Ambedkar's struggle for the emancipation of scheduled caste: The birth and growth of new militant ideology

Abstract

Western India and Maharashtra in particular have had a rich tradition of social reform. Western India social reformers broadly speaking fall into two categories. The moderate, liberal and amelioristic reformers where primary interest was to reform the Hindu family and re-interpret the scriptures in the light of modern exigencies and reason and the militant reformers who attacked the very ideological basis of the Hindu social system and its institutions. The liberal-amelioristic reformers were often Brahmins, men like Ranade, Gokhale, Karve. The militant reformers belonged to the lower castes and their prime concern was to organize the dalits for reform and instil in them a new sense of identity and dignity. Jotirao Phule was the first "shudra" reformer who sought to mobilize the shudras and ati-shudras. After Phule it was only Ambedkar who once again took up the task from where Phule left it.