A Critical Examination of Dr. B .R. Ambedkar's Social and Political Ideas
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WOMEN'S EMANCIPATION AND EMPOWERMENT: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF DR. B .R. AMBEDKAR'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IDEAS THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ARTS) By Yasmin DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL 2008 WOMEN'S EMANCIPATION AND EMPOWERMENT: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF DR. B .R. AMBEDKAR'SSOCIALANDPOLITICAL IDEAS ---------·- Yasmm THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OFPHILOSOPHY (ARTS) DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL .2008---- 'fh ?J').D · 5 5 D% 'J I z~ .v STOCKTAKING·2011, Z4 APR Z01D CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled "Women's Emancipation and Empowerment: A Critical Examination of Dr. B .R. Ambedkar's Social and Political Ideas" submitted by Yasmin is the result of the research carried out under our supervision. It embodies the result of her investigation and is an original piece of research work. The thesis has not been submitted for the awara of anY other degree of this or other university earlier . ~·~ . Prof. P,.:)~r Sengupta Prof. Mohd. Yasin Supervisor Co-Supervisor Dept. of Political Science Dept. of Political Science University ofNorth Bengal University of North Bengal Rajaramohunpur, Dist. Darjeeling Rajaramohunpur, Dist. Darjeeling West Bengal- 734013 West Bengal- 734013 PREFACE The Government of India ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as the year of Women's Empowerment, however, over seven years later and two governments of different political party in session, Political empowerment still· remains a distant dream for Indianwomen. Until into the quarter of the twentieth century, the vision on women and their development was limited to traditions and religious interpretations. Political and social leaders did not deviate from age-old understanding that women were nothing but shadows of their men. It was prevailing until Dr. B R Ambedkar argued logically about the redundant domain of perceptions about women. His writings, speeches and address to the women's conferences on many occasions have given very powerful propositions for the rectification of status of women as a whole. However, it is worth noting that the work and contribution relating to women by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Gandhi and other personalities have been sufficiently brought forth in the published literature so far, but social scientists have so far ignored the contributions of Ambedkar on gender issues. The current study is an attempt to fill the gap by understanding and analyzing the ideas, vision and policy prescriptions of Dr. B R Ambedkar towards 'Women Empowerment and Emancipation'. The study is carried out in the realm of his 'Social and Political Ideas' hypothesizing the issue that ideas about 'Women Empowerment and Emancipation' are only a sub-set of his ideas about the society as an overall domain. In order to capture the whole spectrum of the social and political ideas of Dr. B R Ambedkar and to analyse his ideas and vision on Women Empowerment and Emancipation, the current study is organised into six chapters. v Chapter-1 begins with an introduction to the problem statement and derivation of broad objective of the study. It then proceeds to deveJop a theoretical framework for concepts like Women Empowerment and Emancipation. Based on the framework the research questions are formed and a brief literature survey is carried out to examine the extent of available literature and gaps in the context of the research objectives. Finally the chapter concludes with significance of the study, research methodology and plan of study. Chapter-II examines the life and time of Dr. Ambedkar and the influence of various events and people in forming his social and political ideas. Special emphasis has been given to capture the various influences in the process of his education both in India and abroad. Chapter-III deals in detail various concepts of Social and Political Ideas of Dr. Ambedkar. The chapter also analyses his various normative prescriptions for a just society. Chapter-IV focuses on the research objective that is the ideas and vision of Dr. Ambedkar on Women Emancipation and Empowerment that was derived from the domain of his Social and Political Ideas. The chapter concludes with an analysis of his Policy Prescriptions towards empowerment and emancipation of women. The discussion on policy prescription is forwarded to Chapter-V where the discussion focuses on Dr. Ambedkar's effort towards institutionalisation of his policy prescriptions in the context of women emancipation and empowerment. Emphasis is given on analysing two major events: Constitution making and presentation of the Hindu Code Bill where in both cases Dr. Ambedkar played a major role. Chapter-VI analyses the research findings and presents and critical evaluation of his ideas and vision on Women Empowerment and Emancipation. The chapter concludes by stating the limitations of the current study and directions for future research. The finding of the study indicates that Ambedkar can be viewed as a synthesizer of many Indian trends of social and political ideas: Justice, Liberty, Equality and vi casteless-classless society. His life and struggle can be seen as the protest against the caste ridden, highly regimented Hindu society and to him this was the source of all injus~ices, discrimination and social exclusion. His policy prescription for women emancipation and empowerment encompasses two domains: 'Social' and 'Political'. In social domain, he prescribed 'Educate, Organize and Agitate ' as the motto for emancipation and empowerment of women which he had also prescribed for the ·Depressed Classes. He also favoured moral conscience among the people, necessary to build a just social order. In the Political domain, he wanted multi~pronged interventions in terms of 'legal safeguard against exploitation', 'economic rights', 'positive discrimination for underprivileged' and 'legal sanction of new social order based on trii1ityprir1ciple~' ofLiberty, Equality andFraternity . VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have received a great deal of emotional and intellectual support while conducting the study and writing my dissertation. For every person acknowledged here, many others go unmentioned. I am grateful to all ofthem. From the academic perspective, I express my deep sense of gratitude to my Supervisors, Prof. Pradip kr. sengupta and Prof. Md. Yasin of the Department of Political Science for their constant inspiration. They not only provided me with the sufficient inputs for further probing of the subject but also tried to satisfy me with answers to all my questi()l1~·}t'Y!i_S_fuek_I<~~T-Lint~r~st and sustained pressure that forced me to complete the present work and as such the dissertation owes much to them. They instilled in me confidence with the words: 'you can make it!' yes, Sirs, with your help at last, I have made it! Credit, if any for this completion goes to you Sirs. I would like to express my gratitudetoMadam Dr. Srinanda Dasgupta and Madam Dr. Shipra Sengupta whose friendly inspiration and encouragement played an important role in completing my dissertation. I am also thankful to the former Vice-Chancellor, North Bengal University (N. B. U), Prof. P .K Saha for his encouragement and support I would also like to acknowledge the inspiration and encouragement thafT oreceived from all the teachers of the Department of Political Science, N.B.U. I am grateful to Prof. S. De., who wanted me to complete this work as fast as possible. I am also thankful to Prof. Manas Chakraborty, Dept. of Political Science, for his help and kind support. I am particularly grateful to the, Centre of Ambedkar Studies (Department of Philosophy) for I was allowed to use their valuable sources on Dr. Ambedkar. I must mention that Prof. R. N Ghosh, Dean Fact.llt)'of Arts, Commerce and Law, Dr. J.C. Basak and other teachers ofthe same department helped me in a substantial way. Dr. Basak was very much kind to me when hehelped me with his personal collections on Dr. Ambedkar. viii My indebtedness is also due to the staff of several libraries, such as, University Central Library, Seminar library, Dept. of Political Science, Ambedkar Collections at Gaur College, Maida, National library, Kolkata, library of Aligarh Muslim University, Centre of Ambedkar Studies (Department of Philosophy), library of JNU, New Delhi, for making available the needed materials with promptness and care. I am indebted to my parents who have inspired me in the study and to strive for excellence. Without their blessings I would not have completed my work. I am also thankful for the encouragement and support which I got from my brother and sisters. No word will be adequate to express my gratitude to my husband who himself is a brilliant academic per~()f1(llity.Jl1 spite9fl1ish~ayy a<iministrative responsibilities, he tried his best to create an academic environment at home so that I could proceed along with my doctoral assignment. He was not only very supportive and encouraging throughout the period of my study but also helped me in deriving valuable insights during the research. I owe this dissertation to him. At this point, I must mention t:he kin:dpfsupporU received from my daughter who showed the utmost maturity in reconciling herself with the conditions when I could not pay the attention she needed. On the contrary, she showed her eagerness to see that the work is completed within the stipulated period, otherwise 'teachers would scold me'! My blessings are always with you my child! Finally, on successful completion ()f this dissertation, I bow in solemn gratitude to the Almighty. IX TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter No. Page Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1-21 1.1 Introduction: Statement of the Problem I 1.2 Objectives of the Present Study 8 1.3 The Conceptual Framework 8 L4 .Research Questions····· II 1.5 Overview of the Existing Literature 12 1.6 Significance of the present study 18 1.7 Research Methodology 19 1.8 Plan of Study 20 Notes and Refereooe · 21 Chapter II THE LIFE AND TIME OF DR.