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{{short description|Satyagraha of water led by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar}}
[[File:Ambedkar 1991 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|300px|[[B. R. Ambedkar]] and Mahad Satyagraha on an Indian 1991 stamp]]
'''Mahad Satyagraha''' or '''Chavdar Tale Satyagraha''' was a [[satyagraha]] led by [[B. R. Ambedkar]] on 20 March 1927 to allow [[untouchable (social system)|untouchable]]s to use water in a public tank in [[Mahad]] (currently in [[Raigad district]]), [[Maharashtra]], India.<ref name="pib">{{cite press release | url=http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rmar2003/20032003/r200320038.html | title=March 20 observed as social empowerment day to commemorate Mahad Satyagrah by Dr. Ambedkar | publisher=[[Press Information Bureau]] | date=20 March 2003 | access-date=31 March 2014}}</ref> The day (20 March) is observed as Social Empowerment day in India.<ref name="pib" />

== Background ==
[[File:Bronze sculpture depicting Mahad water moment by B R Ambedkar.png|thumb|Bronze sculpture depicting Mahad movement by B. R. Ambedkar]]
By the [[Caste system in India|Indian caste system]], untouchables ([[Dalits]]) were segregated from the other Hindu castes. They were banned from using water bodies and roads which were used by other Hindu castes. In August 1923, [[Bombay Legislative Council]] passed a resolution that people from the depressed classes should be allowed to use places which were built and maintained by the government.<ref name="Sangharakshita2006">{{cite book|author=Sangharakshita|title=Ambedkar and Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-b2EzNRxQIC&pg=PA53|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-3023-3|pages=53–55}}</ref> In January 1924, [[Mahad]] which was part of the [[Bombay Province]] passed the resolution in its municipal council to enforce the act. But it was failed to implement because of the protest from the savarna Hindus.

== Satyagraha ==
[[File:Flyer published before Mahad Satyagraha in 1927.png|thumb|Flyer published before Mahad Satyagraha in 1927]]

In 1927, Ambedkar decided to launch a satyagraha ([[nonviolent resistance]]) to assert their rights to use water in the public places.

Mahad, a town in Konkan, was selected for the event because it had a nucleus of support from 'caste hindus'.
These included A.V.Chitre, an activist from the Marathi [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]] (CKP) community; [[G.N.Sahasrabudhe]], a [[Chitpawan Brahmin]] of the Social Service League and [[Surendranath Tipnis]], a [[CKP]] who was president of the Mahad municipality.<ref name="omvedt">{{cite book | title =Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India|last1=Omvedt|first1=Gail|page=138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leuICwAAQBAJ&dq=tipnis+ambedkar&pg=PT138|isbn=9788132119838|date=1994-01-30}}</ref>

[[Surendranath Tipnis]], the president of the Mahad municipality declared its public spaces open to untouchables and invited Ambedkar to hold a meeting at Mahad in 1927.<ref name="chatterjee11">{{cite book|last1=Chatterjee|first1=N.|title=The Making of Indian Secularism: Empire, Law and Christianity, 1830-1960|date=2011|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCOGDAAAQBAJ&dq=tipnis+invited+ambedkar&pg=PA66|isbn=9780230298088}}</ref> After the meeting, they proceeded to the 'Chowder tank'.<ref name="DeShastree1996" /> Ambedkar drank water from the tank and thousands of untouchables followed him.<ref name="DeShastree1996">{{cite book|author1=Ranjit Kumar De|author2=Uttara Shastree|title=Religious Converts in India: Socio-political Study of Neo-Buddhists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYInC70BSEgC&pg=PA10|year=1996|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-629-3|page=10}}</ref><ref name ="chatterjee11" />

Ambedkar also made a statement addressing the Dalit women during the Satyagraha. He asked them to abandon all old customs that provided recognizable markers of untouchability and asked them to wear saris like high caste women. Before that time, the Dalit women were not allowed to drape saris completely. Immediately after Ambedkar's speech at Mahad, the dalit women readily decided to drape their saris like the higher caste women. 'Radical' upper caste women namely Lakshmibai Tipnis and Indirabia Chitre helped the Dalit women dress like 'upper caste women' by covering the legs of the dalit women down to their ankles.<ref>{{cite book|author=Shailaja Paik|title=Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOsABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|pages=168, 169|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317673316}}</ref>

A riot broke out following a rumour that Ambedkar and his followers were planning to enter a Hindu temple in the town. And the caste Hindu argued that untouchables polluted the tank by taking water from it. To purify the tank cow-urine and cow-dung were used. 108 pots containing a mixture of these products were emptied into the tank while Brahmins recited mantras. The tank was then declared fit for upper caste hindu consumption.<ref name="Sangharakshita2006" />

Ambedkar decided to hold the second conference in Mahad on 26–27 December 1927. But caste Hindus filed a case against him that tank as a private property.<ref name="Chitkara2002">{{cite book|author=Madan Gopal Chitkara|title=Dr. Ambedkar and Social Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riTiTry4U3EC&pg=PA3|date=1 January 2002|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-352-0|page=3}}</ref> He was not able to continue his satyagraha as the case was [[sub judice]].

On 25 December (''[[Manusmriti Dahan Din]]''), Shastrabuddhe under the guidance of Ambedkar, burnt ''[[Manusmriti]]'', a Hindu law book, as a protest. In December 1937, the [[Bombay High Court]] ruled that untouchables have the right to use water from the tank.<ref name="Jadhav2005">{{cite book|author=K.N Jadhav|title=Dr. Ambedkar and the Significance of His Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o3rZNud9oIC&pg=PA24|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-329-8|page=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Shailaja Paik|title=Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOsABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165|pages=165|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317673316}}</ref>

Struggle to access water by Dalit still continues. Access to water is still denied to Dalits at many places and are beaten or killed many times if they try to drink water from the forbidden places.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/dalit-boy-not-allowed-water-from-school-hand-pump-drowns-while-drinking-from-well/story-9KLdKKDT9BazWAPy56ZxDP.html|title=Dalit boy denied water from hand pump, drowns while drinking from well|date=2016-03-09|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=2018-11-14|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/india/dalit-girl-attacked-by-priest-in-uttar-pradesh-for-trying-to-draw-water-from-temple-well-2946630.html|title=Dalit girl attacked by priest in Uttar Pradesh for trying to draw water from temple well - Firstpost|website=www.firstpost.com|access-date=2018-11-14}}</ref>

On 19 March 1940, Dr. Ambedkar arranged a rally and public conference in Mahad to recollect 14th Mahad Satyagraha Day as "Empowerment Day". On this day, [[:mr:%E0%A4%85%E0%A5%85%E0%A4%A1 %E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%9F %E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%81 %E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80 %E0%A4%96%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87#|Adv. Vishnu Narhari Khodke]], as President of Mahad Municipal Corporation, arranged a function and honoured Dr. Ambedkar with a Letter of Honour (मानपत्र) for his "Chavdar tale Satyagraha" and "Manusmruti Dahan" and other movements in Mahad.<ref>{{cite book|title=dr.ambedkars writings and speeches volume 18 part 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ReZatF2yzR0C&q=%E0%A4%96%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87|page=337|last1 = Ambedkar|first1 = Bhimrao Ramji|year = 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Manusmriti Dahan Din]]
*[[Poona Pact]]
*[[Dalit Buddhist movement]]
*[[Selma to Montgomery marches]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Social movements in India]]
[[Category:B. R. Ambedkar]]
[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Dalit history]]
[[Category:Anti-caste movements]]
[[Category:1927 in India]]

Mahad Satyagraha - Revision history

->Citation bot at 03:55, 12 December 2021