ABSTRACT
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was, like Gandhi, an activist-cum-theoretician. A crusader against segregating one section of the population from another, Ambedkar not only provided a powerful critique of Hindu social order by challenging the conventional wisdom in this regard but also redesigned those conceptual parameters that remained critical in our understanding of socio-economic and political processes. It is difficult to take into account all those ideas which Babasaheb deployed to pursue his Dalit-centric politico-ideological goals; although they were Dalit-centric, they, of course, represented an effort towards empowering the socially peripheral and economically marginalized sections of the human collectivity. This chapter focuses on that part of his ideological preferences which are distinctively textured and politically perceptive for an ideological design directed towards human emancipation. Ambedkar's critique of Hindu social order is drawn on his assessment of its functioning. For him, a social order evolves and is maintained for specific objectives.
