Vol. 7 · pages 11–15

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee, Maharashtra State EDITORIAL BOARD 1S HRI K AMALKISHOR K ADAM .. .. .. P RESIDENT MINISTER F OR E DUCATION 2P ROF. J AVED K HAN .. .. .. V ICE-PRESIDENT EDUCATION M INISTER F OR S TATE 3S HRI R. S. G AVAI .. .. .. V ICE-PRESIDENT 4S HRI D ADASAHEB R UPAVATE .. .. .. E XECUTIVE PRESIDENT 5S HRI B. C. K AMBLE .. .. .. M EMBER 6D R. P. T. B ORALE .. .. .. M EMBER 7S HRI G HANSHYAM T ALVATKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 8S HRI S HANKARRAO K HARAT .. .. .. M EMBER 9S HRIMATI S HANTABAI D ANI .. .. .. M EMBER 10 S HRI W AMAN N IMBALKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 11 S HRI P RAKASH A MBEDKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 12 S HRI R. R. B HOLE .. .. .. M EMBER 13 S HRI S. S. R EGE .. .. .. M EMBER 14 D R. B HALCHANDRA P HADKE .. .. .. M EMBER 15 S HRI D AYA P AWAR .. .. .. M EMBER 16 S HRI L AXMAN M ANE .. .. .. M EMBER 17 P ROF. N. D. P ATIL .. .. .. M EMBER 18 P ROF. M ORESHWAR V ANMALI .. .. .. M EMBER 19 P ROF. J ANARDAN W AGHMARE .. .. .. M EMBER 20 B ARRISTER P. G. P ATIL .. .. .. M EMBER 21 D R. M. P. M ANGUDKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 22 P ROF. G. P. P RADHAN .. .. .. M EMBER 23 S HRI B. M. A MBHAIKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 24 S HRI N. M. K AMBLE .. .. .. M EMBER 25 P ROF. J. C. C HANDURKAR .. .. .. M EMBER 26 S HRI G IRISH K HOBRAGADE .. .. .. M EMBER 27 S ECRETARY, E DUCATION D EPARTMENT .. .. M EMBER 28 D IRECTOR OF E DUCATION .. .. .. M EMBERSECRETARY 29 S HRI V. W. M OON, O.S.D. .. .. .. M EMBER 30 DISCOUNT POLICY ON SALE OF VOLUMES

FOREWORD The seventh volume of the Writings and Speeches of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar contains two of his most memorable contributions to the sociological literature of the modern India, viz. (1) ‘Who were the Shudras?- How they came to be the Fourth Varna in the Indo-Aryan Society;’ and (2) ‘The Untouchables- Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables?’ Both these works have influenced the thinking of the present century which has witnessed emergence of the individual as the autonomous unit in the constitutional jurisprudence of equality and liberty. They mark the inauguration of the age of reason in our history and impress upon us the need to rearrange our social institutions in harmony with the dynamics of technological changes which have made it possible for masses to enjoy freedom. The age of reason was the effect of technologies of freedom and mobility inherent in the Railways, Roads, Telegraphs, mass education movements and greater contacts with the liberal culture of the West. Both the works have a historical orientation and throw a critical light on the problem of the caste as the inhibitory and controlling element in the social organisation and structure. The defect of the Indian social structure was immobility which was institutionalised as the divine dispensation, leading to decay and atrophy. Dr. Ambedkar examines the problem in the light of historical evidence and shows how the caste became the fundamental criterion of social action. The work ‘Who were the Shudras?’ is inscribed to the memory of Mahatma Jotiba Fule whom Dr. Ambedkar esteems “as the greatest Shudra of Modern India who made the lower classes of Hindus conscious of their slavery to the higher classes and who preached the gospel that for India social democracy was more vital than

independence from foreign rule.” The history of India is a tally of events of caste-discrimination preached and practised in the name of God. It is fair to conclude in retrospect that the caste as the institution is the survival of pre-jural society and the early jurisprudence of India like the jurisprudence of many other countries, was sustained by the belief in supernatural agencies which punish transgression of usages and can be assuaged by the magic charms and rituals. It is due to the role of religion in the early laws that the priest became the most potent instrument of the stability and the status quo. In Europe the priest and the supremacy of the Church was challenged by intellectuals but in India the challenge to the priestly class and the tradition came much later when the British Rule for the first time introduced masses to the democratic values which find expression in the Proclamation of 1858 which states: “And it is our further Will that, so far as may be, our subjects of whatever Race or creed, be freely and impartially admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may be qualified by their education, ability and integrity to discharge.” In a society of institutionalised gradation and hierarchy, this was a revolution in ideas and ideals of equality which Dr. Ambedkar has advocated in a spirit of social democracy. The present constitutional mandate for equality is traceable to this accident of history which brought with the British rule the philosophy of social change that whatever may be birth-mark, education would qualify an individual for a public office or employment. This was the first blow to the doctrine of the caste followed by the Railways which made the static society mobile. The caste is replaced by the ethics of classification which must be reasonable. Article 14 of the Constitution prohibits class legislation but does not forbid reasonable classification for the purpose of legislation as held by the Supreme Court in ‘Budhan Vs State of Bihar, 1955– Supreme Court 1045.’ In a sense, ‘Who were the Shudras’ may be said to be an invitation by Dr. Ambedkar to a fresh historical research on this subject to know the reality of human nature which is not harmonious: it has two sides: an aggressive self-assertive side which leads to ignoring the expectations of others in the satisfaction of one’s own expectations and a co-operative social side which leads to working with others in association and groups of all sorts in recognition of common purposes. The individual needs the force of social control to keep these two sides in balance. Undoubtedly, the struggle for existence, the competition in satisfying expectations or desires whenever acute (ii)