Dalit pioneer who stood for equality

IN the mid-20th century, India’s young democracy found one of its most steadfast champions in Jagjivan Ram-affectionately called Babuji. Born on April 5 at Chandwa village, near Arrah, Bihar, into a Dalit family, he attended high school at Arrah Town School, where he got the opportunity to interact with Madan Mohan Malviya. Young Jagjivan Ram confronted caste discrimination early in life. His defiant act of smashing an ‘untouchables’ water pitcher at his school sparked the end of segregated drinking water there — an early sign of his lifelong fight for equality. In the face of hardship, he achieved academic success and was awarded the Birla scholarship to pursue studies at Banaras Hindu University. At BHU, he mobilised members of the Scheduled Castes to stand up against social discrimination. As a Dalit student, he faced humiliation — he was refused meals in the hostel, local barbers declined to cut his hair, and only occasionally would a Dalit barber come for him. These experiences ultimately led him to leave BHU and complete his graduation at Calcutta University. The discrimination he had encountered at BHU pushed him towards atheism. In 1931, he earned a BSc degree from Calcutta University, where he continued to hold conferences highlighting discrimination and took part in Mahatma Gandhi’s anti-untouchability movement.

In 1935, he founded the All India Depressed Classes League, dedicating himself to Dalit emancipation. A year later, he entered electoral politics, joining the Bihar Legislative Council and Assembly and launching a parliamentary career spanning five decades.

As a freedom fighter, he was jailed twice during the Quit India Movement. In 1946, he made history as the youngest minister in Nehru’s interim government, taking office as the Labour Minister and joining the Constituent Assembly.

Following Independence, he became the longest-serving Union minister, holding pivotal portfolios such as Communications, Transport, Railways, Food and Agriculture, Defence and Irrigation between 1947 and 1979. As the defence minister, his leadership proved vital in India’s victory during the 1971 India-Pakistan War. He was key in advancing the modernisation of the armed forces. As the agriculture minister, he drove the Green Revolution.

Ram initially supported PM Indira Gandhi’s declaration of the Emergency in 1975, but parted ways in 1977, forming the Congress for Democracy. He merged it with Janata Party and became the Deputy PM and Defence Minister under Morarji Desai. Later, he founded the Congress (Jagjivan) Party in 1981, and served uninterrupted in the Central Legislature from 1936 to 1986-a 50 year parliamentary record.

He passed away in New Delhi on July 6, 1986, at the age of 78. His cremation in Chandwa became Samta Sthal, an enduring memorial to his quest for equality. The nation honours his birth anniversary each year as Samata Diwas.

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