» what was the main difference between Gandhi
and Ambedkar regarding social and economic
equality ? [3]
Answers
I explore in this paper some aspects of the relationship between M.K. Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, aspects that have either been ignored or bypassed by commentators and critics dealing with their political thought ways and work ways, especially in a comparative framework focusing on their relationship. Most of these commentators and critics take the empirically manifest external dimensions of these historical personages that are readily available in their writings and recorded political activities. These constitute the facts on which these critics and commentators build the edifice of their own analysis and explanation. In erecting this edifice they do not take into account the internal spring-board of experience, both spiritual and mundane, that constitutes the substratum of the ways of their looking at and doing things. Ignoring this source, they commit the error of what Eric Voegelin calls "phenomenalism."1 In applying the standards of phenomenalism to Gandhi and Ambedkar, they do not realize that their political differences had their roots in their respective worldview to which they were deeply committed and bound and which they articulated in their thinking and action. This is amply reflected in the discussion about the then prevalent question of the social-political conditions of the Untouchables, a question irrevocably put them in two opposed camps. As such, two questions gain relevance in this connection, one related with the proper approach to the relationship between Gandhi and Ambedkar, the other, the question of the true significance of historiography.