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Ambedkar and Jinnah: Same path, different goals

Drizzt

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Ambedkar and Jinnah were not only contemporaries but their views on equality and partnership were more or less same. Then, why does Ambedkar’s caravan continue to march ahead while Jinnah’s has been left behind? Syed Zaigam Murtza looks for an answer

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and Mohammad Ali Jinnah were among the prominent personalities of modern India. However, what Ambedkar accomplished for Dalits, Jinnah never could for the Muslims, despite making strenuous efforts.


Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Dr B. R. Ambedkar
There are many reasons why we should do a comparative study of Jinnah and Ambedkar. Both were contemporaries and both fought for their respective communities. Though discussing Jinnah, especially in a favourable light, is a taboo in independent India, that should not stop us from comparing him with his contemporaries.

Ambedkar was born in Mhow, a small town in today’s Indore district, Madhya Pradesh, on 14 April 1891. He was the 14th and the youngest child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai. His childhood was spent amid great adversities. When he went to school, he carried on his shoulders the cross of both poverty and a Mahar’s untouchability. Among his siblings, Ambedkar was the only one who could clear his school examinations. When he got admission in the Government High School, Elphinstone, Mumbai, he became the first Dalit student of the institution.


Dr B.R. Ambedkar
In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination. Then he joined Mumbai University and became the first Dalit to have been admitted to a college. During his college life, he had to consistently face caste-based humiliation and disdain. Life itself was a struggle. Though he was good at academics, he was never considered equal to the other students. In his school, he had to sit at a distance from others. He was not allowed to even touch the vessels in which drinking water was kept. Only if someone from an upper caste poured the water from a height into his cupped palms, he could quench his thirst. No teacher paid attention to him, none tried to help him. But this reproach, this contempt only made his resolve of leading a good life stronger. That made him empathize with the others whose lot was no different.

Jinnah also didn’t have a happy childhood but it wasn’t as much of a struggle as Ambedkar’s. He was not cursed to face humiliation and social ostracization.

There is no consensus on the date of birth of Jinnah. Some say he was born on 20 October 1875 while others believe he was born on 25 December 1876. Jinnah was the eldest child of Mithibai and Jinnabhai Punja. His father was a prosperous Gujarati businessman. However, he fell on hard times after suffering a huge loss in his business. But Jinnabhai did not allow his financial problems to come in the way of his son’s upbringing. Jinnah was born at Kathiawad in Gujarat and his childhood was spent in Sindh. His father made all possible arrangements for his proper education and tried to give him a congenial atmosphere for growth. He began his education from Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam. Later he moved to Gokuldas Tej Primary School and then to Christian Missionary Society High School, Karachi. After matriculation, he did apprenticeship in Graham’s Shipping and Trading Company. He soon left the British company to study and at the age of 19, was admitted to the bar.


Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Jinnah’s father ensured that he was cocooned from the problems his family was facing. Till his father’s business ran aground, Jinnah did not have to take up any familial responsibilities. Protective parents and a life of relative comfort made Jinnah a sophisticated person given to fine tastes. It is said that once, while he was still a little boy, other children invited him to join them for a game of marbles in the lane where his house was located. Jinnah tried to play for a while but soon got up and after dusting his hands, walked away saying that he was not meant for dust. And he was not.

As children, Ambedkar and Jinnah led vastly different lives, but as destiny would have it, both ended up leading big communities. Muslims and Dalits together formed a large social group in undivided India, though their problems were different. But both the communities felt that they were missing something and both had to face social problems. Both Jinnah and Ambedkar had almost the same views about the Congress. Both believed that given the domination of brahmanical elements in the party, it could not be relied upon for protecting the rights of their communities. Initially, they adopted similar policies and for a short period, they worked in tandem too. But soon they parted ways.

By the time he became a Doctor of Science, Ambedkar had become quite well known in the country. In 1926, he was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council and joined the struggle for equality. In 1927, he decided to launch a mega-movement against untouchability. He led movements to secure the rights of all peoples to public sources of water and for opening the doors of Hindu temples to Untouchables. He was highly critical of the apathy of the mainstream political parties towards elimination of the caste system.

In 1896, Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress. At the time, he was a proponent of educational and legal reforms and of equal opportunities for everyone. He became a member of the Imperial Legislative Council. He lobbied for the enactment of a law to ban child marriages and to improve the laws relating to Muslim Waqf properties. He was also associated with the Sandhurst Committee, which led to the establishment of the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun.

The Muslim League came into existence in 1906. Jinnah maintained a distance from the League – but not for long. Sick and tired of the brahmanical domination in the Congress, he joined the Muslim League in 1913. He chaired the Muslim League’s annual session in Lucknow in 1916. The same year, the Muslim League and the Congress signed the Lucknow Pact, under which they agreed to share a common platform to fight for self-rule. After the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian politics in 1918, Jinnah and the Congress began drifting apart and, in 1920, he resigned from the Congress. In 1923, he was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly from Bombay. As early as 1927, he had begun talking about the future Constitution of independent India and the status of Muslims in it.


Jinnah, Periyar and Ambedkar at a Muslim League session
Jinnah’s concerns were not different from Ambedkar’s. The latter was concerned about the security of the Dalits and their share in the governance and resources once the English departed from the Indian shores. On 8 August 1930, addressing a conference of the exploited classes, he said that the exploited classes would have to seek freedom not only from the British but also from the Congress. “We will have to build our path ourselves. Only political power will not end the problems of the exploited. Their emancipation lies in them securing their due place in society.” Unlike Jinnah, Ambedkar avoided direct confrontation and use of violent means. Ambedkar was much more mature than Jinnah and it was this maturity that led him to signing the Poona Pact with Gandhi on 24 December 1932. The Poona Pact secured reservation for the Dalits in legislative bodies. On the other hand, due to his impatience and insolence, Jinnah could never compromise with anyone.

Ambedkar made Dalits realize that they had a share in the land on which they lived and in the sky under which they slept. This was the biggest achievement of Ambedkar. He called upon Dalits to acquire education, organize themselves and agitate.

Although both Jinnah and Ambedkar were protagonists of the Western model of democracy, they had reservations about the “one person, one vote” system. That kept both of them away from the so-called mainstream. While Ambedkar reconciled himself to the idea of a nation within a nation, Jinnah could never do so.

Ambedkar stood for equality and diversity. He never demanded a separate nation for Dalits. He only wanted to secure their rights. Jinnah had already revolted against his religion and so revolt was no big deal for him. Ambedkar was patient. He was ready to wait; he was ready to secure rights of his community little by little. But Jinnah was impatient; he wanted to get everything in one go.

Ambedkar strongly believed that elimination of capitalism and caste was indispensable for building a strong democracy. Jinnah was also a votary for socialism but he was not against capitalism. Ambedkar advocated social unity, harmony and secularism. Jinnah also talked of social unity and harmony but despite not being religious, he could not give up his advocacy for his religion.

Ambedkar was opposed to the Brahmanism in Hindu religion and believed that religious fanaticism was a danger to the country. Ambedkar saw commonalities between the problems of Dalits and religious minorities and often talked of waging a common struggle. After he failed to change the Hindu religion, he embraced Buddhism. But Jinnah took his opposition to Hinduism to the extreme – to the extent of dividing the nation.

What did Ambedkar and Jinnah achieve? Seventy years after Independence, what is the condition of their followers? The social classes that Ambedkar led still have faith in him and he is their undisputed leader. Ambedkar did not create an independent Dalit nation but he infused enough consciousness into the Dalits to enable them see themselves as a distinct and strong nation within India. No matter how imperfect the system of reservations may be, there is little doubt that it has helped Dalits find their feet. Ambedkar continues to inspire Dalits to fight for their rights. Dalits take pride from the fact that both the reservation system and the Constitution, which has created the system, are the gifts of their leader to them.

On the other hand, the Muslims are divided as far their views on Jinnah are concerned. The country was split into two, and with it the Muslims too. The Muslims in India are also divided into many classes. The exploitation of the Dalits has not ended and their battle for equality continues, but their Constitutional rights and their bargaining power are much more than of the Muslims or other religious minorities. The Muslims, who banked on Jinnah, are nowhere. Jinnah could not make equality even the cornerstone of Pakistan’s Constitution, nor could he ensure equal political space for all in that country. The issues which led him to demand – and secure – a separate country are today the foundation of Pakistan. Like Jinnah, Pakistan too is a victim of inner conflicts.

Jinnah left them to their fate those Muslims who did not pay heed to him. Muslims in India are still battling for their identity. They are today subject to the same disabilities that Ambedkar’s community was subject to in the pre-Independence era. While Ambedkar’s community is throwing off the yoke of social ostracization, lack of education, humiliation and inequality, the community that Jinnah claimed to represent and fight for is increasingly getting sucked into the morass of ostracization, lack of education and unemployment.

Today, we can see that many of Jinnah’s apprehensions were not misplaced. Jinnah saw in the principle of “one person, one vote” the makings of majoritarianism. Gandhi’s belief that with time, the majority community would become more mature and bring all sections of society on a par with itself seems to be proving wrong. The apprehensions of Ambedkar regarding caste conflicts have come true. Destiny had given both Ambedkar and Jinnah the responsibility of securing the rights of their respective communities. However, today, Muslims are going downhill while Ambedkar’s community is trying to touch the sky, even if it is standing on shaky ground.

https://www.forwardpress.in/2017/05/ambedkar-and-jinnah-same-path-different-goals/

@jamahir
 
The OP was a fine read, thank you.

Although both Jinnah and Ambedkar were protagonists of the Western model of democracy, they had reservations about the “one person, one vote” system.

They were right to have reservations. The Western / Anglo model of "democracy" is an illusion of democracy. I have written of this in many places on the forum including here and here.

Ambedkar strongly believed that elimination of capitalism and caste was indispensable for building a strong democracy. Jinnah was also a votary for socialism but he was not against capitalism.

Nice to know that about Ambedkar. So other than he being the law minister he should also have been the home minister instead of the Hindutvadi crook Vallabhbhai Patel. And Jinnah had no time to initiate Socialism in Pakistan because he died right in 1948 and the effects now I write in this post from yesterday. Another tragedy was that the Pakistani establishment which claimed to speak in the name of Jinnah failed because it strongly disrupted the effort of some Pakistani Socialists and Communists who in 1951, only three years after the death of the Socialism-liking Jinnah, made attempt to bring leftist governance to Pakistan. And now the evil minions of Zia ul Haq rule the roost, going against the ideas of Jinnah.

@Bilal. @Areesh @MultaniGuy @Black Vigo @Mujahid Memon @Trango Towers, read above and read the OP. You don't know some ideological things about your country.

@Joe Shearer

While Ambedkar’s community is throwing off the yoke of social ostracization, lack of education, humiliation and inequality, the community that Jinnah claimed to represent and fight for is increasingly getting sucked into the morass of ostracization, lack of education and unemployment.

Sadly not the case in India and Pakistan. From Rohith Vemula's and Payal Tadvi's suicides in 2016 to the Hathras gangrape / murder in 2020 to the fact that upper caste shopkeepers in some areas refusing to take back a biscuit packet touched by a Shudra / Dalit and the person having to buy the biscuits to even Muslims in Kashmir practicing untouchability to our dear prime minister, Pragati Purush of Vishwaguru India, Narendra bhai saying in the book 2009 Karmayog that the Shudras and Dalits clean the gutters and the drains because it gives them "Aadhyatmik anand" ( spiritual bliss ), not because they are being forced to for the last 3000 years... many other things. Ambedkar's community is trying to throw the yoke of social ostracization and inequality but the surrounding society is not allowing them to.
 
The OP was a fine read, thank you.



They were right to have reservations. The Western / Anglo model of "democracy" is an illusion of democracy. I have written of this in many places on the forum including here and here.



Nice to know that about Ambedkar. So other than he being the law minister he should also have been the home minister instead of the Hindutvadi crook Vallabhbhai Patel. And Jinnah had no time to initiate Socialism in Pakistan because he died right in 1948 and the effects now I write in this post from yesterday. Another tragedy was that the Pakistani establishment which claimed to speak in the name of Jinnah failed because it strongly disrupted the effort of some Pakistani Socialists and Communists who in 1951, only three years after the death of the Socialism-liking Jinnah, made attempt to bring leftist governance to Pakistan. And now the evil minions of Zia ul Haq rule the roost, going against the ideas of Jinnah.

@Bilal. @Areesh @MultaniGuy @Black Vigo @Mujahid Memon @Trango Towers, read above and read the OP. You don't know some ideological things about your country.

@Joe Shearer



Sadly not the case in India and Pakistan. From Rohith Vemula's and Payal Tadvi's suicides in 2016 to the Hathras gangrape / murder in 2020 to the fact that upper caste shopkeepers in some areas refusing to take back a biscuit packet touched by a Shudra / Dalit and the person having to buy the biscuits to even Muslims in Kashmir practicing untouchability to our dear prime minister, Pragati Purush of Vishwaguru India, Narendra bhai saying in the book 2009 Karmayog that the Shudras and Dalits clean the gutters and the drains because it gives them "Aadhyatmik anand" ( spiritual bliss ), not because they are being forced to for the last 3000 years... many other things. Ambedkar's community is trying to throw the yoke of social ostracization and inequality but the surrounding society is not allowing them to.
Ahh the expert who is here to teach us all about Pakistan.. kiddo I have travelled extensively in India. Have you been to Pakistan?
 
Ahh the expert who is here to teach us all about Pakistan.. kiddo I have travelled extensively in India. Have you been to Pakistan?

Mamu, you may have been born in Pakistan but doesn't mean you know about the originator's thoughts and discussions ( you won't know the details in the OP ) and you don't know about the work of the progressives there. For example you don't know that had the NATO proxy and Tableeghi dictator Zia ul Haq been overthrown in the 1980s by Pakistani Communists and Socialists he would have been restored to power by the then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who didn't want USSR's influence in South Asia to spread from Afghanistan into Pakistan and then into India where the Indian Communists could have made attempt to gain governance power. I quote from my thread from 2015 :
Rajiv Gandhi regarded Pakistan as 'strategic buffer' against USSR: CIA document

Sep 01, 2015

Washington: Contradicting perceived proximity to the Soviet Union in the Cold War era, India under the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had toyed with the idea of supporting anti-Russian civilian groups in Pakistan if the then Zia regime was thrown out by Moscow, a recent declassified CIA document has claimed.

According to CIA documents of the era, which were recently declassified and posted on the CIA website under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is similar to India's Right to Information Act, Gandhi wanted non-interference from both the United States and the then USSR. "Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi would like both the USSR and the United States to end their involvement in South Asia," noted the 31-page CIA document titled 'The Soviet Presence in Afghanistan: Implications for the Regional Powers and the US'.

While taking note of the historic India-USSR relationship in particular in the defence field, the CIA report of April 1985 noted that India is likely to become increasingly concerned about long-range Soviet intentions in the region and could find itself moving towards confrontation with the Soviets if Pakistan was effectively neutralised.

"New Delhi regards Pakistan as a strategic buffer against the USSR and would oppose Moscow's effort to dominate Pakistan. New Delhi and Moscow would find themselves supporting rival factions within Pakistan," said the report, according to which Moscow had plans to change the regime in Pakistan and extend its influence beyond Afghanistan. In that case, the report said, "The Indians would seek to significantly reduce their dependence on Moscow and reorder their strategic relationship with the USSR, the United States and China if they perceived Soviet ambitions as extending beyond Afghanistan toward the subcontinent."

According to the report, the Soviets tried to heighten India's suspicion about Pakistan's intentions and its security relationship with the US in order to foster Indo-Pakistani tensions and heighten New Delhi’s dependence on Moscow. "In Soviet view, conflict between India and Pakistan would work toward solving Moscow's Afghan problem and would give Moscow opportunities to strengthen its position in South Asia," the report said.

"If (Gen) Zia (Ul Haq) regime were to fall, the Indians might try to prevent Soviet attempt to dominate Pakistan by supporting rival Pakistani political factions, Soviet military moves against an already neutralised Pakistan could even result in military confrontation with India," it added.

Six months later when Gandhi was planning to meet General Zia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, the CIA analyzed that the then Indian Prime Minister, despite his strong public views on Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, was unlikely to push him hard on it. "Gandhi is unlikely to push Zia hard about the Pakistani nuclear program, although he probably will at least mention his continuing concern," noted the top secret CIA document dated October 21, 1985.

"For his part, Zia is also likely to propose ideas on ways to improve the bilateral relationship. He may suggest regular high-level diplomatic talks in addition to the formal Joint Commission sessions that focuses on trade, communications and cultural exchanges," the report said. "Zia may also solicit Gandhi's views on whether as the Pakistanis believe the Soviets are becoming serious about a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan," it said.
What you know in Pakistan are minor day-to-day details, not the influences. You should tell me what you found from your travels in India.
 
Both believed that given the domination of brahmanical elements in the party, it could not be relied upon for protecting the rights of their communities.
Right. The Congress is now a pale ghost. So what changed?

On 8 August 1930, addressing a conference of the exploited classes, he said that the exploited classes would have to seek freedom not only from the British but also from the Congress.
A pardonable error, but an error nevertheless.

Ambedkar was opposed to the Brahmanism in Hindu religion and believed that religious fanaticism was a danger to the country.
The mistake he made was in not seeing the inevitable rise of political movements further to the extreme edge than the mildly right of centre Congress.
 
stop comparing Jinnah to random Indians, who tf is this guy? I don't even know or care to know
Nothing surprising about this attitude.

Serves you right, @jamahir, for introducing this topic into this forum. While it is among the better set of South Asian fora, it is still rather limited in scope. Only a dozen members would have understood the points that OP was making.
 
Nothing surprising about this attitude.

Serves you right, @jamahir, for introducing this topic into this forum. While it is among the better set of South Asian fora, it is still rather limited in scope. Only a dozen members would have understood the points that OP was making.

Infants ! That too very unaware and many a time crass ones. :(

Though I must credit @Drizzt for this educating OP.

A pardonable error, but an error nevertheless.

??

The mistake he made was in not seeing the inevitable rise of political movements further to the extreme edge than the mildly right of centre Congress.

Yes.
 
Mamu, you may have been born in Pakistan but doesn't mean you know about the originator's thoughts and discussions ( you won't know the details in the OP ) and you don't know about the work of the progressives there. For example you don't know that had the NATO proxy and Tableeghi dictator Zia ul Haq been overthrown in the 1980s by Pakistani Communists and Socialists he would have been restored to power by the then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who didn't want USSR's influence in South Asia to spread from Afghanistan into Pakistan and then into India where the Indian Communists could have made attempt to gain governance power. I quote from my thread from 2015 :

What you know in Pakistan are minor day-to-day details, not the influences. You should tell me what you found from your travels in India.
As i said...u know everything without ever leaving your village...we humble illetrate people know nothing. Its a good world you live in
 
Really poor attempt by the author. 🤢
Like Jinnah, seems his hunger for political power is much stronger than the faux concern he shows at the plight of Musalman today. Ambedkar was the polar opposite!
Littered with "Brahminism" only to drive wedge within the Hindus, does he not know the core chunk of BJP votebank is not UC or "Brahmins" but the subalterns?

Why is he concerned at majoritarianism of political discourse? When his whole community votes as a block like fixated brainless zombies!

Jinnah has nothing to do with the plight of Indian Musalman, just like Ambedkar has nothing to do with plight of Dalits in Pakistan!
Muslims have no one but themselves to blame for their plight today, would augur well if they introspect rather than flashing that perennial victim card they are born with as a Musalman!
And if they miss Jinnah so much, they aren't too late to catch the bus even today, good luck!
 
As i said...u know everything without ever leaving your village...we humble illetrate people know nothing. Its a good world you live in

Hazrat Muhammad and Karl Marx also knew many things about human affairs without leaving their villages too. :)
 
Hazrat Muhammad and Karl Marx also knew many things about human affairs without leaving their villages too. :)
Again...prophet Muhammed you know nothing about...from the above statement. What is the distance between makkah and medina? Mecca and Jerusalem.
Stop talking rubbish
 
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