A Concept Just Like a Coin Has Two Sides

As India celebrates the 135th birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a man admired and revered across the nation, let’s revisit his social reform movements against the caste system, discrimination, untouchability, and for uplifting the downtrodden. -.

The practice of untouchability was more consistent in Dr Ambedkar’s life, at times more than even their access to basic necessities like water. Throughout his lifetime, Dr Ambedkar, who belonged to the Mahar community, faced untouchability not just once but numerous times, even after achieving what very few can in their lifetime. Yet, to many, he remained an untouchable all his life.

The treatment meted out to Dr Ambedkar and his community by those who considered themselves superior ignited a fire in him to understand the root causes of untouchability and what drives it. He set out on a journey of exploration. Exhausted by personal experiences, Dr Ambedkar turned to books in search of answers and came to the conclusion that untouchability is an inhumane practice.

What Is Untouchability? The Unseen & Unheard Side of It

Untouchability was practiced in India - and is still practiced today - but the bigger issue is not its mere existence, but rather: how many of us truly understand it and its various forms?

As per Collins Dictionary, untouchability is defined as the quality or condition of being an untouchable, ascribed in the Vedic tradition to persons of low caste or to persons excluded from the caste system. In simple words, untouchability is the act of refraining, staying away from, or not engaging with something or someone. It is practiced in both logical and illogical ways, though many fail to acknowledge any logical aspect to it.

Dr Ambedkar and his followers are among those who saw no logic in the practice of untouchability, which is why they sought its complete eradication, efforts for which Dr Ambedkar carried out prominent movement. Yet, untouchability still remains. Why? Because, at its core, it is a practice of distancing oneself from that which one does not believe in, subscribe to, or like. Untouchability is nothing more - and nothing less - than that. And if one reads about what Dr Ambedkar endured as an “untouchable,” one may begin to see it in this light.

Not an Indian or Brahminical Concept, but a Universal One

Many followers and critics alike have concluded that untouchability is an Indian, Brahminical, or Sanatani (Hindu) concept. But if that were true, wouldn’t it exist only within India?

Yet, there are many instances of untouchability being practiced in countries where Brahmins or upper-caste Hindus neither hold power nor, in many cases, even exist.

It was practiced in America by white Americans against Black people in various ways. It was followed during the apartheid regime in South Africa, where whites oppressed indigenous Blacks. It is still followed in Saudi Arabia - a purely Islamic nation - where no non-Muslim, regardless of their piety or character, is allowed to enter Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.

If denial of opportunity or access, despite merit or goodness, is considered untouchability, then what should we say about Saudi Arabia? Is untouchability being practiced there?

Wasn’t it also followed by the British in India, where signs in hotels read, “Indians and dogs not allowed”? If untouchability were truly an Indian, Brahminical, or Sanatani concept, how is it that we find traces of it across the world among people who were and are not Hindus?

Hindus certainly did not invent the concept of refraining or distancing; it existed long before humans even arrived in what we now call India.

Who Follows Untouchability & Who Doesn’t?

Only a person, who has no dislikes, avoids nothing, and accepts everything as it is, can claim not to practice untouchability in any form - because, ultimately, it is a practice of staying away, both logically and illogically. When practiced logically, people call it rationality. When practiced illogically, it’s called untouchability