Ambedkar resolved to abandon Hinduism to escape the stigma of untouchability.
Evidence
Because we have the misfortune of calling ourselves Hindus, we are treated thus. If we were members of another faith none would treat us so. Choose any religion which gives you equality of status and treatment. We shall repair our mistake now. I had the misfortune of being born with the stigma of an Untouchable. However, it is not my fault; but I will not die a Hindu, for this is in my power. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 138
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: The conversion threat that terrifies Hindu reformers connects to the political ‘conversion threat’ dynamic Ambedkar wields later in the caste-annihilation speech.
Related
- Ambedkar rejected any religion that sanctioned caste inequities (similarity 0.86)
- Ambedkar publicly swore in 1935 that he would not die a Hindu (similarity 0.85)
- Caste discrimination persists inside non-Hindu religious communities. (similarity 0.84)
- Ambedkar announced his impending departure from Hinduism at the speech’s close (similarity 0.84)
- Hinduism’s pervasiveness makes renouncing caste seem impracticable to many (similarity 0.84)
- Ambedkar renounced Hinduism publicly and converted to Buddhism before dying in 1956 (similarity 0.84)
- Ambedkar framed caste as a sickness endangering all Indians beyond Hindus (similarity 0.83)
- Ambedkar insisted Untouchables would choose political power over Hindu faith (similarity 0.83)
- Untouchables demanded a religion granting equal status, not reform of Hinduism (similarity 0.83)
- Hindu revivalists proselytised Untouchables to retain them in subordination. (similarity 0.83)
- Ambedkar planned to renounce Hinduism and reject its sacred texts in the address (similarity 0.82)
- Ambedkar held that caste itself, not untouchability, must be dismantled (similarity 0.81)
- Ambedkar saw caste itself, not just untouchability, as the target of annihilation. (similarity 0.81)
- Gandhi sought abolition of untouchability but retention of the caste system (similarity 0.81)
- Ambedkar saw anti-untouchability gestures as privileged-caste strategies to retain control (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Untouchable castes have long converted to escape caste stigma.
#expands(0.60) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 140 - Ambedkar renounced Hinduism publicly and converted to Buddhism before dying in 1956
#expands(0.55) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 7 - Ambedkar rejected any religion that sanctioned caste inequities
#corroborates(0.50) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 406 - While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a…
#exemplifies(0.50) - Ambedkar proposed replacing caste with liberty, equality, and fraternity
#expands(0.45) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 903 - Caste Hindus sought to deny Untouchables the choice that choice confers power.
#complicates(0.35) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 387