The Essential Writings of B. R. Ambedkar by Ambedkar B. R. (2004-10-28) Paperback

by B.R. Ambedkar

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) is both the towering symbol of protest against age-old and contemporary forms of exploitation in India and a scholar-sage proposing fair terms of social association. An untouchable himself, he led a resolute and adroit struggle against untouchability and attempted to reformulate the terms of nationalist discourse in India. This selection draws from his major works, speeches, letters and memoranda. These writings span across forty years (1915-1956) and are organised into eleven reminiscences, concepts, methodology, ideology, religion, caste, untouchability, identity, economics, nationalism, constitutionalism and law. The introduction by the editor Valerian Rodrigues provides a glimpse of his momentous life,the framework and content of his writings, and the reasons for his growing stature in India over the years. Every section and excerpts included within it are introduced and endnotes support citations and incomplete references in the excerpts. Suggestions for further readings are offered through a classification of all his writings and speeches and writings on him and his work. The chronology of events anchors the context of the writings. The work is the first of its kind on Ambedkar and is a representative collection of the whole range of issues that engaged his attention. as the most comprehensive compilation on him and his works, this volume is going to be an indispensable reference for concerned students, scholars and activists.

Genres: India, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Indian Literature, Religion

Paperback

First published January 1, 1915

About the author

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 into an “Untouchable” family of modest means. One of India’s most radical thinkers, he transformed the social and political landscape in the struggle against British colonialism. He was a prolific writer who oversaw the drafting of the Indian Constitution and served as India’s first Law Minister. In 1935, he publicly declared that though he was born a Hindu, he would not die as one. Ambedkar eventually embraced Buddhism, a few months before his death in 1956.

Reviews

[Anirudh Acharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The above book is a collection of essays that he wrote, so it is not a book as such but a collection of his articles.

I first started reading about Ambedkar ~2011 from here - http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/wp.... It really explained how Ambedkar was vastly misunderstood in the public space.

And it was then that I started reading his articles. A lot of them are very sensible, and good critiques of both Gandhism and of course Hindutva. Some of the essays that I liked from the collection are -
- Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah
- Caste, class and Democracy
- Buddha and Karl Marx
- Is there a case for Pakistan
- The Hindu Code Bill

On reading his writings one gets the sense that he was probably the more sensible and less emotional sorts from the freedom fighting generation. I feel people should take time out and read atleast a few of his articles.

A special mention for his writing style, though most of his subjects were very complex he writes in a very simple and clear language. Needless to say the reading is very heavy and the essays I have read are over a period of 5 years.

[Vaibhav Tripathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

No offence intended

It may sound like an exaggeration but I believe it to be true that this 572 pages book alone can give a person more knowledge than all the four Vedas combined, in defence of my preposterous claim my arguments are;

1. In the case of the author of this book we know who he was, what's his personality be like, what his motivations were & what his achievements are. Unlike in the case of the said scriptures we don't know anything about the authors. Who they were; Barber, fisherman, farmer, Kingsmen or beggars or people who have lots of time in their hand and don't have to work for their food 🫛

2. This book's writing is fluid, engaging and challenging at the same time that increased my knowledge and skills of reading. In the case of Vedas, authors don't know how to write in a lucid and engaging manner it seems they newly learnt the skills of writing , there are sentences & paragraphs without correlation to each other, and we need laborious amount of work of interpretation to find any meaning in them. 💐

Now the question is why I compared the two totally unrelated set off book/s, I did it for the very intention to commit the sacrilege in honour of the author who defended the right to commit such sacrilege.🕊️ Nowadays people are becoming too sensitive to such simple stuff. ☯️

But I genuinely think so, because this book compiles the best of the writings of Ambedkar from diverse topics, it gives the best taste of what Ambedkar literature has to offer. Then we can read further what we like or dislike. And if we were to read the vast amount of writings and speeches Ambedkar left behind it surely gives more knowledge than all the scriptures combined not just vedas. 💐

[Pranjal Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a collection of essays highlighting Ambedkar’s views on several issues like Untouchability, Hinduism, Marxism, Buddhism etc. As such, this is just an introduction and the main volume of works should be read separately. A good source can be ‘Writings & Speeches of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’ on Mea.gov.in

[readerswords · Rating 5 out of 5]

A careful selection of one of the greatest thinkers of modern India and a messiah of the 'untouchable' castes, the Dalits. It includes his essay 'The Annihilation of Caste' as well as his reply to Mahatma Gandhi's critical review of the essay.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technically, I only read the introduction and a few of the articles. My loan from the library was short. But it gave a good background about Ambedkar.

[Maltesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for all those who think that caste is a fundamental property of human identification

[Ravikant Dipake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book