{"id":3493,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/dalit-perspective-on-the-national-movement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:45:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T07:15:29","slug":"dalit-perspective-on-the-national-movement","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/dalit-perspective-on-the-national-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Dalit perspective on the national movement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"n-wrap\">\n<div class=\"n-shell\">\n<div class=\"n-crumb\"><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/\">PSIR Notes<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/#i-b\">I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><span>Dalit perspective on the national movement<\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"n-head\">\n<div class=\"n-eyebrow\">Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"n-title\">Dalit perspective on the national movement<\/h1>\n<div class=\"n-syl\"><b>Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 1<\/b> \u2014 Indian Nationalism : (a) Political Strategies of India\u2019s Freedom Struggle : Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and Revolutionary Movements, Peasant and Workers Movements. (b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement; Liberal, Socialist and Marxist; Radical Humanist and Dalit.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"n-grid\">\n  <main class=\"n-body\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"dalit-perspective-dalit-struggle\">Dalit Perspective &amp; Dalit Struggle<\/h3>\n<h4 id=\"17-1-social-reformers-movements\">17.1 Social Reformers &amp; Movements<\/h4>\n<p>Dalit and anti-caste movements challenged the <span class=\"n-term\">social limits<\/span> of mainstream nationalism.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Key figures:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Jyotirao Phule \u00b7 Narayana Guru<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Dr. B.R. Ambedkar<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">E.V. Ramasamy Periyar \u00b7 Shahu Maharaj<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Key movements:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Satyashodhak Samaj \u00b7 Self-Respect Movement<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Ad-Dharm (Punjab, 1926) \u00b7 Mahar (Maharashtra)<\/li>\n<li>Namasudra (Bengal) \u00b7 Adi-Dravida (Tamil Nadu)<\/li>\n<li>Adi-Andhra \u00b7 Adi-Karnataka \u00b7 Adi-Hindu (UP)<\/li>\n<li>Pulaya &amp; Cheruman mobilisation (Kerala)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;One caste, one religion, one god for mankind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Narayana Guru<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Jyotirao Phule<\/span>: attacked Brahmanical domination; held that lower castes were the original inhabitants enslaved by Aryans.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;British Raj is better that Peshwa Raj.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Jyotirao Phule (on equality before law)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4 id=\"17-2-dr-b-r-ambedkar-dalit-nationalism\">17.2 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar &amp; Dalit Nationalism<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Ambedkar<\/span>\u2019s nationalism centres on: Liberty \u00b7 Equality \u00b7 Fraternity \u00b7 Dignity \u00b7 Representation \u00b7 Annihilation of caste<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;If Tilak was born as untouchable he would have demanded annihilation of caste as his birth right.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Dr. B.R. Ambedkar<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In <em>Pakistan or the Partition of India<\/em>, he defines nationalism as <span class=\"n-term\">consciousness of kind<\/span> and awareness of the tie of kinship.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">AMBEDKAR\u2019S FORMULATION<\/span> \u2014 Nationalism is negation of casteism, communism, and is rooted in humanism.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A country cannot be free if its people remain <span class=\"n-term\">socially enslaved<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Political democracy without social democracy<\/span> creates contradiction.<\/li>\n<li>No nation can exist without <span class=\"n-term\">fraternity<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li>Dalits need <span class=\"n-term\">independent political representation<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;We are not going to get anything unless we have our own men in the legislatures.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Dr. B.R. Ambedkar<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4 id=\"17-3-critique-of-the-indian-national-congress\">17.3 Critique of the Indian National Congress<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Congress was <span class=\"n-term\">upper-caste dominated<\/span>; political independence overshadowed caste annihilation.<\/li>\n<li>Social reform stayed secondary; <span class=\"n-term\">separate electorates<\/span> opposed by Gandhi; the <span class=\"n-term\">Poona Pact<\/span> forced compromise.<\/li>\n<li>Congress did not fully back the <span class=\"n-term\">Mahad Satyagraha<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Ambedkar<\/span> charged Congress with being a <span class=\"n-term\">&#8220;Brahmin-Baniya&#8221;<\/span> party.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">K.N. Panikkar<\/span> \u2014 the movement\u2019s limit lay in the <span class=\"n-term\">disjunction<\/span> between political and social-cultural struggle.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">T.K. Oommen<\/span> \u2014 Dalit deprivation arose from low ritual status, poverty and powerlessness.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Arundhati Roy<\/span> \u2014 Gandhi\u2019s non-participation in Mahad deepened Ambedkar\u2019s disenchantment.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">S.N. Gaikwad<\/span> \u2014 Ambedkar was rejecting elite hegemony, <span class=\"n-em\">not<\/span> nationalism.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Arun Shourie<\/span> read Ambedkar as anti-national \u2014 a reading Dalit scholarship rejects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 id=\"17-4-contribution-to-egalitarianism\">17.4 Contribution to Egalitarianism<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Through:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Anti-caste critique; equal access to public facilities<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Mahad Satyagraha, 1927<\/span>; temple-entry movements<\/li>\n<li>Political safeguards; separate-electorate demand<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Scheduled Castes Federation<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Independent Labour Party, 1936<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Constitutional impact:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\"><span class=\"n-law\">Article 17<\/span><\/span> \u2014 abolition of untouchability<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\"><span class=\"n-law\">Articles 15<\/span> &amp; 16<\/span> \u2014 against discrimination<\/li>\n<li>Reservations; political representation<\/li>\n<li>Affirmative action; social justice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;\u2026the Dalit movement and the overall radical anti-caste movements were a crucial expression of the democratic revolution in India, more consistently democratic \u2014 and in the end more consistently &#8220;nationalistic&#8221; \u2014 than the elite controlled Indian National Congress.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Gail Omvedt<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Valerian Rodrigues<\/span> \u2014 Dalit-Bahujan thinkers saw the nation as a <span class=\"n-term\">good society<\/span> built on mutual respect, rights and solidarity.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Kancha Ilaiah<\/span> \u2014 Dalit movements made <span class=\"n-term\">dignity and participation<\/span> central to nation-building.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Bahishkrit Bharat<\/span> (ostracised India \u00b7 exclusion \u00b7 humiliation) \u2192 <em>annihilation of caste \u00b7 fraternity \u00b7 representation<\/em> \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">Prabuddha Bharat<\/span> (enlightened India \u00b7 equality \u00b7 fraternity). <em>Ambedkar\u2019s social arc \u2014 from excluded India to enlightened India.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"17-5-assessment\">17.5 Assessment<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">THE CORE CLAIM<\/span> \u2014 The Dalit perspective is <span class=\"n-em\">not<\/span> anti-national. It asks: freedom for whom? \u00b7 a nation on what social basis? \u00b7 can a caste society become a fraternity? \u00b7 can political Swaraj exist without social equality?<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2019 \u00b7 10m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2024 \u00b7 20m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2025 \u00b7 10m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"n-next\"><a href=\"\/psir\/notes\/radical-humanist-perspective-on-the-national-movement\/\"><em>Previous<\/em><b>Radical Humanist perspective on the national movement<\/b><\/a><span><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"n-rail\">\n<h4>On this page<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"#dalit-perspective-dalit-struggle\">Dalit Perspective &amp; Dalit Struggle<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dalit perspective on the national movement for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a Dalit perspective on the national movement Paper I \u00b7 India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"fx_note_key":"I-B.1.9","fx_note_sec":"I-B","fx_note_point":"1","fx_note_desc":"Dalit perspective on the national movement for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a Dalit perspective on the national movement Paper I \u00b7 India","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3493","psir_note","type-psir_note","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_note"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5206,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3493\/revisions\/5206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}