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What was the name of the movement started in 1927 in Maharashtra, led by Dr. BR Ambedkar to access public resources such as water bodies, temples and schools?
Bombay Peasants Revolt
Kheda Satyagraha
Shahada Movement
Mahad Satyagraha
Mahad Satyagraha
The Mahad Satyagraha, also known as the Chavdar Tale Satyagraha, was launched by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on March 20, 1927, at Mahad in Raigad district, Maharashtra. Its primary objective was to assert the right of untouchables to access and draw water from the public Chavdar lake, marking a seminal protest against social segregation and caste-based discrimination.
The Mahad Satyagraha, also known as the Chavdar Tale Satyagraha, was launched by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on March 20, 1927, at Mahad in Raigad district, Maharashtra. Its primary objective was to assert the right of untouchables to access and draw water from the public Chavdar lake, marking a seminal protest against social segregation and caste-based discrimination.
Article 15 of the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, a provision that aligns with the social equality ideals championed by Ambedkar during the Mahad Satyagraha.
Date: March 20, 1927, at Mahad, Raigad district.
Led by: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to empower the oppressed classes (Dalits).
Objective: To secure legal and social rights to use public resources like the Chavdar water tank.
The movement is historically significant as it also involved the symbolic burning of the Manusmriti on December 25, 1927, to protest against the scriptures that justified caste inequality.
The event is often cited as the beginning of the Dalit movement for dignity and civil rights in India.
Option A (Bombay Peasants Revolt) is historically misattributed; Option B (Kheda Satyagraha) was a 1918 tax protest led by Gandhi; Option C (Shahada) was a later land-rights movement in the 1970s.
D is correct тАФ The Mahad Satyagraha was a pivotal civil rights protest led by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1927 to ensure equal access to public water bodies for the Dalit community.
Relate the Mahad Satyagraha to the 'Poona Pact' (1932) and the 'Round Table Conferences', as these form the essential trajectory of Ambedkar's role in the Indian Freedom Struggle and constitutional development.