Phule, Gandhi And Ambedkar On Dalit Emancipation And Education As A Panacea For Dalit Empowerment

Abstract

Caste has multiple implications in the socio-economic, cultural and political sphere in India. Though caste has its genesis in Portugal, yet it reached to India through the colonial rule. Jati, instead of caste, is the right word for defining social hierarchies among Indians, notwithstanding among Hindus. Now, caste becomes an Indian reality and affects India’s social political and economic life in myriad ways. Is society responsible for the adoption of caste system in India and how caste system benefits certain sections of Indian society remains the centre of the analysis of this research article. What ways can be suggested for the empowerment of lower and lowest caste people who had been / have been subjected to caste-based discrimination? How the thoughts of greats like Jyotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar remain relevant in terms of thinking of ‘annihilation of caste’, and how these great three invariably emphasize on the role of education in dalit empowerment, remains the epicenter of this research analysis