Ambedkar and Gandhi

Based on the popular play "Ambedkar and Gandhi" by the Asmita Group, directed by Arvind Gaur.

Dr B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi both worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the backward Dalit community in India. Different was their method of going about the job. Neither agreed with the other's ideology, nor did they ever get along well together.

REVIEW:
-----------

Ambedkar was a supporter of reservation. His point was that if the Dalit community was even more backward than the Sikhs or the Muslims(religious minorities), and the religious minorities were being awarded reservation in assembly seats, Dalits had a greater right to reservation than them.

Ambedkar wanted to bring about a change in the societal mentality. He thought opening a few temples to Dalits was not the solution to untouchability. He believed the only way out was to make a dalit man work in all offices, schools, colleges right next to a Brahmin. And thats how the institution would die away.

Ambedkar wanted to abolish the Hindu Caste System altogether.

Gandhi had seen the effects of communal divide in the society. He believed caste based reservation would further divide the society. He believed reservation would turn "caste" into a more permanent entity. and its significance would further increase in the social sphere.

Ambedkar however believed if Gandhi's ideas are implemented, the world would continue as it is, where it is. It would mean a "No Change, No Hope" for the Dalits. He justified it with the fact that the community he represented was way too downtrodden, poor and weak to fight for its rights anytime in the near future.

Gandhi was a staunch believer of the Shastras. he believed that the Caste system formed the backbone of Hindu society, and should exist. He believed hereditary inheritance of varnas, and son-follows-father's-profession-only system should continue. Untouchability should be done away with, though.

He believed in the classic ideology that if a man born in a cobbler's family chooses to be anything else except a cobbler, would create confusion and unrest in the society.

Ambedkar wanted to dissolve and nullify caste system altogether.

Opinions of both the leaders influenced each other, and evolved with time. The Poona Pact was a short period of peace between the two leaders. Who otherwise always on each-other's line of fire.

Ambedkar accused Gandhi of being a victim of the Brahmin mentality. Gandhi at instances even agreed with him on this one, and wrote that he wants to be born in a Dalit household in his next birth, to truly experience and understand what it is like, to be an untouchable and root the problem out.

In today's society we see that both the leaders were right in their own right. While caste system has assumed greater importance in today's political and social spheres. We aren't really ashamed of sitting next to a dalit student in our classes are we?! At the same time we question, How justified is reservation? And often resent the undeserving, financially sound harijans enjoying benefits, they don't deserve.

For us Ambedkar is the man on Mayawati's one thousand statues, and Gandhi the smiling face on our banknotes.

What we don't realize that they represent an open-ended debate with no start, and no end in sight.

"These two men, never liked each other, but neither would have been as great a man, had the other not existed"!! :)

Ambedkar aur Gandhi.

Character Descriptions:
-----------------------------

AMBEDKAR: Headstrong, Egoistic, Aggressive, Sharp tongued, Opinionated, A man like him if believes in a certain cause/method would never settle for the middle way out.

GANDHI: Had a more populist and principled approach to situations.
One important fact to be noticed is that inspite of having thousands of people around him who believed that his word is law, and reiterated everyday that he is "The Mahatme Gandhi". He managed to keep his down-to-earth-on-the-streets character alive.