The Socio-Political Ideas Of BR Ambedkar: Liberal Constitutionalism In A Creative Mould PDF
Preview The Socio-Political Ideas Of BR Ambedkar: Liberal Constitutionalism In A Creative Mould
The Socio-p olitical Ideas of BR Ambedkar Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956), popularly known as Babasaheb stands out for his relentless battle against caste discrimination. He was a voice for the marginalized of India’s demography that remained peripheral due to well- entrenched socio-e conomic and political prejudices. This book is an analytical account of how Ambedkar’s socio- political ideas evolved as part of his wider politico- ideological challenge against self- motivated designs for exploitation of human beings by human beings. The author contends that it was an ideological discourse that he built in a context when dominant nationalist viewpoints seem to have hardly left space for any other discourse to grow. The book argues that Ambedkar’s socio- political ideas were an outcome of his personal experiences of social atrocities which were justified as integral to the caste system. The book comprises six substantial chapters which delve into the socio- political ideas of BR Ambedkar, concentrating on those sets of ideas through which he established his claim as an original thinker in opposition to the dominant nationalist discourse. Unlike the most conventional studies of Ambedkar’s thoughts and ideas, the book provides a new methodological tool to decipher their conceptual roots. It is therefore argued that Babasaheb’s unique conceptualization of social justice was not just an outcome of his existential existence of being a Dalit, but an offshoot of his own understanding of liberal- ism as a mode of emancipating human beings from shackles of authority, power and domination. Examining Ambedkar’s ideas, the book charts and examines the growth and consolidation of constitutional democracy in India since it was inaugurated with the acceptance of the 1950 Constitution. It will be of interest to scholars in the fields of Indian political theory, South Asian politics and history. Bidyut Chakrabarty is Professor in Political Science at the University of Delhi, India and he currently holds the DAAD Visiting Professorship at Hamburg University, Germany. He is the author of numerous books on Indian politics and Gandhi. His most recent monograph is Localizing Governance in India, also published by Routledge (2017). Routledge Studies in South Asian Politics 9 Pakistan’s Democratic Transition Change and Persistence Edited by Ishtiaq Ahmad and Adnan Rafiq 10 Localizing Governance in India Bidyut Chakrabarty 11 Government and Politics in Sri Lanka Biopolitics and Security R. Sriskanda Rajah 12 Politics and Governance in Bangladesh Uncertain Landscapes Edited by Ipshita Basu, Joe Devine and Geoffrey Wood 13 Constitutional Democracy in India Bidyut Chakrabarty 14 Radical Politics and Governance in India’s North East The Case of Tripura Harihar Bhattacharyya 15 The Security State in Pakistan Legal Foundations Syed Raza 16 The Socio- political Ideas of BR Ambedkar Liberal Constitutionalism in a Creative Mould Bidyut Chakrabarty For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/asianstudies/ series/RSSAP The Socio-p olitical Ideas of BR Ambedkar Liberal Constitutionalism in a Creative Mould Bidyut Chakrabarty First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Bidyut Chakrabarty The right of Bidyut Chakrabarty to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-0-8153-5302-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-351-12444-7 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Dedicated to those pushed to the peripheries by exclusionary practices, customs and values Contents Preface viii Introduction 1 PART I The moment of departure 25 1 Reconceptualizing conventional ideas and values 27 2 Designing a nation amidst politico-i deological impasse 66 PART II The moment of manoeuvre 91 3 Shaping Indian democracy in a liberal mould 93 4 Constitutionalizing India in the Enlightenment tradition 131 PART III The moment of arrival 161 5 A ‘progressive radical’ in the Gandhian universe 163 6 Gender justice in inclusive governance mode 192 Conclusion 222 Select bibliography 247 Index 255 Preface Why did BR Ambedkar write what he wrote? This is a very simple question that an author seeking to understand his socio- political ideas usually confronts. In fact, a persuasive answer to this question helps conceptualize his thoughts which are, to a significant extent, contextual in character. The answer appears to be clichéd since this is obvious given the critical, if not determining influ- ence of the context in shaping responses. And, Babasaheb was no exception. This is a part answer of the question because this is not always enough to grasp the ideological foundations of the ideas that Ambedkar articulated while putting forward his distinctive viewpoints. What is sought to be hinted here is the point that Ambedkar had access to different sets of ideas since he had had his academic training in the West and was mentored by an eminent academi- cian like John Dewey at Columbia University in the US. A mere glance of some of the Ambedkar’s ideas reveals that it was Dewey who created in the former a confidence in constitutional liberalism as perhaps one of the most effective politico- ideological designs for human emancipation. The point that is being made here is about the importance of both the contextual influences and also intellectual inputs that remained significant in the shaping of the thoughts that Babasaheb held so dear during his life- long battle against the hierarchical Hindu social order. What is also distinctive about Ambedkar was his endeavour to establish a liberal democratic political order in India, which he successfully accomplished as the chairman of the Drafting Committee for drafting the constitution of India. It is also a relatively less- known fact that without Mahatma Gandhi’s personal intervention, Ambedkar may not have had the opportunity to serve as the chair- man since Jawaharlal Nehru had already zeroed in on Ivor Jennings, an eminent lawyer and an equally renowned Cambridge academic, for the responsibility. Furthermore, this is also a matter of record that Babasaheb was not elected to the Bombay provincial legislature and hence he lost his chance to be elected to the Constituent Assembly since it was to be constituted by the elected representa- tives to the provincial legislature. Here too Mahatma Gandhi had played a role; he was keen that Ambedkar should have been in the Assembly; it was made possible because Jogendra Nath Bengal, a prominent Dalit leader from Bengal, sacrificed his seat for Ambedkar. Preface ix The book is not a biography of Ambedkar, but a biography of his socio- political ideas which are illustrative of an equally important, though not so widely publicized, discourse articulating a powerful challenge to the mainstream nationalist point of view. From this angle, the book is also a dialogical text because the fundamental argument that Babasaheb forcefully made was largely dialectically constructed since it evolved out of his intellectual diatribe against the Gandhian conceptualization of nation, nationalism and national identity. This is however universally true because ideas emerge out of both contestation and also endorsement. I have shown in my work on Gandhi (Social and Political Ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, Routledge, London, 2005) that what the Mahatma had evolved as his thoughts had clear imprints of the ideas that his equally illus- trious colleagues in the nationalist movement espoused for fulfilling their spe- cific politico-i deological missions. On the basis of a thorough analysis of how Ambedkar strove to constitution- alize India, the book is an endeavour to show him in a different light since most of the available studies focus on his role in championing the social justice cause. Since, for Babasaheb, constitutional governance was a device for human eman- cipation, these two aspects of his thoughts remain intertwined. By dwelling on his role in constitutionalizing India, the book substantiates the argument that liberal discourse that survived in India following decolonization seems to have stuck an organic connection with the prominent nationalists who, while being opposed to the British rule, appeared to have accepted the Westminster model of governance. This also explains why the framers of the 1950 Constitution of India had hardly explored other available options. The task was made easier for Ambedkar because his colleagues in the Constituent Assembly were, like him, also persuaded to accept liberal constitutionalism as a mode of governance, per- fectly suited for independent India. Since the publication of my book on the socio-p olitical ideas of Martin Luther King Jr. (Oxford University Press, New York, 2013), I have developed a keen interest in exploring alternative discourses which do not usually receive adequate attention for not being politically correct. A chance interaction with Professor Marable Manning of Columbia University (USA) who wrote one of the best biographies of Malcolm X triggered my interest in dwelling on rather unusual issues of academic concerns. This was complemented by my analytical dissec- tion of BR Ambedkar’s witness before the 1919 Southborough Committee, also known as the Franchise Committee which help me understand how Babasaheb built his defence for liberal constitutionalism as perhaps the most appropriate mode of governance for securing legitimate rights for the untouchables amidst severe opposition. I have been working on this book for quite some time and the manuscript was completed during my sojourn in Hamburg, Germany. I am thankful to DAAD for having offered a long- term visiting professorship which I located at Hamburg University. I am grateful to my colleagues there, especially Professor Tatiana Oranskia, who left no stone unturned to make my academic life most fruitful in a place away from home. For teachers, students always contribute significantly to
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