Thread by @sankett0fficial

Lake of Liberation, Mahad Satyagraha

Ninety Three years ago, on March 20, 1927, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar led the Mahad satyagraha for drinking water from the Cavdar tank at Mahad. This was the "foundational struggle" of the dalit movement, a movement for water - and for caste

annihilation. In his statement at the time, Dr. Ambedkar put the movement in the broadest possible context. Why do we fight, he asked. It is not simply for drinking water; drinking the water will not give us very much. It is not even a matter of only of our human rights, though

we fight to establish the right to drink water, but our goal is no less
than that of the French Revolution. This was fought for the reconstruction of society,for the eradication of the old society based on feudal inequality and the establishment of a new society based on liberty,

equality and fraternity. Similarly, we want to end the old inhuman caste society based on inequality and reconstruct the world, reconstruct society on the basis of liberty, equality and fraternity. This is our goal!
And so dalits went to drink the water at Mahad. They were met

with ferocious repression: and attack by caste Hindus followed. The dalits retreated, came back several months later on December 25th for a renewed struggle, and since the collector had given an injunction against any further attempt, Ambedkar decided to honor this and instead

burned the Manusmriti. A fitting climax to the first battle of Dalit Liberation.

It's a story that plays out even today, in many subtle and, more often, utterly crude ways. The law declares equality for all, but in practice, the oppressed face brutal violence when they seek what

is legally decreed. The Bombay
Legislative Council had in 1923 resolved (as per C. K. Bole resolution) that people from all castes could use public amenities, including tanks, maintained by the government. The Mahad municipality too agreed to enforce it, but ran into protests

from the upper castes. To wrest what was being unfairly denied, Dr Ambedkar led the Dalits to drink
from the lake, Leading thousands of Dalits to the Chavdar Lake in Mahad, Raigad district, on March 20, 1927. B.R. Ambedkar struck
a powerful blow against Hindu casteism. Today the

Dalit movement considers the Mahad protest its 'Declaration of Independence'. Even though, after drinking the water from the tank the Dalit community was brutally attacked by the upper-caste leaving physical and financial wounds and damages but drinking the water gave the taste

of freedom to many more. Today we can drink water from any public space but personal spaces still have reserved opinion about equality
and right to water. Various household workers are denied the use of toilets. Some discriminate with the utensils. Some are discriminatory on the

basis of 'hygiene'. With time casteism has taken various new forms and is practiced with new modern rules, still backed with illogical rationale. #MahadSatyagraha

@DrAmbedkarSpoke @LetsReadIndia @panthergy @DalitChef