Ambedkar’s Renunciation and Re-imagining of Religion: Tracing the Horizon of Religiosity Among the Contemporary Dalit ‘Public’

Ambedkar, throughout his life, worked towards the emancipation of the ‘Scheduled Caste’ from dehumanising Brahminism. His interrogation of caste led him to the structural mechanism that has persisted, with the moral foundation supported by the religion—its texts and traditions. The system is ‘vicious’, ‘pernicious’, ‘degrading’, which ‘deadens, paralyses and cripples the people’, argued Ambedkar. Hence, Ambedkar decided to deconstruct Brahmanic religion and established it as a source of domination over other social groups, especially dalits. His efforts were met with a lot of resistance from the upper caste, forcing him to think of alternative moral principles as a guide. Buddhism came as a handy alternative after its re-interpretation by Ambedkar. It is in this context that my article would like to critically engage with the ‘Dalit Public’ in Uttar Pradesh. After foregrounding the concept of religion by Dr Ambedkar in the first section, I would focus on the nature of religiosity among the ‘Dalit Public’ (the dalit population who are politically aware and fearless in narrating their political struggle to achieve a share in the state’s development project). While doing so, an analysis of the dalit interface with the Hindu religion shall be a necessary step. This will help us to understand how far Ambedkar’s critique of Hinduism has taken curved out among the Scheduled Castes. This will also throw light on the transitional phase, if there is any, within the ‘religiosity’ of the subject of the study.