Sometimes called Babasaheb Ambedkar, or simply Babasaheb. Born into a family that was then called Untouchable, but now called Dalit, he rose to become a prominent political leader, sometimes even called the chief architect of the Indian constitution. He often disagreed with Mahatma Gandhi on fundamental issues of the day (unlike Gandhi he believed in Hindu-Muslim separation, and he rejected Gandhi's term Harijan). His PhD he received officially from Columbia University in 1927, and he also studied in London, with a small scholarship from he Maharaja of Baroda. When back in India he immediately involved himself in anti-caste protests. Turning to Buddhism during the 1950's, he initiated the Dalit Buddhist movement, involving mass conversions to Buddhism (the first one in 1956), which continues to this day. He died two months after his official conversion and was cremated with Buddhist rites. His bitter polemics against Hindu and Muslim religions have continued among some of his followers. A few have recently condemned the Dalai Lama (who for some time was performing mass conversions, but stopped) and some today express antisemitic views and promote holocaust denial (freely expressed nowadays over the internet, in "Dalit Voice" and similar publications, although how truly representative they are for Ambedkar-style Buddhists is in question). As a social liberation movement, it is admirable, yet it has sometimes and in some part gotten entangled in ideas and actions that are problematic in the view of other kinds of Buddhists. There is no doubt that the Buddha was opposed to caste, as can be seen in a number of canonical scriptures. And quite a few western Buddhists, especially those who would call themselves 'engaged Buddhists,' find sources for inspiration in Ambedkar and his movement. Just how modern Buddhism's response to this will play out in the future is entirely open.
Indira Y. Junghare, Dr. Ambedkar: The Hero of the Mahars, Ex-Untouchables of India, Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 47, no. 1 (1988), pp. 93-121.
Gary Michael Tartakov, Art and Identity: The Rise of a New Buddhist Imagery, Art Journal, vol. 49, no. 4 (Winter 1990), pp. 409-416. On art associated with the Ambedkar movement.
Eleanor Zelliot (b. 1926), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Untouchable Movement, Blumoon Books (New Delhi 2004), in 278 pp. Based on the author's doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania (1969).
