why did Dr BR Ambedkar sarted a periodical called mooknayak
Answers
In India, despite the presence of peculiar social institutions like caste, the role of the newspapers in social reforms movement was not just limited to articulation of specific concerns of individual reformers. But they also laid the foundations of a mass churning that aspired for democratic values.
On January 31, 1920, one hundred years ago, one such newspaper was founded by B.R. Ambedkar.
Mooknayak,literally translates to the leader of voiceless.
Despite its short life, Mooknayak laid the foundations of an assertive and organised Dalit politics. It announced the arrival of a newer generation of anti-caste politics that broke the confines of region, language and political boundaries and coincided with the larger developments on the nationalist scene.
Mooknayak’sestablishment in 1920 reflected the conspicuous shift in the socio-political discourse on caste and untouchability in India. Ambedkar’s newspapers, beginning with Mooknayak, a Marathi fortnightly, helped to inaugurate new politics of assertion that challenged the dominant social diseases.
Unlike his other newspapers, Mooknayak faced several major challenges which include issues of finances and management. The lessons from the Mooknayak experiment not only changed Ambedkar’s perspective towards conducting newspapers but it was an instructive exercise for many forthcoming generations of Ambedkarite activists.