Thread by @rkarnad

On the 130th #AmbedkarJayanti, a short thread on a milestone in his life, described as the "Beginning of a New Era" – when he was appointed to the Viceroy's Executive Council at the height of the WW2...

2. In July 1941, to win support for the war-effort, the Viceroy of India agreed to expand his Executive Council, the cabinet in charge of the Central government. He would appoint eight ‘representative Indians’ -- all of course, from the social elite.

3. With his appointments, he had left out the Indian politician most staunchly supportive of the war – and a leader with a mass following – BR Ambedkar of the Independent Labour Party.

4. But the case for Ambedkar was undeniable, and a year later, in July 1942, he joined the rarified ranks of the Viceroy's cabinet, with the labour portfolio.
This headline in the Bombay Sentinel captures the emotion of that moment:

5. This image is from @ROUNDTABLEIND, which has transcribed the Sentinel article in full.

"Never before in our long and chequered history has a member of the Depressed Class held such a high office in the governance of the country."
roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?opti…

6. Ambedkar plunged into his role, and a massive wave of recruitment from the 'Depressed Classes' followed.
At the same time, he clearly announced that his purposes were anything but conservative...

7. In a speech on All India Radio: “If this is a war against the New Nazi Order, it is not a war for the Old Order. It is a war on both the Old Order and the Nazi Order…" (contd)

8. "The only compensation for the cost of this war is the establishment or a New Order in which liberty, equality, and fraternity will not be mere slogans but will become facts of life.”

9. The whole speech, titled 'Why Labour is Determined to Win the War', is an excellent read for understanding the intersections of WW2, the freedom movement, and the social revolution that Ambedkar held even above the goal of mere Independence.

10. Worth quoting at length is his reply to nationalists, ie Congress, on their single priority of achieving self-government.
Speaking for his party, Ambedkar said:

"As to nationalism, Labour’s attitude is quite clear. Labour is not prepared to make a fetish of nationalism..."

Ambedkar: "If nationalism means the worship of the ancient past — the discarding of everything that is not local in origin and colour — then Labour cannot accept nationalism as its creed. Labour cannot allow the living faith of the dead to become the dead faith of the living."

Ambedkar: "Labour will not allow the ever-expanding spirit of man to be strangled by the hand of the past which has no meaning for the present and no hope for the future... Labour must [nsist on] being ever ready to borrow in order to repair... and recreate the body politic..."

Ambedkar: "If nationalism stands in the way of this ... reshaping of life, then Labour must deny nationalism.
Labour’s creed is internationalism. Labour is interested in nationalism only because the wheels of democracy work better in a community united by national sentiments."

"Nationalism to Labour is only a means to an end. It is not an end in itself to which Labour can agree to sacrifice what it regards as the most essential principles of life."

- Ambedkar on AIR in Dec 1942. Vol 10 of his Writing & Speeches, online here: ruralindiaonline.org/bn/library/res…

What went missing in my thread:
During the surge in war-time employment, Ambedkar used his ministry to create new labour protection policy, recognise trade unions, and provided women workers – all before Independence.

roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?opti…