The following text appeared in Marathi in Bahishkrit Bharat, a newspaper started by Dr. Ambedkar on 15 July 1927. Harishchandra Sukhdeve from Nagpur translated it into English 

The narrow goal for women’s empowerment is no less than cruelty. – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

There is a general belief among Hindus that a woman is some kind of a thing of luxury for men. And, it is taken for granted that women should behave as per the wishes of men. 

A lot of money and love is showered in adorning women’s bodies with clothes and ornaments as if to decorate this thing of luxury, called woman. But she has none of the rights as a human being in the Hindu religion. Neither she has any rights in the property to take care of her own body, nor any right to education to cultivate and nourish her mind! Those very Hindu people who boasted to Christians that their Shastras acknowledge the presence of Atman in cows, wouldn’t acknowledge the same in their women; though they agreed that women too have souls! Now, of course, they do have started realizing it. 

But it’s not for any noble objective. They merely want that the Women should preserve the family culture; for which they bestow a lofty title of ‘Grihalakshmi’ (Goddess of the house) on married women! The women shouldn’t dare to transgress their limits. This very limit has been set before themselves even by the reformers striving for women’s empowerment. 

I am of the opinion that setting such a narrow goal for women’s empowerment is no less than cruelty. Once we have accepted the principle of equal opportunity for all for their emancipation, it is surprising that women are confined to a narrow obscure goal of being a Goddess of the house!  An English philosopher rightly said that it is not a crime not to achieve a goal, but it is a great crime to keep a low goal in mind. Considering this, the advice given by Sir Shankar Nair to the students of Hindi Mahila-Peetha in Pune at their graduation ceremony on 17th June, (1927) is very significant. An important part of Sir Shankar Nair’s advice was that our Hindi women too, like their counterparts in America, China, Turkey, Russia, and other countries, should fight for freedom and to get equal rights with men. Some people might think that considering the turmoil going on in these countries about the struggle of women for equal rights with men, it will not be prudent to follow them as it is. In their opinion, when there are clearly visible bad effects of the competition for jobs and businesses among men and women in those countries, it wouldn’t be prudent to initiate that kind of movement in our country also. In my opinion, there is no substance in these arguments. Everywhere there is stiff competition between men and men. That is the case also in India.

I strongly believe that the idea of Varnashram Dharma (Chaturvarna among Hindus) has come into existence to quell any such competition. The Varnashram Dharma makes four airtight graded compartments of the society consisting of Brahmins at the top, Kshatriyas below them, Vaishya below the above two, and Shudras at the lowest one. There is another fifth layer of AtiShudras who are not part of the society and yet slaves of them all.

Kshatriyas should not aspire to occupy the position of Brahmins and overpower them. Vaishyas and Shudras should not aspire to be Kshatriyas thereby creating a conflict with them. And, AtiShudras should be contented with whatever is thrown at them. No one should displace others; each one must stay firmly settled in his position; that is the main objective of the Varnashram Dharma.

But nowadays, these caste-based monopoly of certain types has evaporated. The Brahmins are competing with Shudras in selling shoes and bones. [The Shudras are supposed to engage in dirty professions of skinning the animals and collecting bones.] Kshatriyas too crossing their limits to compete with Brahmins to acquire the priesthood. Even, the Shudras & Ati-Shudras too are leaving their dirty professions to become Professors, Doctors, Lawyers, etc. thereby snatching the lucrative bread & butter from the three Varnas lying above them! 

This conflict is going on among the men, actually, it has assumed serious proportions in some areas. Still, I have not heard anybody giving any sane advice to stop that competition and not to aspire to be equal to others in higher positions. If this conflict of competition between man and man is not wrong and not desirable, what’s wrong if another front of women joins in the competition? Why should anybody think that if such a third front of women join in, the nation will be doomed? If anything, with such a competition, a right person, man or woman, will occupy the right position and the nation will attain glory!

Another important aspect raised by Sir Shankar Nair is about women’s education. He said that the number of separate schools and colleges is getting reduced in Europe, America, Russia, China, and in many other countries; therefore, there need not be such separate schools and colleges in India also. Women’s education should be together with men. Fundamentalists having belief in Puranas argue that the girls and boys shall study separately after the age of 7 years so as to preserve a woman’s chastity and man’s morality. They argue that hormonal changes in the human body take place after 7 years of age mandating such separation. It appears very strange at least to me!      

A man put kept in complete isolation say in the Himalayas may remain celibate, likewise a woman too will stay chaste. But their such morality is of no value! True morality can be displayed only when a man can keep himself under control even while in the company of women, and a woman takes care not to lure or be lured by men even while working with men. Only such people can be said to be ethical. If separation of women from men improves morality in society, that should have been visible at least in the Muslim men. The gosha system in Muslims mandates that women are confined to a nook. It makes it difficult for even a mother to see his son or for a sister to see her brother’s face! Has it improved morality in their society? The situation is quite contrary! It is common knowledge that Muslims as compared to Hindus are more disrespectful about women folk. If we go into details, we will find that Muslims, men, and women, have hardly any free interaction as compared to Hindu folk. Had there been greater interaction among Muslim men and women, their feelings would not have been of disrespect and meanness. Wherever there is lack of free and healthy interaction of men and women, the men become mean and contemptuous towards women. That is a natural outcome! Because, we tend to aggressively acquire whatever that is rare, out of reach and uncommon. It’s a human tendency that hardly anybody can overcome. On the contrary, if the same thing is of every day routine, we will not be anxious to possess it. If the morality of people is to be improved, it’s better that there is more and more interaction among men and women. Keeping them separate will not douse the fire of immortality, rather it will only explode it. In view of this, the advice given by Sir Shankar Nair for co-education of boys and girls is conducive to building morality in society. 

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[Words of Caution ⚠: The comments on the Muslim community are to be seen in totality. These should not be used out of context to stoke flames of hate or to discredit any community. This article was written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in his newspaper ‘Bahishkrit Bharat’ in 1927 in response to opposition to co-education for women by the ‘pundits’ from Pune. It was the early period of Dr. Ambedkar’s lifelong movement for upliftment of depressed classes, women included. This article displays his commitment to women’s rights since the very beginning of his struggle for equal human rights. His, this vision later is clearly visible in the Constitution of India and culminated in his presenting the Hindu Code Bill. However, the new National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) approved by the Union Government proposes to reduce the status of women into ‘Grihalakshmi’ yet again. Considering its “ghetto” like environment through Special Education Zones (SEZ) and stress on liberal arts till graduation, focusing on women education within URGs will result in promoting obscurity rather than empowerment. This is important in the light of policy’s overall focus on family-oriented Indian values which are basically patriarchal in nature. – Harishchandra Sukhdeve]