Dr. Ambedkar started his legal practice in Bombay High Court in July, 1923. The caste factor again proved a road block. The solicitors didn’t extend their co-operation to him.
As a result he was forced to take up the cases of the lower courts to stay afloat.
His big break came when some Brahmins of Poona filed a defamation case against three lower caste writers, Bagde, Jedhe and Jawalkar. The three had written a book titled ‘Enemies of Country’ in which they had charged that Brahmins were causing the downfall of the country by spreading the practices of untouchability, social evils, customs and by dividing the Hindu society through casteism and bigotry. All that Brahmins preached as religion was a big farce and a fraud. For Brahmins lower castes were no human beings, they had written.
The writers approached Dr. Ambedkar and asked him to be their defence lawyer. They made it clear that they had not much money to pay as fee. The issue was Dr. Ambedkar’s own cause. So, he agreed to defend the writers at nominal fee.
In the Sessions Court, he forcefully argued in defence of what the writers had written. He had no difficulty is demolishing the case of the Poona Brahmins. Any one just had to look out of his house to see the damage done to Hindu society by Brahmins. The reformist movements had already exposed the game of Brahmins. Dr. Ambedkar proved that the writer had written no falsehood. Infact they merely told the truths and the facts.
The court dismissed the petition of Poona Brahmins in October, 1926.
This case proved watershed in the life of Dr. Ambedkar. It projected him as the leader who could lead the untouchables in their fight for the human rights. He became a hero of the untouchable classes overnight.
On 19th and 20th March 1926, a big meeting was held in Colaba to honour Dr. Ambedkar and to get him on the public stage. Tens of thousands of the people of the oppressed classes poured into the meeting. Amid thunderous slogans he took the mike and spoke, ‘The question of untouchability in our society can create the atmosphere of war for mankind. We must avoid it. Today, those who think that they are symbols of purity and we are filth, who think that they are higher and we are lowly, those people inject the poison of hatred between classes.
We want to live peacefully with others as equals. We are all Hindus, then why this untouchability? It is not good for Hindu society. It is injustice and to meet injustice power is needed. The power comes from unity. We must forget our internal differences. The religion that educates a section and prescribes ignorance and illiteracy for others is no religion. It is a conspiracy to fool people. A religion that arms one and disarms another to enslave him to the former it is not playing fair. I can’t accept such religion that makes a caste educated, another warrior, the third trader and the fourth caste is asked to serve the former three like slave.
A human does not touch another human. Such practice is nowhere except in Hinduism. Other religions don’t teach inequality. Only our religion calls us untouchables. A religion that does not recognise our human value why should we cling to it….?”
Dr. Ambedkar formed ‘Untouchable Welfare Society’ with branches at all places having lower caste populations. It held dalit meetings and tried to spread awareness among the backwards.
