Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj

Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj(Born : 26 June 1874  PassedAway 6 May 1922)

Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (also known as Rajashri Shahu) (26 June 1874-6 May 1922) was the first Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Kolhapur between 1884 and 1922.

First king in India – implemented Reservation Policy ( Provided 50% Reservation in his state, on 26 July 1902) Revolutionary Legal Reforms. Appealed for caste-free India and abolition of untouchability. Pioneer of Student Hostel Movement for Bahujan Samaj. De-recognized Brahmanical supremacy and Religious bureaucracy of Brahmins. Greatest supporter and sympathizer of Dr. Ambedkar movement. The Pillar of Social Democracy.

Accession

Shahu was born on 26 June 1874 as Yeshwantrao Ghatge, eldest son of Appasaheb Ghatge, chief of Kagal (senior) by his wife Radhabai, a daughter of the Raja of Mudhol in present-day Karnataka. He was adopted by Anandibai, widow of Raja Shivaji IV, in March 1884. Several generations of inter-marriage had ensured that Shahu’s family was connected intimately with the ruling dynasty of Kolhapur, which is apparently what rendered him a suitable candidate for adoption, despite his not being a male-line member of the Bhonsle dynasty. A council of regency was appointed by the British government of India to oversee affairs of state during Shahu’s minority. Shahu was invested with ruling powers upon coming of age in 1894. There is one college named Rajaram college built by Shahu Maharaja

Social Reform:

Shahu Maharaj is credited with doing much to further the lot of the lower castes, and indeed this assessment is warranted. He did much to make education and employment available to all: he not only subsidized education in his state, eventually providing free education to all, but also opened several hostels in Kolhapur for students hailing from many different non-brahmin communities, thereby facilitating the education of the rural and low-caste indigent. He also ensured suitable employment for students thus educated, thereby creating one of the earliest Affirmative action programs in history. Many of these measures were effected in the year 1902.

Shahu’s other initiatives included restricting Child marriage in his state and the encouragement of intercaste marriage and widow remarriage. He long patronized the Satya Shodhak Samaj. Under the influence of these social-reform movements, Shahu arranged for several non-brahmin youths to be trained to function as priests, in defiance of timeless convention which reserved the priesthood for those of the brahmin caste. However, he faced opposition from many including Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak , the very famous patriot of that time.

Chhatrapati Shahu was very fond of wrestling and encouraged it in his kingdom. Many wrestlers from all over India came to Kolhapur as wrestling enjoyed royal patronage in Kolhapur.

The Indian postal department has issued a stamp dedicated to Shahu. On the first-issue citation, the government of India hails Shahu as “A social revolutionary, a true democrat, a visionary, a patron of the theatre, music and sports.

MAHA-NAYAK

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

An Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit political leader and a Buddhist revivalist.

(April 14, 1891 - December 6, 1956)

He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Born into a poor Untouchable family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna - the Hindu categorization of human society into four varnas - and the Indian caste system. He is also credited with having sparked the Dalit Buddhist movement. Ambedkar has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first "untouchables" to obtain a college education in India. Eventually earning law degrees and multiple doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar returned home a famous scholar and practiced law for a few years before publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in the British-founded town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh). He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai Murbadkar. His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade in the Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Hindu Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to intense socio-economic discrimination. Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment. He had received a degree of formal education in Marathi and English, and encouraged his children to learn and work hard at school.

Belonging to the Kabir Panth, Ramji Sakpal encouraged his children to read the Hindu classics. He used his position in the army to lobby for his children to study at the government school, as they faced resistance owing to their caste. Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other Untouchable children were segregated and given no attention or assistance by the teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class. Even if they needed to drink water somebody from a higher caste would have to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if he could not be found Ambedkar went without water.[2] Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt, and lived in difficult circumstances. Only three sons - Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao - and two daughters - Manjula and Tulasa - of the Ambedkars would go on to survive them. Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a bigger school. His native village name was "Ambavade" in Ratnagiri District so he changed his name from "Sakpal" to "Ambedkar" with the recommendation and faith of Mahadev Ambedkar, a Deshasta Brahmin teacher who believed in him.

Ramji Sakpal remarried in 1898, and the family moved to Mumbai (then Bombay), where Ambedkar became the first untouchable student at the Government High School near Elphinstone Road. Although excelling in his studies, Ambedkar was increasingly disturbed by the segregation and discrimination that he faced. In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and entered the University of Bombay, Bharat Rant Certificatebecoming one of the first persons of untouchable origin to enter a college in India. This success provoked celebrations in his community, and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by his teacher Krishnaji Arjun Keluskar also known as Dada Keluskar, a Maratha caste scholar. Ambedkar's marriage had been arranged the previous year as per Hindu custom, to Ramabai, a nine-year old girl from Dapoli. In 1908, he entered Elphinstone College and obtained a scholarship of twenty five rupees a month from the Gayakwad ruler of Baroda, Sahyaji Rao III for higher studies in the USA. By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government. His wife gave birth to his first son, Yashwant, in the same year. Ambedkar had just moved his young family and started work, when he dashed back to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on February 2, 1913.

Fight against untouchability:

As a leading Indian scholar, Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for Dalits and other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai. Attaining popularity,Bharat Rant Madle Ambedkar used this journal to criticize orthodox Hindu politicians and a perceived reluctance of the Indian political community to fight caste discrimination. His speech at a Depressed Classes Conference in Kolhapur impressed the local state ruler Shahu IV, who shocked orthodox society by dining with Ambekdar . Ambedkar established a successful legal practise, and also organised the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education and socio-economic uplifting of the depressed classes. In 1926, he became a nominated member of the Bombay Legislative Council. By 1927 Dr. Ambedkar decided to launch active movements against untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to open up and share public drinking water resources, also he began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples. He led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.

He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon Commission in 1928. This commission had sparked great protests across India, and while its report was ignored by most Indians, Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for future constitutional reformers.

Poona Pact:

By now Ambedkar had become one of the most prominent untouchable political figures of the time. He had grown increasingly critical of mainstream Indian political parties for their perceived lack of emphasis for the elimination of the caste system. Ambedkar criticized the Indian National Congress and its leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, whom he accused of reducing the untouchable community to a figure of pathos. Ambedkar was also dissatisfied with the failures of British rule, and advocated a political identity for untouchables separate from both the Congress and the British. At a Depressed Classes Conference on August 8, 1930 Ambedkar outlined his political vision, insisting that the safety of the Depressed Classes hinged on their being independent of the Government and the Congress both:

We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves... Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation. They must cleanse their evil habits. They must improve their bad ways of living.... They must be educated.... There is a great necessity to disturb their pathetic contentment and to instill into them that divine discontent which is the spring of all elevation.

In this speech, Ambedkar criticized the Salt Satyagraha launched by Gandhi and the Congress. Ambedkar's criticisms and political work had made him very unpopular with orthodox Hindus, as well as with many Congress politicians who had earlier condemned untouchability and worked against discrimination across India. This was largely because these "liberal" politicians usually stopped short of advocating full equality for untouchables. Ambedkar's prominence and popular support amongst the untouchable community had increased, and he was invited to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1931. Here he sparred verbally with Gandhi on the question of awarding separate electorates to untouchables. A fierce opponent of separate electorates on religious and sectarian lines, Gandhi feared that separate electorates for untouchables would divide Hindu society for future generations.

When the British agreed with Ambedkar and announced the awarding of separate electorates, Gandhi began a fast-unto-death while imprisoned in the Yeravada Central Jail of Pune in 1932. Exhorting orthodox Hindu society to eliminate discrimination and untouchability, Gandhi asked for the political and social unity of Hindus. Gandhi's fast provoked great public support across India, and orthodox Hindu leaders, Congress politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organized joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yeravada. Fearing a communal reprisal and killings of untouchables in the event of Gandhi's death, Ambedkar agreed under massive coercion from the supporters of Gandhi to drop the demand for separate electorates, and settled for a reservation of seats, which although in the end achieved more representation for the untouchables, resulted in the loss of separate electorates that was promised through the British Communal Award prior to Ambedkars meeting with Gandhi which would end his fast. Ambedkar was later to criticise this fast of Gandhi's as a gimmick to deny political rights to the untouchables and increase the coercion he had faced to give up the demand for separate electorates. Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

Political career:

In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, a position he held for two years. Settling in Mumbai, Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a large house, and stocked his personal library with more than 50,000 books. His wife Ramabai died after a long illness in the same year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling her that he would create a new Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's Pandharpur which treated them as untouchables. His own views and attitudes had hardened against orthodox Hindus, despite a significant increase in momentum across India for the fight against untouchability. and he began criticizing them even as he was criticized himself by large numbers of Hindu activists. Speaking at the Yeola Conversion Conference on October 13 near Nasik, Ambedkar announced his intention to convert to a different religion and exhorted his followers to leave Hinduism. He would repeat his message at numerous public meetings across India.

In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which won 15 seats in the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. He published his book The Annihilation of Caste in the same year, based on the thesis he had written in New York. Attaining immense popular success, Ambedkar's work strongly criticized Hindu religious leaders and the caste system in general. He protested the Congress decision to call the untouchable community Harijans (Children of God), a name coined by Gandhi. Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.

Between 1941 and 1945, he published a large number of highly controversial books and pamphlets, including Thoughts on Pakistan, in which he criticized the Muslim League's demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. With What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables, Ambedkar intensified his attacks on Gandhi and the Congress, charging them with hypocrisy. In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of the Shudras i.e. the lowest caste in hierarchy of Hindu caste system. He also emphasised how Shudras are separate from Untouchables. Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the elections held in 1946 for the Constituent Assembly of India. In writing a sequel to Who Were the Shudras? in 1948, Ambedkar lambasted Hinduism in the The Untouchables: A Thesis on the Origins of Untouchability:

Architect of India's constitution:

Upon India's independence on August 15, 1947, the new Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first law minister, which he accepted. On August 29, Ambedkar was appointed chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write free India's new Constitution. Ambedkar won great praise from his colleagues and contemporary observers for his drafting work. In this task Ambedkar's study of sangha practice among early Buddhists and his extensive reading in Buddhist scriptures was to come to his aid. Sangha practice incorporated voting by ballot, rules of debate and precedence and the use of agendas, committees and proposals to conduct business. Sangha practice itself was modelled on the oligarchic system of governance followed by tribal republics of ancient India such as the Shakyas and the Lichchavis. Thus, although Ambedkar used Western models to give his Constitution shape, its spirit was Indian and, indeed, tribal.

The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and the outlawing of all forms of discrimination Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, and also won the Assembly's support for introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, a system akin to affirmative action. India's lawmakers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities and lack of opportunities for India's depressed classes through this measure, which had been originally envisioned as temporary on a need basis. The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly. Speaking after the completion of his work, Ambedkar said:

Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951 following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the laws of inheritance, marriage and the economy. Although supported by Prime Minister Nehru, the cabinet and many other Congress leaders, it received criticism from a large number of members of parliament. Ambedkar independently contested an election in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha but was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in March 1952 and would remain a member until his death.

Conversion to Buddhism:

In the 1950s, Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism and travelled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to attend a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously.

After meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him. Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He completed his final manuscript, The Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956.

Death / Mahanirvana:

Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in 1954 owing to clinical depression and failing eyesight.[7] He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his health. His health worsened as he furiously worked through 1955. Just three days after completing his final manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, it is said that Ambedkar died in his sleep on December 6, 1956 at his home in Delhi.

Since the Caste hindus denied the cremation at Dadar crematorium, A Buddhist-style cremation was organised for him at Chowpatty beach on December 7, attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters, activists and admirers.

Ambedkar was survived by his second wife Savita Ambedkar, born as a caste Brahmin and converted to Buddhism with him. His wife's name before marriage was Sharda Kabir. Savita Ambedkar died as a Buddhist in 2002. Ambedkar's grandson, Prakash Yaswant Ambedkar leads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha and has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament. Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

A number of unfinished typescripts and handwritten drafts were found among Ambedkar's notes and papers and gradually made available. Among these were Waiting for a Visa, which probably dates from 1935-36 and is an autobiographical work, and the Untouchables, or the Children of India's Ghetto, which refers to the census of 1951. A memorial for Ambedkar was established in his Delhi house at 26 Alipur Road. His birthdate is celebrated as a public holiday known as Ambedkar Jayanti. He was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Many public institutions are named in his honour, such as the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, the other being Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, which was otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport. A large official portrait of Ambedkar is on display in the Indian Parliament building.

On the anniversary of his birth (14 April) and death (6 December) and on Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din, 14th Oct at Nagpur, at least half a million people gather to pay homage to him at his memorial in Mumbai. Thousands of bookshops are set up, and books are sold.

His message to his followers was " Educate!!!, Organize!!!, Agitate!!!".

Memories of Baba Sahab Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar

To name the few of these include pen case, a conch shell, some chinaware, a kettle and a cup and saucer, a lamp, a statue of the Buddha and an ashtray. Babasaheb used to like having his tea in British Style, with tea in a kettle, milk and sugar separate, a habit he had picked up while he was abroad. In the same enclosure we also see a colourful Japanese umbrella presented to Babasaheb during his visit to Rangoon.

Shri KanshiRam

Born: 15 March 1934, Pirthipur Bunga village, Khawaspur
Died : 9 October 2006 (aged 72) New Delhi

Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram was born on March 15, 1934, in Khawas Pur village of Ropar District of Punjab (India). He was the eldest of eight siblings. He belonged to the Ramdassia (Ad Dharmi/Mulnivasi) community of the Scheduled Caste group, which is the largest group in Punjab. He was named Kanshi because after his birth the midwife placed him in a tray made of kansa metal. His father owned some land and his uncles were in the armed forces. In Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram's own words, "I was born and brought up amongst those who sacrificed themselves but never betrayed the country...” Despite his low caste background, he earned a bachelor’s degree in science from the Government College at Ropar (Punjab).

His upbringing was modest. During his education years there was nothing special about him to suggest that he would mature into great social revolutionary. It was only after he took up a government job in the western Indian state of Maharashtra that he began to be influenced by the writings and life of Baba Sahib Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar who voiced the concerns of India's low caste community and worked hard throughout his life for their empowerment. Soon after his graduation, Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji joined the research staff of Kirki’s Explosive Research and Development Laboratory (ERDL) in Pune 1957. While working in Pune, he quit his job after becoming involved in the famous Deena Bhan case. Shri Deena Bhan, a Rajasthani Scheduled Caste employee and senior colleague of Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji was suspended. His fault was that he protested against the decision of ERDL management for the cancellation of holidays for Baba Sahib Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha Jayantis and their replacement by the Tilak Jayanti and one additional holiday for Diwali. Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji decided to fight against such a caste ridden and dictatorial behavior of the management. The fighter in Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram got the suspension orders of Shri Deena Bhan revoked and Dr. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha Jayantis holidays were restored.

This was the beginning of the long battle for the emancipation of the Dalits in the country that Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram had to lead till his last breath. He resigned from his job and totally dedicated his entire life for the cause of the community. He never married nor visited his home since then. His struggle was not for the home and family. He devised a new strategy to regain the lost glory of the original (Adi) inhabitants of Bharat (India). He gave utmost importance to the culture of work and democratic method of struggle. He also expanded the circle of the Dalits by incorporating other Backward Classes and Minorities into it.

He criticized the post-Ambedkar leadership of Dalits in India. For that he declared "Poona Pact" as the main reason. He said that “Poona Pact" made Dalits helpless. By rejecting separate electorate, Dalits were deprived of their genuine representation in legislatures. Several and various kind of chamchas were born in the last fifty years. As and when India's so called high caste Hindu rulers felt the need of chamchas and when the authority of the upper castes got endangered by real and genuine Dalit leaders, chamchas were brought to the fore in all other fields”.

In his "The Chamcha Age", a well argued and polemical tirade against the pseudo Dalit leaders, Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji sharpen the contradiction for the legitimate acquisition of political power by the downtrodden in electoral democracy in India. In, the Chamcha Age, "he focused very much on the Poona Pact which was a point of a rather decisive Gandhian victory over Dr. Ambedkar after a long duel between the two at the Round Table Conference". In the mid-1960s, Sahib Kanshi Ram Ji began to organize Dalit government employees to fight against what he saw as the deeply entrenched prejudice of higher caste peoples. It was around this time that he decided that he would not marry and dedicate his life to the cause of Dalit improvement. Finally he decided play a crucial role in the politics of the country.

The result was, Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji launched his first organisation on December 6th, 1978: All India Backward (SC, ST, OBC) and Minority Communities' Employees' Federation, popularly known as BAMCEF. Three years later, on December 6th 1981, Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji founded another organisation: DS-4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti) and on April 14th, 1984, Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji announced the formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party (the Common Man's Party). As a politician, he became very popular among his people, who found a new hope and vision in his style of functioning and sincerity. Suddenly he became a national figure. He was a master strategist and a meticulous organiser. He used his strengths to carve out a niche for Dalits. This was done by deploying an often combative and aggressive strategy, with virulent attacks on other political parties which he claimed only represented the interests of higher caste Hindus. He was sharply different from other politicians of the mainstream. He used to communicate before he spoke.

In 1996 Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hoshiarpur constituency, from where 50 years ago Great Ghadri Baba Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia Ji founder of the "Ad Dharm Movement" had been returned to the Punjab assembly in 1946. Interestingly, it was at Hoshiarpur, the strong hold of "Ad Dharm", that the BSP celebrated the 75th year of the "Ad Dharm Movement" on February 18th, 2001 . On this occasion Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji exhorted the Bahujan Samaj to follow the principles of the "Ad Dharm Movement" of which the BSP has now become the torch-bearer.

He was one of the few great leaders of Independent India who actually expanded the limits of Dalit politics. His political vision was never confined to Scheduled Castes only, as is often thought about him. All of the political organisations he founded were meant for the downtrodden of all sorts – SC, ST, OBC and Minorities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the one who took a lead in making Indian democracy more competitive and practically open to the Dalit-Bahujan Samaj

Hon. Late D.K. Khaparde

Hon. Late D.K. Khaparde

Born: 13 May, 1939, Nagpur  Passed Away: 29 Feb, 2000, Pune.

Hon. Late D. K. Khaparde was born on 13th May 1939 in Nagpur (Maharashtra, India). After completion of his education from Nagpur, he joined service in the Defence Establishment of Pune. During the service at Pune Mr. Kanshiram who subsequently joined politics came in contact with him. Mr. Kahaparde had enlightened Mr. Kanshiram about the movement of Dr. Ambedkar. The crises on the issue of Jayanti celebration of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Defence establishment galvanised the followers of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who have decided to from an all India Organisation to spread the movement of Phule-Ambedkar and formed BAMCEF on 6th December 1976. Mr. Kanshiram left him in the year 1985 and therefore he had registered BAMCEF in the year 1987 in consultation with other colleagues. He resigned from the service and dedicated completely for 13 years and established BAMCEF offices in 18 states of India to spread Phule-Ambedkar movement. After the 16th National convention of BAMCEF in 1999 at Patana, Bihar, he suffered from abdomen cancer and succumbed to death on 29th February 2000 at Pune. He was a symbol of self sacrificed full of dedication and commitment to Phule-Ambedkar movement for the cause of social revolution in India.

DHARTI ABA - BIRSA MUNDA

BIRSA MUNDA - The 'Ulgulaan of Dharti Aba'

Born: November 15, 1875, Ranchi, Passed Away: June 9, 1900, Ranchi

“Our land is blowing away as the dust blows away in the storm”

The class was going as usual in the German Mission School, at Burj, Chaibasa. A teacher Dr Nottrott repeatedly uttered derogatory words for the Mundas.

A student left the school in protest. His name was Birsa.

Birsa Munda (1875–1900) was a tribal leader and a folk hero, belonging to the Munda tribe who was behind the Millenarian movement that rose in the tribal belt of modern day Bihar, and Jharkhand during the British Raj, in the late 19th century making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement.

Birsa Munda is named with great respect as one of the freedom fighters in the Indian struggle for independence against British colonialism. His achievements in the freedom struggle became even greater considering he accomplished this before his 25th year.

He died soon afterwards in mysterious circumstances on 9 June 1900 in Ranchi Jail.

Birsa was born at Bamba in a suburb of Ranchi (Bihar) on Thursday 15 November 1875. He was named after the day of his birth according to the Munda custom.

Ulihatu was the birth-place of Sugana Munda, the father of Birsa. Name of Birsa’s Mother was Karmi Mundain. Sugna Munda has three sons namely- Kowa Munda , Birsa Munda and Bhanu Munda .

Birsa’s early years were spent with his parents at Chalkad. His early life could not have been very different from that of an average Munda child. Folklore refers to his rolling and playing in sand and dust with his friends and his growing up strong and handsome in looks; he grazed sheep in the forest of Bohonda. He shared an interest in playing the flute, in which he became adept, and so movingly did he play that it is said all living beings came out to listen to him. He went round with the tuila, the one-stringed instrument made from the pumpkin, in the hand and the flute strung to his waist. Exciting moments of his childhood were spent on the akhara ( the village dancing ground).

Driven by poverty Birsa was taken to Ayubhatu, his maternal uncle’s village. At Ayubhatu Birsa lived for two years. He went to school at Salga, run by one Jaipal Nag.

His long stay at Chaibasa from 1886 to 1890 constituted a formative period of his life. During 1893-4 all waste lands in villages, the ownership of which were vested in the Government, were constituted into protected forests under the Indian Forest Act VII of 1882. In Singhbhum as in Palamau and Manbhum the forest settlement operations were launched and measures were taken to determine the rights of the forest-dwelling communities. Villages in forests were marked off in blocks of convenient size consisting not only of village sites but also cultivable and waste lands sufficient of the needs of villages.

Outside the blocks lay the protected forest areas in which rights were regulated, even curtailed. These orders were sometimes not understood by local officers who acted as if all right of forest-swelling communities had been curtailed. Birsa led a number of ryots of Sirgida to Chaibasa with a petition for the remission of forest dues. Men form six other villages had preceded him. Nothing came of it. The Chotanagpur Protected Forests Rules framed under the Indian Forest Act came into force in July 1894. Viewing Birsa’s involvement in the Sardar agitation with concern, Anand Panre advised him not to let him emotion overpowers him; but he would not turn a deaf ear to the inner voice. Thus his three years’ apprenticeship under the Panres came to an end in 1893-4.

In 1894, Birsa had grown up into a strong and handsome young man, shrewd and intelligent. The stories of Birsa as a healer, a miracle-worker, and a preacher spread, out of all proportion to the facts. At that period of history Mundas were utterly frustrated, disappointed and discontented. Zamindars, Jagirdars, Thikedars, Rajas, Christian missionaries and the British courts – all of them had only one point programme and that was to exploit the Mundas.

Mundas called him Dharati Aba, the father of the earth. As a matter of strategy he went with his followers to Chutia on 28 January 1898 to collect the record or rights and re-establish racial links with the temple there. He said that the temple belonged to the Kols in ancient times.

It is said that 7000 men and women assembled around Christmas of 1899 heralding the Ulgulaan (or revolution) which soon spread to Khunti, Tamar, Basia and Ranchi. It was January 5, 1900. The entire Munda community was up in arms.

After the suppression of the first rising, in 1895 the Birsa gave a clarion call to the Munda’s ( his followers) of a decisive war against the British. After a series of concerted attacks for nearly two years on the places loyal to the British, the Munda warriors started congregating on Dombari Hill at village Sail Rakab (Nearly 20 Km far from the Ranchi-Jamshedpur Highway). Documents revel that the Munda’s , adopted Guerilla war fare, and attacked the British in Ranchi and Khunti. Several persons, mostly police men were killed and nearly 100 Buildings were set on fire. The ” Ulgulaan ” (revolt) had started. The then commissioner Mr. A Fobes and Deputy Commissioner Mr. H.C. Streattfield, rushed to Khunti with an army of 150 to crush the it and the Abua Disun ” ( Self rule ).

The revolt rocked the British administration to the extent that the commissioner declared a reward of Rs 500 for the arrest of Birsa. Subsequently British forces attacked heavily on Munda warriors congregated at “Dumbari Hill” and made indiscriminate firing like that of “Jaliyan Wala Bagh ” and killed several hundred people. The whole hill was littered with dead human corpses. According to an editorial published on March 25, 1900, The Statesman, put the toll at 400. However, the then administration suppressed the fact and claimed that only eleven persons were killed and nine insured in two firings on January 7 and January 9, 1900. Fear and panic show spread over the area that “Dombari” was named by Mundas as ” Topped Buru “ – the mound of dead.

Birsa anyhow escaped to the hills of Singhbhum .He was nabbed while asleep at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur on March 3, 1900. Deputy commissioner Ranchi, vide letter no CR-1397 dated 12 nov 1900 reveals that 460 tribals were made accused in 15 different criminal cases, out of which 63 were convicted. The six death, including that of Birsa Munda in the prison during trials in less than 10 months, speaks of the probable tortures inflicted on the prisoners of Ulgulaan . Birsa Munda died in the jail on 9th June 1900. His dead body is reported to have been criminated near the distillery bridge Kokar ( Ranchi ).

This was the last of the heroic tribal movements of the 19th century in the Chotanagpur plateau. The Mundas had been living in the Chotanagpur plateau for more than 2000 years and are one of the most ancient settlers in this land. The introduction of rent for the land, a concept hitherto unknown to the tribal, infuriated them. Then there was collection of taxes for just about any reason. The British courts, unfamiliar with the tribal language had to depend upon the local interpreters to act as middle men. These people were only too pleased to help their powerful landowners. Thus, the tribal could not get justice from any direction and led them to believe that it rest upon themselves to rid the place of dikus.

Though at first the struggle commenced by attacking the land-lords, later it was directed against the ruling British authorities who openly supported the exploiters namely the Zamindars and money lenders who took advantage of the corrupt British and Indian officials.

In 1856, there were in Bihar 600 Zamindar dikus holding land ranging from a portion of a single village to even 150 villages each. The dikus, unable to comprehend the social and political organization of the tribal simply dismissed them and replaced with limbs of modern governmental machinery. Worst of all, the tribal customs, practices and superstitions were dismissed lightly. Another important reason for the revolt was of course, the concept of Beth Begari, or what is known today as bonded labour.

General poverty led many of the Mundas to leave their ancestral homes and shift to work in the Assam tea plantations. Birsa believed that the Mundas will be able to regain their lost kingdom with the annihilation of the enemies.

The core of Birsa’s message had initially been social and religious. He called upon the Mundas to uproot superstition, abjure animal sacrifice and cease taking intoxicants. Birsa Munda continuously infused the tribals with a sense of their destiny with many of the ancient myths that lay embedded in the popular consciousness.

He advised people to not to obey the magistrates and the landlords and to boycott the ‘beth begari sytem’. He spoke against unlawful land acquisition and tried to unite his people against the diabolic exploitative triad of zamindars, foreigner and traders.

The Mundas were galvanized into martial fury and carried out their revolts with great courage and determination. The results were, however, the same whenever the tribal fought the mighty British: they were crushed. Birsa was captured, released and finally recaptured after his forces suffered a terrible crushing by the British army in 1900. With his death, the Birsa movement slipped into oblivion but he had succeeded in giving them a solidarity which was missing before. Thus bullets crushed this great movement. Though Birsa was dead but his purpose was not defeated. Just after the movement, the Government passed the Commutation Act of 1897 and then it was decided to start survey and settlement in 1901. The Mundari Khuntkatti right was recognized and finally the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (Act-VI of 1908) came into being. Birsa Munda – the great Dharati Aba shines as the first tribal martyr who fought for the independence of the country. True, he operated in a small area but its impact was felt in the years to come. He was ahead of time.

ANNABHAU SATHE

Annabhau Sathe - Social Reformer

Born: August 1, 1920, Wategaon, Passed Away: July 18, 1969

"The earth is not balanced on the snake's head but on the strength of Dalit and working-class people,”

Annabhau Sathe was a social reformer and writer from Maharashtra, India.

Annabhau Sathe was born in the village of Wategaon near Sangli in a family belonging to the Matang community. (The community has been identified by the Indian government as a scheduled caste.)

Poverty had prevented Annabhau from obtaining formal education. His brother Shankarbhau recounts in his biography of Sathe, titled Majhe Bhau Annabhau (My brother Annabhau), that the family members worked as laborers at the site of Kalyan tunnel when it was being constructed.

Despite lack of formal education, Annabhau Sathe wrote in Marathi 35 novels, one among which was Fakira (1959). Fakira, which is currently in its 19th edition, received a state government award in 1961.Vaijanta is the remarkable one.

There are 15 collections of Annabhau Sathe’s short stories. A large number of his short stories have been translated into many Indian and as many as 27 non-Indian languages.

Besides novels and short stories, Annabhau Sathe wrote a play, a travelogue on Russia, 12 screenplays, and 10 ballads (powade in Marathi).

Annabhau Sathe wrote directly from his experiences in life, and his novels celebrate the fighting spirit in their characters who work against all odds in life.

Lok Rajya, a Maharashtra state government fortnightly, published on November 1, 1993, a special commemorative issue concerning Annabhau Sathe. The state government also issued in 1998 a collection of his works under the title Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Nivadak Sahitya. (Selected works of Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe)

To generate social awareness, he organized stage performances of powade and tamasha, ethnic dances chiefly performed by women, which are popular in rural Maharashtra. He produced 14 tamasha shows. In the late 1940s, the then Home Minister of the Bombay state government Morarji Desai had banned tamasha shows, but Annabhau Sathe courageously defied the ban by renaming them as lokanatya. People in Maharashtra conferred the epithet lok shahir on Annabhau Sathe.

Sathe was an important mobilizer in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. He used the medium of powade to great effect in that movement. Annabhu sathe was the member of Matang Samaj Community at Satara and Sangli districts of Maharashtra.

Annabhau Sathe lived a life of destitution. After spending 22 years in a Ghatkopar slum, Sathe moved to a modest house in Goregaon which the state government provided him in 1968, one year before he died.

Annabhau Sathe decided to bring awareness among the masses against Brahminism which imposed untouchability and virtually compelled the deprived lot to take recourse to criminal and filthy occupations against the British Government which imposed the Criminal Tribes Act and subjected his community to harassment and against the forces of feudalism and capitalism which exploited his community and made life unbearable. He used his art and poetic genius in educating the masses.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule

Rashtrapita Jyotiba Phule
Born: 11 April, 1827, Passed Away: 28 November, 1890 

Contributions

Jyotiba Phule was one of the prominent social reformers of the nineteenth century India. He led the movement against the prevailing caste-restrictions in India. He revolted against the domination of the Brahmins and for the rights of peasants and other low-caste fellow. Jyotiba Phule was the first to start an orphanage for the unfortunate children.

Life

Jyotirao Phule was born in Satara district of Maharastra in 1827. His father, Govindrao was a Flower-vendor at Poona. Originally Jyotirao's family belonged to 'mali' caste, considered as inferior by the Brahmins. Since, Jyotirao's father and uncles served as florists, the family came to be known as `Phule'. Jyotirao's mother passed away when he was nine months old.

Jyotirao was an intelligent boy but due to the poor financial condition at home, he had to stop his studies at an early age. He started helping his father by working on the family's farm. Recognising the talent of the child prodigy, few months later, a neighbor persuaded his father to send him to school. In 1841, Jyotirao got admission in the Scottish Mission's High School, Poona. Jyotirao was married to Savitribai, when he was thirteen years old.

Movement

In 1848, an incident took place in his life that later sparked off the dalit-revolution in the Indian society. Jyotirao was invited to attend a wedding of one of his Brahmin friends. Knowing that he belonged to inferior caste, the relatives of the bridegroom insulted and abused him. Jyotirao left the procession and made up his mind to defy the prevailing caste-system and social restrictions. He then started his campaign of serving the people of lower caste who were deprived of all their rights as human beings.

After reading Thomas Paine's famous book 'The Rights of Man', Jyotirao was greatly influenced by his ideas. He believed that enlightenment of the women and lower caste people was the only solution to combat the social evils. Therefore, in 1848, he along with his wife started a school for the girls.

The orthodox Brahmins of the society were furious at the activities of Jyotirao. They blamed him for vitiating the norms and regulations of the society. Many accused him of acting on behalf of the Christian Missionaries. But Jyotirao was firm and decided to continue the movement. Jyotirao attacked the orthodox Brahmins and other upper castes and termed them as "hypocrites". He campaigned against the authoritarianism of the upper caste people. He urged the "peasants" and "proletariat" to defy the restrictions imposed upon them.

In 1851, Jyotiba established a girls' school and asked his wife to teach the girls in the school. Jyotirao, later, opened two more schools for the girls and an indigenous school for the lower castes, especially the Mahars and Mangs.

Viewing the pathetic condition of widows and unfortunate children Jyotirao decided to open an orphanage. In order to protect those widows and their children, Jyotiba Phule established an orphanage in 1854. Many young widows, from the upper-caste spent their days in the orphanage.

Satya Shodhak Samaj

After tracing the history of the Brahmin domination in India, Jyotirao blamed the Brahmins for framing the weird and inhuman laws. He concluded that the laws were made to suppress the "shudras" and rule over them. In 1873, Jyotiba Phule formed the Satya Shodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth). The purpose of the organization was to liberate the people of lower-castes from the suppression of the Brahmins. The membership was open to all and the available evidence proves that some Jews were admitted as members. In 1876 there were 316 members of the 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'. In 1868, in order to give the lower-caste people more powers Jyotirao decided to construct a common bathing tank outside his house. He also wished to dine with all, regardless of their caste.

Death

Jyotiba Phule devoted his entire life for the liberation of untouchables from the exploitation of Brahmins. He revolted against the tyranny of the upper castes. On 28 November, 1890, the great reformer of India, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, passed away

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