JYOTIRAO PHULE, DR. B.R. AMBEDKAR AND E.V. RAMASAMY ON CASTE SYSTEM
To challenge the deeply rooted “Brahminical Hegemony,” social reformers like Jyotirao Phule and E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) realized that political change wasn’t enough.
Jyotirao Phule: The “Satyashodhak” Attitude
Phule’s primary target was the Monopoly of Knowledge. He saw that the Brahminical attitude was maintained by keeping the Shudras and Ati-Shudras illiterate.
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- Counter-Narrative (Alternative History): In his book Gulamgiri (Slavery), he reframed Indian history. He argued that the “Aryans” were foreign invaders who established a deceptive religious system to enslave the indigenous people.
- The Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers’ Society): He promoted an attitude of Rationalism. He encouraged people to perform their own rituals without priests, directly challenging the “mediator” role of the Brahmin.
- Dignity of Education: His famous quote highlights the shift in attitude: “Without education, wisdom was lost; without wisdom, morals were lost… all this havoc was caused by the lack of education.”
Periyar: The “Self-Respect” (Suyamariyadhai) Attitude
If Phule focused on truth and education, Periyar focused on Psychological Liberation. He realized that the oppressed had internalized their own “inferiority” as a divine decree.
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- Self-Respect Movement: Periyar argued that “Self-Respect” must come before “Self-Rule” (Independence). His attitude was: Why ask for freedom from the British if you are still a slave to a fellow countryman’s caste?
- Atheism as a Tool: He used a radical, iconoclastic attitude to break the “fear of god” that kept people subservient to Brahminical rituals. He famously said, “He who created God was a fool.”
- Gender Equality: He saw the Brahminical attitude as a dual-oppression system—oppressing both lower castes and women. He advocated for women’s right to divorce and property, viewing the patriarchal family as a “micro-caste” system.
The Impact: Creating a “New Common Sense”
These movements successfully shifted the social “attitude” in several ways:
1. From Charity to Rights: They moved the conversation from “being kind to the poor” to “demanding rights for the oppressed.”
2. Language and Pride: They reclaimed derogatory terms and turned them into symbols of pride (e.g., the term Dalit, meaning “broken,” was later turned into a term of political defiance and identity).
3. Political Mobilization: The “Counter-Hegemony” created by Phule and Periyar laid the groundwork for the later political successes of the Justice Party in the South and the Bahujan movements in the North.
From an ethical standpoint, Phule and Periyar demonstrate that Attitude is a site of struggle. To change a society, you must first change the “mental software” (the Hegemony) that makes oppression seem normal. Their lives show that a “Positive Attitude” in a social sense is not just being “happy,” but having the courage to question the status quo.
DR. B.R. AMBEDKAR ON CASTE SYSTEM
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s fight against the caste system was not just a political struggle, but a psychological and structural crusade to dismantle the ego-defensive and parochial attitudes of Hindu society. He believed that caste was not just a division of labour, but a division of laborers based on an inherited hierarchy.
The Mahad Satyagraha (1927)
This was one of Ambedkar’s first major challenges to the “Knowledge” function of caste (the belief that Dalits were “polluting”).
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- The Act: He led thousands of Dalits to drink water from the Chardar Tank in Mahad, which was reserved for upper castes.
- The Goal: To break the psychological barrier of untouchability and assert the right to public resources. He famously burnt the Manusmriti during this protest to symbolise the rejection of the “mental chains” of caste.
“Annihilation of Caste” (1936)
Ambedkar wrote this undelivered speech to explain that caste cannot be reformed; it must be destroyed.
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- Core Argument: He argued that Hindus observe caste not because they are inhuman, but because they are deeply religious. Therefore, the “Values” (Value-Expressive function) derived from the Shastras had to be uprooted to truly end caste.
On the Nature of Caste
“Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.“
On Social Conscience
“Law and order are the medicine of the body politic and when the body politic falls sick, medicine must be administered.”
On Constitutional Morality
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil which is essentially undemocratic.”
On Freedom and Equality
“Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a much more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.”
The Final Act: Conversion to Buddhism (1956)
Ambedkar eventually realized that the Ego-Defensive barrier of the caste Hindu mind was too rigid to change from within.
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- The Shift: By converting to Buddhism with millions of followers, he sought to give Dalits a new Identity (Value-Expressive function)—one based on Prabuddha (enlightenment), equality, and self-respect, completely outside the caste framework.
Ambedkar warned that if “Social Democracy” did not accompany “Political Democracy,” the results would be catastrophic.
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