Ninety-nine years ago, a young Dr B R Ambedkar embarked on a revolutionary and most overdue reformatory path -- he led hundreds of men and women to a water tank in the town of Mahad, western Maharashtra, to fulfil one of the most basic human needs: The right to drink water from the tank.
Key Points
- B R Ambedkar led the landmark 1927 Mahad Satyagraha, asserting the Dalits' right to access public water -- a basic human right denied under caste norms.
- The movement emerged amid India's broader freedom struggle, highlighting that social emancipation from caste oppression was as urgent as independence from British rule.
- The Mahad municipality's progressive 1924 resolution allowed all citizens access to public tanks, but upper caste resistance blocked its implementation.
Ninety-nine years ago, a young Dr B R Ambedkar embarked on a revolutionary and most overdue reformatory path -- he led hundreds of men and women to a water tank in the town of Mahad, western Maharashtra, to fulfil one of the most basic human needs: The right to drink water from the tank.
India in the mid-1920s was a nation brimming with ferment. Mahatma Gandhi (the title Mahatma had already been bestowed upon Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1915, just weeks after his return from South Africa) had fired the nation's imagination with the Non-Cooperation Movement a few years earlier (1919-1922), demanding self-governance for India.
But even as many Indians dreamt of a life not beneath the British yoke, there was another set of Indians planning to throw off far more oppressive shackles -- the chains of caste that bound them with hundreds of restrictions in their day-to-day activities.
None more than the right to draw water from common water bodies, be they wells, lakes, ponds, or rivers.
The Dalits (formerly the untouchables) had a new leader in Ambedkar, then a young lawyer and who had been just appointed the Bombay Presidency Committee.
Ambedkar had already voiced his opinions against the practice of untouchability through his publications.
But he realised that he needed a movement that could galvanise the Dalits into action and capture the attention of the nations.
It was not Ambedkar who chose to launch in his satyagraha in Mahad as much as Mahad town that invited Ambedkar.
In 1924, in a remarkable move that has not received the praise it deserves, the municipal officers of Mahad decided to outlaw untouchability.
Note, these municipal officers belonged to the so-called 'upper' castes, persons who were aware that social discrimination was a curse that had to be vanquished.
The Mahad municipality had passed a resolution that all people could draw water from public tanks built and maintained by the government.
As it often happens, the legal ruling was blocked by the 'upper' castes who prevented Dalits from reaching the water.
The Mahad municipality's top leaders then invited Ambedkar, and his supporters, to drink water from the tank.
On 20 March 1927, Ambedkar and thousands of Dalits marched to the tank and drank water from the tank.
Mahad Satyagraha Triggers Backlash
Reaction came quickly, though the trigger lay elsewhere. The so-called upper castes decided to 'purify' the tank, and did so, using 108 pots of cow dung and cow urine, which were emptied into the tank while mantras were being recited.
After the 'ceremony' was over, the tank was declared fit for consumption by upper castes.
Later that year, the upper caste Hindus claimed the tank was a private property and sought to ban its use by Dalits.
Since the matter became sub judice, there was little that Ambedkar or the Dalits could do until the case was resolved.
That happened in 1937, when the Bombay high court ruled that Dalits have the right to use water from Chowder tank!
The Mahad satyagraha was remarkable because it set the tone for the emancipation of the Dalits, and alongside, of the Adivasis and Shudra communities.
A few years later, Ambedkar would lead the move to enter the Kalaram temple in Nashik, to the utter consternation of the upper castes.
In 1940, on the 14th anniversary of the Mahad satyagraha, the Mahad municipality would honour Ambedkar, and 20 March would henceforth be known as Social Empowerment Day.
Considering that practices restricting Dalits still continue, one wishes this day was better observed across India.
As an aside, Mahad is located just over 50 odd kilometres from Ambedkar's ancestral village, Ambadawe.
A young Bhim, who was born in Mhow, initially had the surname Ambadawekar, which was changed to easier-to-pronounce Ambedkar by one of his teachers (who hailed from the 'upper' caste), who was impressed by his intelligence and diligence.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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