Understanding Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s Idea of Social Democracy and Higher Education through Siddharth College,Bombay

Introduction

Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) was one of the eminent political thinkers and social reformers that India has ever produced. He is popularly known as the ‘pioneer’ for foregrounding and leading the liberation movement of the untouchables. ¹ He dedicated his entire life to the cause of re-constructing Indian society based on liberty, equality, fraternity and moral character. He envisioned establishing a casteless society where every individual could breathe freedom without being branded as oppressors or oppressed.

Throughout his life, Dr B. R. Ambedkar remained deeply interested in political ideas. This is evident from the constitution of his first political party, the Republican Party of India, in which, it was stated that the party would ‘stand for the parliamentary system of government as being the best form of government both in the interest of the public and in the interest of the individual’ and that it would uphold the secular character of the State (Ambedkar, 2003a, p. 152). These components of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s ideology of republicanism reflect his liberal values, which are even more obvious in his deep attachment to the rule of law.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar had a vast knowledge of the major political traditions of his time and had associations with philosophers such as John Dewey, Edwin R. A. Seligman, Edmund Burke and T. H. Green. He was influenced by a wide range of political ideas and different schools of thought, such as pragmatism, socialism, British idealism, German philosophy, classical Greek thoughts and European enlightenment thoughts. His critical engagements with Indian philosophy include the major upanishads and the six systems of philosophy mentioned above. Also, he aligned himself with great philosophers of natural and social change, including Buddha, Heraclitus and Darwin. The impact of these great personalities is evident from his review of Bertrand Russell’s (1918) book, wherein he argued that mere survival in the struggle for existence does not count, but the quality of life one has achieved equally matters (Busi, 2010, p. 3).

He thoroughly explored and followed the teachings of Buddha, including the philosophical schools that claimed to be inheritors of the teachings of Buddha (Rodrigues, 2017, p. 101). He crafted his politics from a unique blend of liberal, conservative, pragmatic and radical traditions (Nathi & Sudarshan, 2018, p. 312) and had adopted a scientific and humanitarian outlook towards his works. His critical temperament and engagement in decoding the asymmetrical functioning of institutions in Indian society were instrumental in developing political concepts like democracy, justice, equality, state and human rights.

Amid this plethora of knowledge, Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s ideas of democracy and higher education constitute an important site for discussion as it continues to be a salient feature in the social transformation of the Dalits. Through the diverse environment of Siddharth College, he intended to democratise a space for Siddharthians with equal opportunity for access to different perspectives and processes for acquiring knowledge and resources and to inculcate practices of fairness, honesty and congeniality.

The article features the college as a site of exploration for Siddharthians, offering an open-ended and continuous learning process for the peaceful co-existence of different interests, cultures, convictions and lifestyles. It envisages the conscious participation of the Siddharthians as an educated class in critical social thinking, experiencing democracy to make democracy.

Methodology

Dr B. R. Ambedkar was a staunch believer in parliamentary democracy (SCM, 1948, p. 9) ² and was of the view that it ceased to work in the absence of the participation of the people of educated public opinion (SCM, 1948). For him, education and democracy are inextricably linked in his thoughts and practice, and therefore, he urged Dalits to educate themselves in the pursuit of self-liberation, agitate to become vigilant participants in democracy and organise to claim democratic rights effectively.

Siddharth College of Arts and Science ³ —the first college under the People’s Education Society, which was founded by Dr B. R. Ambedkar in Bombay (renamed Mumbai since 1995) in 1946, is recognised for its historical importance. However, it has largely remained unexplored as a research site. Therefore, by placing Siddharth College, the article outlines Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s idea of democracy, primarily the importance of social democracy (theory), along with his broader philosophy and ideological underpinnings behind the college (praxis). Right from its name to the nature of the hidden curriculum ⁴ and the ‘public socialisation’ he attempted to designate through the college for the students coming from different social locations in the cosmopolitan population of Bombay.

The article is a part of the author’s on-going PhD thesis and draws largely from secondary literature, including Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Writings and Speeches and other relevant academic literature. It mainly uses data from the annual magazine ⁵ of Siddharth College from the years 1946 to 1981 (35 years). The material was accessed during the author’s fieldwork from February to December 2017, from the library of Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Buddha Bhawan), located in Fort, Mumbai. It deploys document analysis to explore the applicability of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s proposition of democracy in higher education institutions, especially with reference to Siddharth College, Bombay. Document analysis is a qualitative method tool that uses a systematic procedure to analyse documentary evidence(s) and answer specific research questions.

Interpreting the Hindu Social Order

For Dr B. R. Ambedkar, understanding the nature of the institutions of caste and untouchability was essential to recognising the consequences on the excluded groups. While summarising the centrality of Hinduism, Dr B. R. Ambedkar observed that the Hindu social order was formed on the basis of Hindu religious norms deeply rooted in the Hindu chaturvarna (four classes of the caste system). In his seminal work, Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Principles (Ambedkar, 1987, pp. 95–115), he mentioned that equality and human rights did not find any place in the Hindu social order. The social order was based on the hierarchical arrangement of class, or varna, and was locked in the principle of graded inequality that marked some sections, like untouchables, as invisible or not worthy of recognition. It neither puts ‘society at centre’ nor accepts ‘individual at centre’, and thus fails in achieving ‘social utility’ or ‘individual justice’ (Ambedkar, 1987, p. 72).

Thorat & Kumar (2008) argued that the phenomenon of ‘fixation of rights’ in the Hindu social order (p. 4) left no scope for enhancing individual capabilities, choices and inclinations and resulted in social isolation and exclusion of some groups. This, in turn, hindered the establishment of free social order. Dr B. R. Ambedkar recommended two essentials to establish a free social order and argued:

Firstly, the individual is an end in himself and that the main aim of the society is the growth of the individual and the development of his personality. Secondly, the terms of associated life between members of society must be regarded by consideration founded on liberty, equality and fraternity. (Ambedkar, 1987, p. 95)

Adhering to the objective, the article focussed on the ‘denial of equal access to education’ as one of the attributes of the caste system, which was an exclusive and peculiar characteristic in the governing of Hindu society. The concept of education was restricted to the study of the Vedas in schools, and only Brahmins enjoyed the privilege of studying them. The idea of education largely revolved around the Vedas and studying other Hindu scriptures. The state never took any responsibility or interest in opening up educational establishments for the masses.

In the absence of formal educational institutions, the upper castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) managed to transmit the conventional ways of education to their progeny, making reading and writing their right. As a consequence, illiteracy became an inherent part of the destiny of the low castes. Dr B. R. Ambedkar observed that this rigid and justified mechanism was indirect but internal to Hinduism (Thorat & Kumar, 2008, p. 5). Dr B. R. Ambedkar criticised Manu by saying: ‘Manu is the only divine law giver who has denied the common man the right to knowledge’ (Ambedkar, 1987, p. 43).

Extending it further, Dr B. R. Ambedkar viewed that the problems of the excluded groups were two-fold. First was the historical denial and lack of access to education, employment and income earning capital assets. Second issue was persistent discrimination, both in direct and indirect forms. Accordingly, he charted out solutions to address the problems of excluded groups. The first remedy was to dismantle structural inequalities arising out of the historical denial of socio-economic and educational rights embedded in the caste system.

The second remedy was to provide safeguards against the continuing forms of discrimination (Thorat & Kumar, 2008, p. 51). He declared that giving ‘education to those who want to keep up the caste system is not to improve the prospect of democracy in India but to put our democracy in India in greater jeopardy’ (Ambedkar, 2003b, p. 523). The discussion in the following sections of the article reveals the practical intervention of Dr B. R. Ambedkar through the intersection of democracy and education.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s Philosophy of Higher Education

Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s philosophy of education can be understood through his writings, speeches, party manifestos and correspondence. He applied his social philosophy in the field of education and saw it as an instrument to reconstruct Indian society. Firmly believing in the need to educate the lower caste masses and to awaken their conscience against oppressive structures, he earnestly strived to create platforms for the excluded communities. It was intended to achieve socio-economic endosmosis and result in substantive social and economic progress of the society (Ambedkar, 2003b). He used his newspapers ⁶ to spread the idea of education among the depressed classes and delivered a number of speeches to awaken the youth, students, Dalits and women.

As discussed earlier, education was only allowed to the upper caste. The other population in the Varna system was the labouring castes engaged in manual labour. To an extreme, the untouchables were not even in the Varna system, let alone education. Accordingly, he was very mindful in liberating the disadvantaged sections through legal provisions in education and religion (Jenkins, 2014, pp. 71–72). He held high importance to the legal safeguards and ensured the role and responsibility of the state in protecting the disadvantaged groups from the practices of caste discriminations.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar was wary of minorities in post-independent India, and therefore, in March 1947, he prepared a detailed plan of constitutional provisions titled ‘States and Minorities: What are their Rights and How to secure them in the Constitution of Free India’ and submitted it to the Constituent Assembly(Ambedkar, 1979, p. 381). Having realised the value of education through personal transformation, he was fully convinced that education could yield potential benefits for disadvantaged people and connect them to mainstream national development. He believed that it was the duty of the state to provide education to all. As chairman of the Drafting Committee (1946–1949), Dr B. R. Ambedkar prescribed many articles ⁷ in the Indian constitution to ensure educational safeguards for disadvantaged classes of Indian society.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar was confident about the power of higher education in breaking the historically determined relations of domination and subordination. One of his most important messages from his speech during the foundation-laying ceremony of Milind Mahavidyalaya, Aurangabad, in 1950 was:

Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society, I know what is the value of education. The problem of raising the lower order is deemed to be economic. This is a great mistake. The problem of raising the lower order in India is not to feed them, to clothe them, and to make them serve the higher order as is the ancient ideal of this country. The problem of the lower order is to remove from them that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and made them slaves to others, to create in them [a] consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves and for the country, of which they have been cruelly robbed by the existing social order. Nothing can achieve this except the spread of higher education. This in my opinion is the panacea of our social troubles. (Talwatkar, 2002, p. 79) ⁸

Having confronted bitter experiences while pursuing and after completing education, Dr B. R. Ambedkar was very well aware of the challenges the caste society posed to the marginalised, in general, and the untouchables, in particular. The conditions in Hindu caste society were designed in such a way that accessing education for Scheduled Caste students was challenging (Ambedkar, 2003a, p. 426). Thus, Dr B. R. Ambedkar registered the PES on 8 July 1945. His educational philosophy was inherited in Gautam Buddha’s principles of pradnya (knowledge or wisdom), sheela (character) and karuna (compassion) as engraved in the logo of PES.

The primary objective of this society was to advance the educational interests of the lower-middle classes, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes (Shahare, 1987, p. 83). It also included the converted Buddhists among the Scheduled Castes with special facilities and offered scholarships and freeships for higher education (Ambedkar, 2003a, p. 431). Providing special provisions was an approach towards providing equal opportunities to compensate for age-old historical oppressions. His emphasis was on secular education for social emancipation.

Siddharth College of Arts and Science in Bombay was the first that came into existence on 20 June 1946. Being the first college under PES, it desired to promote and cultivate intellectual, moral and social democracy. ⁹ Bombay, with its cosmopolitan social and economic structure, ‘headquarter of the Ambedkarite movement for the education of the Scheduled Castes and as the activities of the PES’ (Chitnis, 1972, p. 1677), proved resourceful and opened up an array of opportunities for the Siddharthians, especially Scheduled Caste students, in the advancement of education and exploring the ideologies of liberation.

The name, vision and ideology of the college are indicative of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s inclination towards Buddha’s philosophy . The college was inaugurated by Sir Chimanlal Setalvad, the former vice chancellor of Bombay University, in the Sunderbai Hall on 20 June 1946 (SCM, 1947, p. i). The first principal of the college, Dr A. B. Gajendragadkar, cited Sir Setalvad’s speech and shared:

The ideals of the college are embodied in the name of Siddharth. It is the name by which Gautama Buddha, the enlightened one is known, and what higher ideals can an educational institution stand for those of Buddha, who showed the world the path of truth and non- violence and service to humanity? To know the truth, and to love it, in thought, word and deed, is the whole business of man. The SC [Siddharth College] stands for the enlightenment of the people, of demos, in these ways of perfection, that there may be true freedom, true democracy. (SCM, 1947, pp. 3–4)

The college marked the beginning of a new era and opened up higher educational opportunities for working class students, in general, and the Scheduled Castes students, in particular, in Bombay. Furthermore, D. G. Jadhav, one of the members of the first Governing Body of PES, portrays it remarkably in the welcome address:

…Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who has not only helped to raise them to the level of other communities but has shown them the path of reliance, through which they are now striving for educational, social, economic and political emancipation. (SCM, 1947, p. 2)

The establishment of Siddharth College was not only a turning point in the social lives of the untouchables but also an epoch-making event in the reconstruction of Indian society. One of the reasons is that the college has been known for its features since its inception. They made the college unique from the rest of the colleges in Bombay in terms of its ideals, disposition and environment. The following section gives a brief account of these features. These features proved instrumental in making it a college of excellence in both—formal curriculum (including academics and sports) and its hidden curriculum.

Unique Features of Siddharth College

Importance of Social Democracy

Dr B. R. Ambedkar was very well aware of the historical roots of his social criticism. He was very keen to press that democracy must have historical roots in India so that the people of India would defend it adequately (Patnaik, 2018, p. 132). He argued that parliamentary democracy can be traced back in Indian history to Gautam Buddha’s time. He negated the view that the idea of democracy was derived from the French model, and proposed that the history and practice of Buddhism was the signpost of Indian democracy. In his remarks to the Constitutional Assembly Debate (CAD) in 1949, he mentioned:

It is not that India did not know Parliament or Parliamentary procedure. A study of the Buddhist Bhikshu Sanghas discloses that not only there were parliaments-for the Sanghas were nothing but Parliaments- but the Sanghas knew and observed all the rulesof Parliamentary procedure known to modern times. They had rules regarding sittingarrangements, rules regarding motions, resolutions, Quorum, Whip, Counting of votes,voting by Ballot, Censure Motion, Regularisation, Res Judicata, etc. Although the rules of Parliamentary Procedure were applied by the Buddha to the meetings of the Bhikshu Sanghas, he must have borrowed them from the rules of the political assemblies functioning in the country in his time. (Ambedkar, 1994, pp. 1214–1215)

A text without a context is like a structure without a base. Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s pragmatic political ideas were derived from a particular historical base and context. He saw the caste system as the biggest hurdle to democracy and took a leading role in institutionalising democratic structures in the extremely hierarchical caste based social fabric of India. Building on the ideas of Walter Bagehot and Abraham Lincoln’s, he attempted to reformulate the idea of democracy and argued (during the Poona speech) that democracy can be seen as a form and method of government whereby revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of people are brought about without bloodshed’ (Ambedkar, 2003b, pp. 475).

Disagreeing with the Leftists and the Liberals (in the Indian context) in their understanding of political democracy as exclusively for political power (Mukherjee, 2009), Dr B. R. Ambedkar charted a middle ground theory of democracy. In his speech in the CAD on 25 November 1949, he strongly recommended ‘to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving social and economic objectives’. While in another speech on democracy in Poona in 1952, he distinctively mentioned that the primary condition for the successful working of democracy was the dissolution of the glaring inequalities in the society (Ambedkar, 2003b, p. 475).

Hence, he placed social democracy over political democracy and advocated for a combination of constitutional state socialism and parliamentary democracy. This was needed to ensure equality and inclusiveness in social and economic organisations and, consequently, parliamentary democracy to be more meaningful for the underprivileged (Thorat & Aryama, 2007, p. 16). His emphasis on social democracy to make political democracy substantive was the result of his own experiences of inequalities coupled with a larger vision of democratic society (Ambedkar, 1994, pp. 1215–1216).

Dr B. R. Ambedkar opined that ‘a democratic form of government presupposes a democratic form of society. The formal framework of democracy is of no value and would indeed be a misfit if there was no social democracy’ (Ambedkar, 1979, p. 222). In a way, he saw social democracy as a way of life informed by the principles and practices of liberty, equality and fraternity (union of trinity) as the broader principles of leading individuals as well as community life (Ambedkar, 1994, p. 1216).

Dr B. R. Ambedkar: A Social Democrat in Spirit and Practice

Dr B. R. Ambedkar was convinced that education could breed and cultivate the noble sentiments of unity, equality, fraternity and patriotism along with moral character among people regardless of their social origins. ‘Recasting educational aims for establishing social democracy’ was the larger underpinnings of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s educational thought and philosophy (Velaskar, 2012, p. 251). Dr B. R. Ambedkar opined that in order to become a democratic society, the ethos and core principles have to be gradually introduced into the customs and cultural surroundings of the society. These objectives can be noticed from the unique features of Siddharth College, which he incorporated as the ‘hidden curriculum’ in the college. In particular, the Egalitarian Attitude of the College, Teachers as Transformers(mostly coming from upper castes), Recognition and Affirmation of Diversity and The College Parliament were among the noted features that closely aligned with democratic principles.

Drawing inspiration from Gautam Buddha and naming the college as ‘Siddharth’ as the first college of PES, Dr B. R. Ambedkar intrigued the teachers and students to follow Buddha’s teachings as the fundamental principle of Buddhism, which was grounded in moral equality. He contemplated:

Buddha stood for social freedom, intellectual freedom, economic freedom and political freedom. He taught equality, equality not between man and man but between man and woman. Buddha’s teachings cover almost every aspect of the social life of the people, his doctrines are modern and his main concern was to ensure salvation to man during hislife on earth and not after his death. (Shahare, 1987, p. 83)

His vision was to bring a social transformation and provide equal opportunity to everybody for self-development (Velaskar, 2012, p. 251). Taking forward the ideals of Buddha and the legacy of Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, he discovered his own social philosophy and mechanism to achieve an egalitarian and democratic society.

The social philosophy of Dr B. R. Ambedkar was twofold. One was to destroy the unjust social order based on graded inequality and hereditary. Second, it is concerned with the liberation of the depressed classes, particularly the untouchables. He believed in the principle of self-help, self-representation and self-elevation and vehemently opposed the ways that perpetuate oppression. The history of injustice can be overturned by awakening the oppressed and creating conditions within which the oppressed take charge of their liberation through his/her own exertion and actions.

Borrowing from John Dewey’s pragmatism, he founded a platform to address Dalit questions through a creative combination of theory and praxis (Zene, 2018, p. 516). For Dewey and Dr B. R. Ambedkar, every individual is a unique entity that unfolds, makes and remakes its world through education and communication. Therefore, he stressed and insisted (primarily) more on the individuals’ participation and association, especially in the realm of higher education.

Another key ingredient was Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s focus on social relationships. In his first essay on political writings, presented before the Southborough Committee, he argued that the absence of social endosmosis is the most pronounced factor between the touchables and untouchables. There was no common plane on which the privileged and the depressed classes could meet and establish any social relations (Ambedkar, 1979, p. XIX). This absence perpetuated and nourished the structural inequalities between the oppressor and the oppressed, which later generated a sense of inferiority complex and slave mentality among the depressed classes, resulting in loss of personality.

Through Siddharth College, Dr B. R. Ambedkar tried to construct a microcosm of an ideal society which is mobile and open to continuous change, sharing different interests through different modes of association without showing any hostility towards each other. The mixing of cultures, opportunities to develop meaningful relationships and exposure to modern knowledge were integral features to enable students to reach/realise their fullest potential. This intermingling of communities was an extension to instil social sensitivity in students and enable a potential social reformer among them to battle against the castes, gender and class inequalities.

In other words, Siddharth College became a space for social and cultural exchange and embarked on a process of social endosmosis through communication and intellectual stimulation. It provided a way not only to educate but also to associate with different cultures and social realities in society and develop a sense of fraternity among fellow beings.

It is indispensable that the idea of social endosmosis was never restricted to students coming from lower rungs of society. It was equally relevant for the upper caste students coming to Siddharth College. The process propelled it to be an essential step in interchanging the facets of the lives of both privileged and unprivileged students in an institutional space. Access to young minds coming from upper castes in Siddharth College to get acquainted with the realities of lower castes (untouchables in particular) and to inculcate a rational outlook that would bring a desired effect on the caste system was seen as a way to erode the discriminatory system (Gokhale, 1980, p. 168).

Through Siddharth College, he saw this ‘hidden curriculum’ as being important in decentralising the educational system as well as the social system, which was an integral part of his nation-building project.

Conclusion

The article explores the interface between Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s ideas of social democracy and higher education pragmatically. It tries to illustrate how the academic and curricular activities of the college were designed to engrain the tenets in achieving democracy in the hierarchical structures of caste, class and gender in the country. It sought to understand the historical process of social change and argued that the inception of a decentralised educational system is requisite for the reformation of democratic society.

As an ‘Alternative Educational Model’ as well as an ‘Emancipatory Educational Project’ as well, Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s praxis manifested a model for recreating a constitutional, democratic, modernist and rationalist society. It provided a framework to understand his ideology towards the state, society and every single individual coming from different spheres. His tone for democracy meant the creation of an egalitarian structural basis and the empowerment of people by participating in the decision making process. His conception was completely people oriented and envisaged the complete abolition of inequality in all spheres. These elements are reflected in the radical and transformative education that he advocated equally for men and women. He used education as an agency against the inequalities enforced by the graded caste system and manoeuvred it for the social metamorphosis of an unequal society.

The Siddharthians’ exposure to different Indian cultures in the cosmopolitan city, as a result of transportation to the ‘mainland-Fort’ of the financial city and access to the college site, provided the opportunity for social interaction across castes, classes and gender backgrounds. At Siddharth College, Dr B. R. Ambedkar wanted the Dalit students to observe the prosperity of the area both as an inspiration and a challenge. This exposure enabled them to be aware of their histories, challenge the existing structures of dominance imposed on them, and re-construct equal and participatory spaces for them. This became a requisite for the upper caste students too. In the entire process, social endosmosis became the vital apparatus in Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s political, social and educational philosophy.

Holistically, Siddharth College was oriented to bring out a new class of young people who would exercise reasoning, have high regard for humanity and keep faith and belief in the philosophy of social equality, justice, fraternity and morality. This was combined with the rational, pragmatic and secular philosophy of Gautam Buddha and John Dewey. The philosophy of the college was not just to liberate students through education but to enable them to pursue a path of awakening by creating consciousness of the significance of self-worth and self-respect for themselves and for the country. This was possible because Dr B. R. Ambedkar could prognosticate and carve different activities and include them in the educational fabric of the institution that resonated with the objective of the People’s Education Society—that is, to promote intellectual, moral and social democracy.