Ambedkar Jayanti: Where Do India's Oppressed Communities Stand Now?

April 14, 2025, marks the 135th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. Since the start of Independent India's journey, Dr Ambedkar has been regarded as an icon for the Dalit Community.

During his time as one of the key architects of the Indian Constitution, Dr Ambedkar worked towards eradicating social discrimination and championed for the rights of women, labour, and oppressed and marginalised communities in India.

READ | Dr. Ambedkar, The Architect Of Inclusive Indian Nationalism

Every year, India marks Ambedkar Jayanti to celebrate the "Father of the Constitution" Dr BR Ambedkar's contributions to society and the Constitution.

But as we mark the 135th anniversary, the question remains: how has India fared when it comes to social equality?

In 바카라's 2024 issue - Caste vs Caste, we explored the the decades-long debate over sub-categorisation and the creamy layer within Scheduled Castes, especially in the context of a political push for a caste census.

The September 2024 issue dives deep into how sub-categorisation has impacted India across states such as Maharashtra, Manipur and more.

In Caste Census: To Conquer Or Conserve?, Anand Teltumbde writes how the caste census has gained traction and support from data phobia forces such as the RSS and BJP. But the question remains - how will this data be used?

Abhik Bhattacharya writes about the "Invisible Dalits" and if the caste sub-categorisation will make a difference to Dalit lives or not.

In June 2024, with the Constitution of India as 바카라's cover, we discussed how this little red book was quoted regularly during the Lok Sabha election campaigning by Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many others.

In Re-Discovering Social Justice For The 2029 Election, N Sukumar, Mukesh Thakur and Ankur Kumar write how the road map for the next Lok Sabha elections should focus on equal access to resources, economic and political, while ensuring dignity and self-respect.

In our August 2023 issue - 'Gandhiji I Have No Homeland,' we discuss where the Dalit community stands as India marked 75 years of freedom from British colonialism.

From mapping the rising atrocities against the Dalit community to the case of Bhima Koregaon, this issue calls on us to stand together and demand answers.

Lastly, in the 2021 issue 'Caste Faultlines'- the broken foot takes centre.

Created by Prabhakar Kamble, a Mumbai-based artist, his artistic work involves his response to immediate social realities as well as personal and collective histories.

Speaking to 바카라 about the art piece, Kamble said the Broken foot was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, when a mass exodus of migrant labourers took place all over India that I started working on this piece. It was a statement against the apathy of the state towards a certain section of the society.