Social Justice and Ambedkar Satyajit Pattanaik Legal Article Thu, Aug 06, 2020, at ,09:49 PM “Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people.” ― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, who happened to be the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian fundamental law i.e. the very Constitution of India. He, for his prudent contribution towards the framing of the Indian Constitution and influential leadership, is known as the Father of the Indian Constitution. His unquestionable focus towards the equality, most specifically the 'Social Justice' i.e. equality for the weaker section of the society can be found from the very flavour of the preamble of the Constitution itself, specifically from the phrase "JUSTICE, social, economic, political." Dr Amedkar, the name imprinted in the minds of all Indians for generations to come. He has marked a score in all our hearts, not only because of his scholarly work but primarily because of his contribution in moulding India upon the pillars of 'Justice', 'Liberty', 'Equality' and 'Fraternity'. He considered these pillars to be the cornerstone of his idea of 'Social Justice.' He also regarded these attributes as playing a sacrosanct role in ensuring the dignity of every individual. Dr Ambedkar became the preacher of equality, most particularly in the form of Social justice having been inspired and influenced by Rousseau's words, which tempted him to mull over his steps and fight firmly for justice based on equality. Social Justice The concept of Social justice signifies the expanding horizon of the concept of the general form of equality, according to which 'the equals must be treated equally and the unequal must be treated differently.' Besides, from the sequence of the key elements in the preamble of the Indian Constitution, one can very well identify the primacy of 'Justice' specifically the 'Social justice' over Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. And this is what the Indian Constitution intends to do for the weaker, deprived class of the society and to the minorities. Ambedkar and Social Justice In order to analyse the influential works of Dr Amedkar, as a reformer of social justice for the betterment of oppressed class, it is worth discussing the caste system that existed in the Hinduism. 'Manu' the lawgiver had classified the mankind into four varnas (Sanskrit word; colour or class) namely the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The 'Purusha Shutra' of the Rig Veda, emanated the doctrine of 'Chatur Varnya' according to which the four castes emerged from the body of the creator, 'The Brahmins', the priests were equated to the mouth, 'The Kshatriya' the warrior; from the arms, 'The Vaishyas' the trader: from the thighs and 'The Shudras' sprung from the feet. The Shudras were considered to be the untouchables and were deprived of any social opportunities and were condemned to having no social status, made to carry the dead, not allowed to use the public streets, they lived a life of complete segregation. With time, their condition only worsened, they became more oppressed and depressed. Such a social construction called forth inequality in status and deprivation of equal opportunities for all. This brought an order of social injustice in the country. Subsequently, the system of reservation was incorporated erstwhile for the lower castes and the underprivileged is the outcome of indefatigable efforts and fight by the people of lower castes, which was boosted by Dr Amedkar whom they considered to be their pioneer. Ambedkar by birth belonged to a lower caste (Mahar). He had to face all challenges and hurdles in life to overcome the stigma of untouchability, in every nook and corner of India inter alia. He considered untouchability in India as bondage worst than the slavery of the Roman Empire and also more cruel from what was perpetrated against American Nigros and German Jews. This fact was highlighted in his paper "Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development" presented at an anthropological seminar of Alexander Goldenweiser in New York, 1916. And for this creative piece of work, Dr Amedkar was awarded a PhD degree by Columbia University in the same year. Untouchability deprived him of all the basic rights and privileges which every human being deserved from his very birth. The hardships and nuances at each phase of his life made him strong and weakened his belief in humanity. During the early phases of his life, his father made him believe that education shall eliminate all their plights and turmoil relating to caste discrimination. But as he grew up, these words became a myth and life showed its ugly turn, with harassment and resentment, each day for becoming and identified as an untouchable. So Ambedkar, being the most learned person of his community, decided that voices of the lower castes specifically the untouchables is to be united and collectively fight for their rights to compel the deaf upper castes and mighty politician to hear without any option. With this enthusiasm and exuberance, he started his journey of curbing discrimination done to the people basing upon their caste and to give them a proper place in the society with dignity as all human beings deserve, by sowing the seeds of equality of economic, social and political. He gave more emphasis on economic and social equality than political equality. Hence, he gave utmost importance to social justice rather than to political justice with equal opportunity coupled with individual liberty, which together could uproot the caste system in the country to its entirety. When we take a glance upon the life of Dr Ambedkar, we may think he got all the opportunities in life and was able to study abroad, earned various academic achievements but no one bothers to cast an eye upon all the hardships which he had to undergo because of his caste in all the stages of his life, which has made him a champion, whom we know, respect, adore and idealise. All cannot understand the pain unless we stand in his shoes, yes Dr Ambedkar received a scholarship from the princely state of Boroda, but he earned it and the scholarship was for his studies alone, his living in London and serving his family from there was a daunting task, his wife longed for his presence and all his children died because of poverty and diseases, the same also took away the life of his wife Ramabai. Instead of being a Professor at the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, other Professors refused to share a water jug with him as he was untouchable. So one needs to understand that Ambedkar did not fight in the air, for anything he had all valid and sufficient reasons to raise his voice against this caste system as he too was one of the sufferers. Ambedkar, all his life tried to eliminate social injustice in India, be it the Mahad Satyagraha of drinking water from the Chowder tank or asking the women of low castes to drape their saris like that of high castes women, so as to erase the mark of untouchability or to burn the Manu Smirti as a protest, everything he did was to free the untouchables from the bondage and establish social justice among people. Through his fortnightly, the 'Mooknayak' (Silent Hero) he became the voice of the untouchables and tried to make all aware of the evil practices of the caste system that existed amongst the Hindus. The oppressed class had implicit faith in him. He claimed to have separate electorates of the people of lower castes, which would enable the minorities to elect a candidate to the legislature, who would be their real and not nominal representatives. But he had to do a concession of separate electorates with reserved seats on request of Gandhiji and a referendum of 5 years. But he had a belief that untouchability shall not be eradicated within twenty years and the untouchables will be continued to be oppressed by the dominant Hindus, which would worsen their miseries even more. He and his entire community embraced Buddhism, so one needs to fathom what was so depressing that compelled them to change their religion. Conclusion To conclude, when all of us debate on the quantum of reservation and opine to end reservation system of the people of lower caste we need to think for a while and go through its history, the history of what these people have been through. When we see them like us, as take their suffering and miseries as our own, then this discrimination can be totally eradicated and all people will be one, as in the eye of the maker. And the dream of Dr Amedkar shall be fulfilled and his efforts to eliminate social injustice will be successful and India would be a country free from any social inequality, with each of its citizens having his fundamental rights and living with dignity, which he deserves as a human being from his very birth. Then there will be no need of reservation for a particular class as all people will be one irrespective of their caste, colour, race and other like discriminating factors.