MAHAD SATYAGRAHA - MODERN HISTORY
News: The
Mahad Satyagraha: Ambedkar and the foundation event of the Dalit movement
What's in the news?
● The
Mahad Satyagraha led by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
was seen as the foundation to the modern Dalit movement in India.
Roots for Mahad Satyagraha:
● The
Bombay Legislative Council in 1923 passed a resolution moved by the social reformer Rao Bahadur S K Bole,
which said “the Untouchable classes be allowed to use all public water sources,
wells and dharmashalas which are built and maintained out of public funds or
administered by bodies appointed by the Government or created by statute, as
well as public schools, courts, offices and dispensaries.”
● Albeit
with reluctance, the Bombay government adopted the resolution in the following
month, and issued directions for its implementation. The situation on the
ground, however, remained unchanged - upper caste Hindus would not allow the
lower castes to access public water sources.
Conference in Konkan:
● At
that point, Ramchandra Babaji More,
a Mahad-based Dalit political leader, approached Ambedkar to preside over a
conference of the Untouchables in Konkan.
● Ambedkar
at the time was helping Dalits fight against the social evil of untouchability
through the Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha,
the institution that he had founded in 1924.
● Ambedkar
agreed to More’s proposition, and involved himself in overseeing the preparations
for the conference, which was to take place in Mahad town in the Konkan (now in
Maharashtra’s Raigad district) on March 19 and 20, 1927.
● He
conducted meetings with local Dalit leaders, stressed on creating “a wave of
awakening” among the lower caste people of Konkan, and directed other organizers
to conduct meetings to propagate news of the conference.
Mahad Satyagraha, December 1927:
● With
the resolve to do or die, the villagers decided to come to the Conference. From
each village, the Satyagrahis, nearly 4,000 people gathered at Mahad.
● On
December 24, Ambedkar reached the spot, where the police informed him about the
lawsuit, and asked him to postpone the Satyagraha.
● The
Satyagraha was suspended on the advice of Ambedkar.
● Ambedkar and his followers
burnt the Manusmriti, a powerful rejection of
the caste system, and the first time that such symbolic action was undertaken.
Significance of Mahad Satyagraha:
● It
is considered to be the “foundational
event” of the Dalit movement.
● This
was the first time that the community collectively displayed its resolve to
reject the caste system and assert their human rights.
● The
Mahad Satyagraha was to become the blueprint for organizing future movements
against the caste system and its practices.
● It
marked an important point in Ambedkar’s political journey, catapulting him to
the leadership of the downtrodden and oppressed classes in the country.