
Special provisions for ensuring equality not only between man and man, but also between man and woman
The Hindu Code BillChallenging the codes of Manu, liberating women
from the clutches of ‘sacred laws’. Prevention of Atrocities ActInitially, called Protection of Civil Rights to stop
violence
Social and Economic
Affirmative Action Special safeguards Freedom to discard religionHowever, some state government are
trying to take away this freedom• Encouraged organisations of women• Equal wages for women when he was
a Labour Minister and brought welfare schemes for women
Ideological/philosophicalIndian history is the history of conflict between
Buddhism and Brahmanism: Two contrasting worldviews about the world
Therefore, Fight wrong notions which are supported by
Bramhanism such as caste system and gender discrimination
Challenge authority of scriptures and culture that supports and sustains caste ideas.
Dr. Ambedkar burnt Manu Smriti in 1927. This day is celebrated as ‘women’s liberation day’
Efforts for democratisation, secularisation and promotion of equality
Promoting secularisation and democratisation of society
Buddhism as a method to transform self and world, Dhamma is the governing principle for the majority1. The greatest thing that the Buddha has done is to how the world that world can only be reformed by the reformation of the mind of the man and mind of the world2. Interpreted the Pali Texts to prove that Buddha supported equality between man and woman in his famous article “The Rise and Fall of Hindu Women: Who is responsible for it?”
Dr. Ambedkar: Democracy and Buddhism in India (1941)
…. India is like a sick man. When we think of India, we imagine a picture of a man whose belly is big, his hands and feet reduced to mere bones, face paled, eyes deeply buried in the socket. He is just like a skeleton. He has no power to run the Democracy but he has a great desire to run it…..
Only, the Buddha can help in establishing Democracy. Therefore it is important to remember the Buddha and take his medicine for cleansing the political and social lifeblood [of the Hindus]. Therefore we think that people should chant this greatest mantra (Mahamantra) for establishment of Democracy:
Buddham Saranam Gacchaami!Dhammam Saranam Gacchaami!! Sangham Saranam Gacchami!!!
Peaceful social revolution“Positively, my social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Let no one, however, say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution. I have not. My philosophy has roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teachings of my master, the Buddha.”
(October 3,1954, Dr. Ambedkar)
Liberation from the hell of caste in October 1956: beginning of era of
equality
In 1956
Celebrating 50 years of Buddhism in 2006
The peaceful social transformation is on…….