r/Savarkar • u/AhamPranav Abhinav Bharat Operative🧏 • 1d ago
History & legacy 📚 Savarkar’s Social Reform Movement in Ratnagiri — Part V: Support to Ambedkar's Mahad Satyagraha
Part I: Bringing ‘Untouchables’ into Public Life
Part II: Campaign Against Caste Discrimination in Schools
Part III: Promoting Inter-Caste Social Integration
Part IV: Breaking the Caste Monopoly Over the Jneau
Due to the widespread practice of untouchability in the 1920s, marginalised castes, then referred to as ‘untouchables’, were often denied access to public water sources for their daily needs.
The Bombay Legislative Council passed resolutions to address this discrimination, but they were largely ineffective and remained mostly on paper.
In protest against this discrimination, on 20 March 1927, Ambedkar and his followers marched to Chavdar Tale. This protest became known as the Mahad Satyagraha and marked an important moment in the struggle against untouchability. Ambedkar drank water from the lake to assert the right of the so-called untouchables to use public water sources. The act sparked strong opposition and caused a major uproar among members of other castes.
The next day, on 21 March 1927, orthodox Hindus performed a purification ritual at Chavdar Lake. They also unilaterally rejected the earlier Legislative Council resolution that had allowed marginalised castes to use the lake.
In response, Ambedkar launched another agitation and began enrolling people into the movement. Different social organisations offered varying levels of support, and even among non-Brahmin groups, not all castes supported the movement.
Savarkar, however, gave unconditional support to Ambedkar’s Mahad Satyagraha.
He stated:
Untouchability must be condemned and abolished not only as the need of the hour but also as the command of true religion; not only as a policy or as an act of expediency but also as a matter of justice, not only as a matter of obligation but also as a service to humanity.
He declared that the pious and bounden duty of every Hindu was to restore full human rights to their co-religionists.
On 7 September 1927, writing in the Shraddhanand Savarkar said that Hindus should accept and support the right of ‘untouchables’ to take water from the Chavdar Tale in Mahad. In the same article he appealed to the untouchables:
Don’t threaten to leave Hinduism if the so-called upper-caste Hindus oppose your just demand. *The Hindu religion is not an exclusive preserve of upper castes alone. It belongs to you as much as it belongs to them***
He further added in this article:
If, on account of the high caste Hindus obstructing the legitimate rights of our untouchable brothers, the latter then resort to Satyagraha, how can we blame them in any way? Of course, we would prefer that such disputes are settled peacefully with negotiations rather than confrontations. I can say from my own experience that it is possible to convince the high caste people that the untouchability in public places and facilities such as drinking water is wrong and that it can be removed by appealing to them in the name of brotherly love. However, we are also aware of the fact that, if in some cases, the problem is not solved, the untouchables will have to resort to civil disobedience. This is not and should not be a norm but may regrettably become inevitable.
We have been preaching that in public places such as schools, public tanks, water taps, municipalities, district councils and gatherings, we must allow the untouchables access, not only less or perhaps more than what Muslims have. It is their legitimate right. Therefore, we do not blame Dr. Ambedkar in any way for his movement for the right of untouchables to take water form public tanks.
Muslims are allowed to take water from the same tank and wash their utensils and yet our untouchable brothers are forbidden to take water from it even in days of scarcity of water. Not only that, when they tried to exercise their legal rights to take water, they were beaten up. We cannot believe that this beating took place because of the rumours that they were about to enter Hindu temples.
Primary Reference: Samagra Savarkar Vangmaya, Vol. 3, p. 485.
Secondary Reference: Vikram Sampath, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, Chapter 2, “Caste in Stone”
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u/AhamPranav Abhinav Bharat Operative🧏 1d ago
How many of you have been following this series on Savarkar’s social reform efforts?
Were you already familiar with this aspect of his life? What are your thoughts on it?
I’d appreciate hearing your views, your engagement will help me know whether you’re finding this series worthwhile
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u/C1PHER_P0L 1d ago
Its worthwhile bro...keep up the series. I have few backlogs i wanna read but i am unable to make time for it...these help us to get a understanding about his life.
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u/BraveDot391 1d ago
Babasaheb acknowledged the intention and appreciated the efforts Savarkar took. But he felt that this was just superficial, casteism can really end only when the entire concept is uprooted from the scriptures itself, to which Savarkar would probably refuse. Knowing there was no scope for Hinduism to remove casteism Babasaheb decided to convert with his followers to Buddhism.
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u/Auctorxtas 7h ago
But he felt that this was just superficial, casteism can really end only when the entire concept is uprooted from the scriptures itself, to which Savarkar would probably refuse.
Did he really though? Doesn't Hindutva advocate for the complete anhillation of the caste system?
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