Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and his Quest for Social Justice in India

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One of the major problems in India has been the great differences between castes. These differences occurred mainly for religious reasons, but when does it stop being religion and where does it start being an unjust difference which leads to social discrimination and inequality. Dr. Ambedkar was a strong believer in social justice and how certain religious beliefs where interfering with the quest for social justice. Dr. Ambedkar itself was born a Dalit –untouchable- Hindu, but he did not felt comfortable with his situation, he believed there was more for Dalits, and a person who was born one did not necessarily needed to be one for the rest of his life. He believed Hinduism to be a very discriminative religion that is why he begins a revolution to convert Hindu Dalits into Buddhism, which for him was an alternative religion which did not discriminate people according to the caste they were born in. Dr. Ambedkar movement emerged as rejection of the caste discrimination presented in Hinduism, a discrimination that is not represented in Buddhism; the only way for Dalits to escape from this unjust social situation was to become Buddhist.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on 14th April, 1891 in Mahu Cantt in Madhya Pradesh. He studied and graduated in Political Science and Economics from Bombay University. Later he had the opportunity to go to USA for further studies at Columbia University for which he was awarded a scholarship by the Maharaja of Baroda. Bhimrao remained abroad a total of eight years, during this period of time he had the opportunity to observed and be influenced by western society, he had a different perspective of religion, economy, politics and for the matter of this paper he had a new perspective regarding social jus...

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...situation of the Dalits was eternal and forever, “because the religion which has placed you at the lowest level of the society is itself eternal, according to the belief of the Hindu caste people. No change, according to time and circumstances is possible. You are at the lowest rung of the ladder today. You shall remain lowest forever” CITA. Later in the speech he explained the spiritual importance and reasons for converting to Buddhism. First he explained there is “no place for the individual in the Hindu society. The Hindu religion is constituted on a class-concept. Hindu religion does not teach how an individual should behave with another individual. A religion, which does not recognize the individual, is not personally acceptable to me” CITA. On the contrary Buddhism does exactly that explain how an individual should behave and act towards another individual.

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