Dr.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

 Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar,

was one of the main architects of the Indian Constitution.
 He was a very well known political leader, philosopher, writer,
economist,jurist scholar and a social reformer who dedicated his life to
eradicating untouchability and other social inequality in India.
 He was born on 14 April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh in Hindu Mahar Caste. He
had to face severe discriminations from every corner of the society as the
Mahar caste was viewed as "untouchable" by the upper class.
Architect of Indian Constitution

 Babasaheb Ambedkar's legal expertise and knowledge of the Constitution of

different countries was very helpful in the framing of the constitution.
 He became chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent
Assembly and played an important role in framing the Indian Constitution.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 Among others, his most important contributions were in areas of
fundamental rights, strong central government and protection of minorities.

o Article 32 guarantees judicial protection to the Fundamental Rights

which makes them meaningful. For him, Article 32 was the most
important article of the constitution and thus, he referred to it "soul of
the Constitution and very heart of it".
o He supported a strong central government.
o He was afraid that Casteism is more powerful at the local and provincial
levels, and the government at this level might not protect the interest of
lower caste under pressure of upper caste.
o He was also afraid that the minority which is the most vulnerable group
in the nation may convert into political minorities too. So democratic
rule of 'One man one vote' is not sufficient and the minority should be
guaranteed a share in power. He was against 'Majoritarianism
Syndrome' and provided many safeguards in the Constitution for the
minorities.
Constitutional Morality

 In Babasaheb Ambedkar’s perspective, Constitutional morality would mean

effective coordination between conflicting interests of different people and
administrative cooperation.
 It will help to resolve the conflict amicably without any confrontation
amongst the various groups working for the realization of their ends at any
cost.
 According to him, for India, where society is divided on the basis of caste,
religion, language, and other factors, a common moral compass is needed,
and the Constitution can play the role of that compass.
Democracy

 He had complete faith in democracy. While dictatorship may produce quick

results, it can not be a valid form of government. Democracy is superior as it
enhances liberty.

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 He supported the parliamentary form of democracy, which aligns with other
national leaders.
 He emphasized 'democracy as a way of life', i.e. democracy not only in the
political sphere but also in the personal, social and economic sphere.
Social Reforms

 Babasaheb had devoted his life to remove untouchability.

 He believed that the progress of the nation would not be realized without
the removal of untouchability, which means the abolition of the caste system
in totality. He studied Hindu philosophical traditions and made a critical
assessment of them.
 For him, Untouchability is the slavery of the entire Hindu society.
 While Untouchables are enslaved by Caste Hindus, Caste Hindus themselves
live under slavery of religious sculptures.
 So the emancipation of the untouchables leads to the emancipation of the
whole Hindu society.
 Priority to Social Reform:

o He believed that Economic and Political issues must be resolved only

after achieving the goal of social justice.
o If political emancipation precedes social emancipation, it will lead to the
rule of upper-caste Hindu, and atrocities on Lower Caste.
o The idea that economic progress will lead to social justice is ill-founded
as Casteism is an expression of the Mental Slavery of Hindus.
o So for social reform, Casteism has to do away with.
o Social reforms consisted of family reform and religious reforms.
o Family reforms included removal of practices like child marriage etc. He
strongly supports the empowerment of women. He supports women’s
rights of property which he resolved through Hindu Code Bill.
 On Caste:

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 o The caste system has made Hindu society stagnant which creates
hurdles in integration with outsiders. Even internally, Hindu society fails
to satisfy the test of a homogeneous society, as it is just a
conglomeration of different castes. The caste system does not allow
lower castes to prosper which led to moral degradation. Battle for the
removal of untouchability becomes the battle for human rights and
justice.
Methods Adopted to Remove Untouchability

 Creating self-respect among untouchables by removing the myth of inherent

pollution that has influenced their minds.
 Education:

o For Babasaheb, knowledge is a liberating force.

o One of the reasons for the degradation of untouchables was that they
were denied the advantages of education.
o He criticized the British for not doing enough for the education of the
lower caste.
o He insisted on secular education to instill values of liberty and equality
among the students.
 Economic progress:

o He wanted untouchables to free themselves from the bondage of the

village community and traditional jobs.
o He wanted them to achieve new skills and start a new profession and
move to cities to take advantage of industrialization.
o He described villages as 'a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow
mindedness, and communalism'.
 Political strength:
o He wanted untouchables to organize themselves politically. With
political power, untouchables would be able to protect, safeguard and
introduce new emancipatory policies.

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 Conversion:

o When he realized that Hinduism is not able to mend its ways, he

adopted Buddhism and asked his followers to do the same.
o For him, Buddhism was based on humanism and believed in the spirit of
equality and fraternity.
o “I’m reborn, rejecting the religion of my birth. I discard the religion
which discriminates between a man and a man and which treats me as
an inferior”.
 So at the social level, education; at the material level, new means of
livelihood; at political level, political organization; and the spiritual level, self-
assertion, and conversion constituted an overall program of the removal of
untouchability.
Facts

 In 1923, he set up the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha (Outcastes Welfare

Association)’, which was devoted to spreading education and culture
amongst the downtrodden.
 The temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at
Kalaram temple, Nasik is another landmark in the struggle for human
rights and social justice.
 Dr. Ambedkar attended all the three Round Table Conferences (1930-
32) in London and each time, forcefully projected his views in the interest
of the 'untouchable'.
 In 1932, Gandhi ji protested Communal Award of a separate electorate by
fasting while imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of Poona.
 This resulted in the Poona Pact wherein Gandhi ji ended his fast and
Babasaheb dropped his demand for a separate electorate. Instead,
a certain number of seats were reserved specifically for the ‘Depressed
Class’.
 In 1936, Babasaheb Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

  In 1939, during the Second World War, he called upon Indians to join the
Army in large numbers to defeat Nazism, which he said, was another
name for Fascism.
 On October 14, 1956 he embraced Buddhism along with many of his
followers. The same year he completed his last writing 'Buddha and His
Dharma'.
 In 1990, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, was bestowed with Bharat Ratna.
 The period from 14th April 1990 - 14th April 1991 was observed as 'Year of
Social Justice' in the memory of Babasaheb.
 Dr. Ambedkar Foundation was established by the Government of India
under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on
March 24, 1992 as a registered society under the Societies Registration
Act, 1860.

o The main objective of the foundation is to oversee the

implementation of programmes and activities for furthering the
ideology and message of Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar among
the masses in India as well as abroad.
 Few important works of Dr. Ambedkar: Mook Nayak (weekly) 1920; Janta
(weekly) 1930; The Annihilation of Caste 1936; The Untouchables 1948;
Buddha Or Karl Marx 1956, etc.


Relevance

 Caste-based inequality in India still persists. While Dalits have acquired a

political identity through reservation and forming their own political parties,
they lack behind in social dimensions (health and education) and economic
dimension.
 There has been a rise of communal polarization and communalization of
politics. It is necessary that Ambedkar's vision of constitutional morality must
supersede religious morality to avoid permanent damage to the Indian
Constitution.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 According to historian R.C Guha, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is a unique example of
success even in most adverse situations. Today India is facing many socio-
economic challenges such as casteism, communalism, separatism, gender
inequality, etc. We need to find the Ambedkar's spirit within us, so that we
can pull ourselves from these challenges.

Sardar Patel

from India’s freedom struggle to the unification of the Indian states, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel is the one of the men who we talk about. Iron Man of India.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Who is Sardar Patel? He was a political and freedom leader in India’s freedom
struggle.

When was Sardar Patel He was born on October 31, 1875 in Gujarat. The village is
Born? known as ‘Nadiad’

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Why is he known as Iron Because of his strong opinions for the unification of princely
Man of India? states into one nation, his positive outlook towards women
empowerment and his active role to build India into what it
is today, he is called the Iron Man of India

When did Sardar 15th December 1950, Sardar Patel died because of a heart
Vallabhbhai Patel die? attack

Who gave the title of Mahatma Gandhi gave the title of ‘Sardar’ to Vallabhbhai
‘Sardar’ to Vallabhbhai Patel
Patel? However, following Bardoli Satyagraha, he was called Sardar
by the women of the village because of his active
participation and his role

By what other names, He is called:

Sardar Patel is known?
 ‘Bismarck of India’ following his role in unifying the
fragments of princely states into a one unit
 Founder of Modern All India Services

What was Sardar Patel’s Sardar Patel put all his efforts to unify the fragments of
role in India’s freedom? princely states into the Indian union

How was Sardar Patel His association with INC is as follows:

associated with Indian
 He was the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha (Gujarat
National Congress
Wing of INC)
(INC)?
 He was the President of the INC session held in Karachi

Which session of INC INC’s Karachi Session (1931), Patel was elected as the
was Sardar Patel the President
president of?

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

What was his position in He was the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of
an independent India? Independent India

Which individual has a Mahatma Gandhi had an enormous impact on Sardar Patel
profound impact on
Sardar Patel?

What is the Statue of It is a one-of-its-kind, tallest statue of the world, of Sardar

Unity? Patel, on a river island called the Sadhu Bet on the Narmada
river in Gujarat’s Kevadiya town, unveiled in 2018

On 31 October 1875, ‘Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born in
Nadiad village in present-day Gujarat.
Patel’s father Jhaverbhai had been a soldier in the army of Rani Laxmibai of
Jhansi. His mother was Ladbai.

 He passed his matriculation in 1897 and then pursued law in England. After
completing his law course in 1913, Patel returned to India and then
established his practice at Godhra.
 He later moved his successful practice to Ahmedabad and initially wanted
to accumulate wealth and live a comfortable life for himself and his family.
He had married and had two children by then.
 In Ahmedabad, he happened to meet Mahatma Gandhi and after a couple
of meetings, came under his spell. He became an ardent follower of Gandhi
and started involving in political work.
 He became the secretary of the Gujarat wing of the Congress Party (Formed
on December 28, 1885) and volunteered to lead the Kheda campaign
against taxation of peasants, since Gandhi himself would be at Champaran.
 The Kheda campaign (1918) was a success and through a village-by-village
tour, Patel and his associated compelled the peasants to refuse to pay taxes
until the government met their demands. Patel raised an army of

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 volunteers who helped the villagers in this work. This revolt directed a lot
of sympathy towards the farmers’ plight. The government agreed to talk
with Patel and also suspended taxes for a year. Patel emerged as a hero of
the people.
 After this in 1920, he was elected the president of the Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee. He remained in that position till 1945.
 When Gandhi announced the non-cooperation movement in 1920, Patel
supported him and worked tirelessly organising it. It was then that he
discarded his European garb and adopted Khadi. Patel was one leader who
supported Gandhi when he suspended the movement in the wake of the
Chauri Chaura Happened on February 5th, 1922) incident.
 Another major campaign led by Patel was the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928.
Here again, he asked farmers to refuse to pay taxes in the wake of floods
and famines in the area, and a steep hike in taxes by the government. After
the success of this campaign, the title ‘Sardar’ was bestowed on him by his
colleagues.
 Patel was arrested during the Dandi Salt March (1930). After his release
following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, he was elected the President of the INC in
its Karachi session in 1931. He was again arrested in 1932.
 He became a central figure in the Congress Party and was its chief
fundraiser and organiser especially in selecting candidates for the central
and provincial assemblies. He believed in instilling discipline among the
party members and did not want people to be distracted from the larger
goal which was independence from British rule.
 He supported the Quit India Movement and inspired people to fight by an
emotional speech made on 7 August 1942. He was arrested along with all
prominent national leaders and released only in June 1945.
 Partition of the country seemed inevitable and even though Patel was
against it, he understood that it was needed at that time as the Congress
and the Muslim League could not see eye to eye on that issue. It was also
needed to stem the tide of communal hatred and violence that was seeping
throughout the country. At the Congress meeting set to vote on the
proposal, he said, “I fully appreciate the fears of our brothers from [the
Muslim-majority areas]. Nobody likes the division of India and my heart is
heavy. But the choice is between one division and many divisions. We must
face facts. We cannot give way to emotionalism and

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 sentimentality….Whether we like it or not, de facto Pakistan already exists
in the Punjab and Bengal. Under the circumstances, I would prefer a de jure
Pakistan, which may make the League more responsible. Freedom is
coming. We have 75 to 80 percent of India, which we can make strong with
our own genius. The League can develop the rest of the country.”
 Patel represented India on the Partition Council where the division of public
assets between the two new nations was overseen.
 After the unimaginable horrors of the violence during partition, Patel set
about organising relief work and refugee camps. He called the South Indian
regiments of the Indian Army to restore order in the affected areas
knowing well that the police force of Punjab and Delhi, who were too close
to the tragedy, could not be relied upon.
 Patel is revered in India not only for his role as a freedom fighter but also
for his role in unifying the country after independence. India was politically
composed of British Indian provinces and the princely states which
numbered more than 600.
 Patel is considered as the Bismarck of India with regard to his stellar
contribution to the political integration of the country. When the Nawab of
Junagadh acceded to Pakistan despite having an 80% Hindu population,
Patel sent the army there. With a combination of military and political
tactics, the princely state was merged with India. Hyderabad also, with a
similar situation (Hindu majority with a Muslim ruler) followed the
Junagadh way. The Indian army, on the orders of Patel, invaded Hyderabad
in 1948 and secured its union with India.
 Patel was in charge of the Provincial Constitution Committee and the
Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and
Excluded Areas, in the Constituent Assembly of India.
 For his role in setting up the modern civil services of India, he is also
referred to as the ‘patron saint’ of the civil services. He famously called the
services the ‘steel frame’ of the country’s government machinery.
 Sardar Patel died in Bombay of a massive heart attack on 15 December
1950 aged 75.
 He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1991. His birth
anniversary is observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) since
2014.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 Subhash Chandra Bose
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Subhash Chandra Bose museum at Red Fort
to mark his 122nd birth anniversary on 23 rd January 2019.

A Brief

 Subhash Chandra Bose was twice elected President of the Indian National
Congress, (1938-Haripur and 1939-Tripuri) the country’s most important
political force for freedom from the Raj or British rule.
 Owing to political differences, he resigned from the Congress Presidentship in
1939 and organised the All India Forward Bloc a faction within the Congress
in Bengal. The purpose was to consolidate the political left and major support
base in his home state Bengal.
 In Calcutta, Bose organised mass protests and was arrested. He was later put
under house arrest from where he escaped. He went to Germany via
Afghanistan.
 However, in 1943 Bose lost hope that Germany could be of any help in
gaining India's independence. He then turned to Asia where he finally came
at the helm of the Indian National Army (INA).

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 INA found support among expatriate Indians and under its aegis Bose formed
the Azad Hind government which came to produce its own currency,
postage stamps, court and civil code. It was recognised by Axis states.
 While his memory is still held in high esteem in India, in the West Bose is
much less revered, largely because of his wartime collaboration with the Axis
powers.
 During the final two years of the war, Bose with considerable Japanese
backing- led the forces of the Indian National Army into battle against the
British.
Azad Hind

 In 1940’s the major inspiration for carrying on a relentless struggle against

Britain came from Subhas Bose’s adventures abroad.
 Bose had set up an Indian Legion in Berlin in 1941, but developed difficulties
with the Germans when they tried to use it against Russia, and decided to go
to South East Asia.
 He reached Japanese-controlled Singapore from Germany in July 1943, issued
from there his famous call, ‘Delhi Chalo’, and announced the formation of
the Azad Hind Government and the Indian National Army on 21 st October
1943.
 The link with the old revolutionary tradition was emphasized by giving a post
of honour in the government to Rashbehari Bose, who had been living in
exile in Japan since 1915.
 Despite all his differences with Gandhiji, Bose did not forget to ask for the
blessings of the ‘Father of the Nation’ while starting his enterprise.
 Indian prisoners of war in Japanese camps provided a ready recruiting ground
for the I.N.A., which was able to rally about 20,000 out of the 60,000 prisoner
of wars, and financial aid and volunteers came from Indian trading
communities settled in South East Asia.
 The I.N.A. was essentially non-communal, with Muslims quite prominent
among its officers and ranks, and it also introduced the innovation of
a women’s detachment named after the Rani of Jhansi.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 Between March and June 1944, the I.N.A. was in action on Indian soil,
besieging Imphal (Manipur) along with Japanese troops in a campaign which
ended in total failure.
 The Japanese collapse in 1945 made the I.N.A. men prisoners again, while
Bose mysteriously disappeared, allegedly killed in an air-crash which some
still believe to have been faked.
 In November, 1945, a British move to put the I.N.A. men on trial
immediately sparked off massive demonstrations all over the country.
 Even more significant was the probable link between the I.N.A. experience
and the wave of disaffection in the British Indian army during the winter of
1945-46, which culminated in the great Bombay naval strike of February
1946 and was quite possibly one of the most decisive reasons behind the
British decision to make a quick withdrawal.
Contribution of Bose

 The INA revealed Subhash Bose’s greatness as a military leader and

an organizer too. One of the INA Brigades advanced with the Japanese army
upto the frontiers of India. The Indian national flag was hoisted in
Kohima (Nagaland) in March 1944.
 However with the change of fortune in the war and the retreat and defeat of
the Japanese the INA collapsed. The role of INA had far reaching influences
on the Indian political scene.
 When the stories of their remarkable courage and sacrifice came to the
knowledge of the Indian people at the end of the war, the nation came
under a wave of revolutionary upsurge.
 The British Government could realise that patriotism for Indians was greater
than their service to a foreign power.
 In spite of his principle of violence Subhash Chandra Bose’s grand scheme of
India’s liberation and the high idealism through INA movement inspired the
people of India in an unprecedented manner.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 Mahatma Gandhi
2nd October 2020 was the 151st birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation -
Mahatma Gandhi. The Swachh Bharat Diwas, 2020 was celebrated on the
occasion of Gandhi Jayanti with the distribution of Swachh Puraskar by
the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

 Gandhi was a social reformist and leader of Indian Independence

Movement who introduced the idea of nonviolent resistance called
Satyagrah.

 Birth: 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar (Gujarat)

 Brief Profile: Lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the
leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India.
 Satyagrah: In South Africa (1893-1915), he had successfully fought the racist
regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called satyagraha.

o The idea of satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to
search for truth.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

 o It suggested that if the cause was true, if the struggle was against
injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.
Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win
the battle through nonviolence. This could be done by appealing to the
conscience of the oppressor.
o People – including the oppressors – had to be persuaded to see the
truth, instead of being forced to accept truth through the use of
violence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph.
o The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2nd October, the
birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
o Gandhi Peace Prize is given for social, economic and political
transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
 Return to India: He returned to India from South Africa on 9th January 1915.

o Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to

mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the
development of India.
 Satyagraha Movements in India: Mahatma Gandhi believed that the dharma
of non-violence could unite all Indians.

o In 1916 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to

struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
o In 1917, he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the
Kheda district of Gujarat. Affected by crop failure and a plague
epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and were
demanding that revenue collection be relaxed.
o In 1918, he went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement
amongst cotton mill workers.
o In 1919, he decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the
proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

  The Act gave the government enormous powers to repress political
activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial
for two years.
 On 13th April, 1919 the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took
place. Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the
movement (18th April, 1919).
 Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22): At the Calcutta session of the
Congress in September 1920, he convinced other leaders of the need to start
a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.

o At the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, the Non-

Cooperation programme was adopted.
o In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-
Cooperation Movement after the Chauri-Chaura incident.
 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement: For several years
after the Non-cooperation Movement ended, Mahatma Gandhi focused on
his social reform work.

o In 1930, Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break the salt
law.

 According to this law, the state had a monopoly on the manufacture

and sale of salt.
o The march was over 240 miles, from Gandhi's ashram in Sabarmati to
the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi, where they broke the government
law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea
water to produce salt.
o This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

 In 1931, Gandhi accepted a truce (the Gandhi-Irwin Pact), called off

civil disobedience, and agreed to attend the Second Round Table
Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian
National Congress.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI

  After returning from London, Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil
Disobedience Movement. For over a year, the movement
continued, but by 1934 it lost its momentum.
 Quit India Movement:

o With the outbreak of World War II (1939-45), the nationalist struggle in

India entered its last crucial phase.
o The failure of the mission of Sir Stafford Cripps, a British cabinet
minister who went to India in March 1942 with an offer that Gandhi
found unacceptable, the British equivocation on the transfer of power to
Indian hands, and the encouragement given by high British officials to
conservative and communal forces promoting discord between Muslims
and Hindus impelled Gandhi to demand in the summer of 1942 an
immediate British withdrawal from India—what became known as the
Quit India Movement.
 Social Work:

o He worked for the upliftment of untouchables and gave them a new

name 'Harijan' meaning the children of God.

 In September 1932, B.R. Ambedkar negotiated the Poona Pact with

Mahatma Gandhi.
o His symbol of self-reliance - the spinning wheel - became a popular
symbol of Indian Independence Movement.
o He played a key role in pacifying people and averting the Hindu-Muslim
riots as tensions rose before and during the partition of the country.
 He founded the Hindustani Prachar Sabha in 1942 at Wardha in
Maharashtra. The aim of the organisation was to promote
Hindustani, a link language between Hindi and Urdu.
 Books Written: Hind Swaraj, My Experiments with Truth (Autobiography)
 Death: He was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on 30th January, 1948.
o 30th January is observed as Martyrs' Day.

SIVANATH MAMILLA ,TIRUPATI