1) which periodical was started by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar for the upliftment of untouchables?(1 mark)
Answers
At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for untouchables and other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Shahu of Kolhapur i.e. Shahu IV (1874–1922).
Answer:
1. Born into a poor, low Mahar caste family on April 14, 1891, in Mhow, in the Central Provinces, now Madhya Pradesh, Babasaheb Ambedkar had a tough childhood. His family was treated as untouchables and was subjected to socio-economic discrimination.
2. Hailing from the 'untouchable' caste of Mahars in Maharashtra, Ambedkar was a social outcast in his early days. Even in his school, he was treated as an 'untouchable.'
3. His schoolmates would not eat beside him, his teachers did not touch his copies as he came from a family that was considered 'unclean' by the orthodox Hindus.
4. Later in life, Ambedkar became the spokesperson of the backward classes and castes in India.
5. Much like African-American reformers such as Martin Luther King Jr and Frederick Douglas in the United States, Ambedkar expounded the importance of a social reform that would abolish caste discrimination and the concept of untouchability in India.
6. He also joined hands with Gandhi in the Harijan movement, which protested against the social injustices faced by people belonging to backward castes in India.
7. Babasaheb also pointed out that the principal problem of the Indian society was the perennial fight between Buddhism and Brahmanism.
8. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi were two of the most prominent personalities who protested against the untouchability in India.
9. Gandhi had published three journals to support the underprivileged class, namely Harijan in English, Harijan Bandu in Gujarati and Harijan Sevak in Hindi. This led to the Harijan Movement in India.
10. Gandhi primarily concentrated on the social and economic stability of people belonging to the untouchable groups and reformed the society's outlook towards them.
11. But all went in vain!Unfortunately, even after about 70 years of Independence, India is still trapped under the claws of class and caste discrimination.