Type: Prelims Only

Dr. BR Ambedkar was India’s first Law Minister after independence. The letter of his resignation is now missing from official records.

Dr Ambedkar as Law Minister

• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar served as Independent India’s first law minister.
• He was an Indian jurist, economist, politician, and social reforme, who was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990.
• It is believed that Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi proposed Dr. Ambedkar’s name for the post of Law Minister in the Nehru Cabinet.

Why was he selected for the post?

• Being father of our Constitution: Sardar Patel, then deputy PM, had a high regard for Dr. Ambedkar’s intellectual abilities and his contributions to the drafting of India’s Constitution.
• Political urge for inclusivity: Additionally, Dr. Ambedkar’s role in the Dalit movement and his fight against caste discrimination also made him a significant political figure.
• Representation of the marginalized: His appointment as the Law Minister was seen as a symbol of inclusivity and representation of marginalized communities in the government.

Why did Dr. Ambedkar resign?

• Political differences with Nehru: He resigned as Law Minister, due to differences with the then PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, over the Hindu Code Bill. He specifically wanted to reform Hindu Personal Laws and not every personal laws in India.
• Row over reforming Personal Laws: The bill aimed to reform Hindu personal laws related to marriage, divorce, and inheritance, but Dr. Ambedkar believed that it did not go far enough in granting women’s rights and wanted more radical changes.
• Injustice to women: Ambedkar had proposed a more comprehensive set of reforms that would have given women greater rights in matters such as property ownership and inheritance, but his proposals were met with resistance from Nehru and other members of the government.

Efforts to locate his resignation letter

• The letter was not found in the National Archives of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Maharashtra government has also been unable to locate the letter in its archives.
• RTI (Right to Information) requests were also unsuccessful.

Significance of his letter

• The missing letter is a matter of concern as it is an important historical document.
• Ambedkar’s resignation was a significant event in India’s political history and the reasons behind it are still relevant today.
• The letter could shed light on the differences between the visionary Dr. Ambedkar and then mainstream politicians.

Note: Azad Hind was not India’s first provisional government. The credit for establishing that – formally known as the ”Hukumat-i-Moktar-i-Hind” – in Kabul on 1st Dec, 1915, goes to Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulana Barkatullah.

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PM inaugurated celebrations commemorating Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary.

Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)

• Dayanand Saraswati (born Mool Shankar Tiwari) was a religious leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement in the nineteenth century.
• He was a profound scholar of the Vedic lore and Sanskrit language.
• Dayanand was a great scholar, and was well-versed in the Vedas and the Upanishads.
• He was also proficient in Sanskrit grammar, philosophy, religion, politics and other sciences.

Notable works

(1) Literary works

• He wrote several books, including the Satyarth Prakash, which became the moral and spiritual foundation of the Arya Samaj.
• This book was translated into many languages, including Hindi, English and Urdu.

(2) Freedom movement

• He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as “Indian for India” – in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.
• Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of the “makers of Modern India”, as did Sri Aurobindo.

(3) Religious reform

• Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in Hinduism at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies.
• He believed that the Vedas should be interpreted in the light of reason and not of blind faith.
• He also campaigned against animal sacrifice and the worship of idols.

(4) Social reform

• Dayanand was a staunch advocate of women’s rights.
• He believed in the equality of all human beings and advocated the abolition of the caste system.

(5) Education

• Dayanand was an ardent believer in the power of knowledge and education.
• He established the Gurukul system of education, which provided free education to all, irrespective of caste or gender.
• Based on his teachings, in 1885 the first DAV School was established at Lahore which was subsequently upgraded to become the first DAV College.
• In 1886 the DAV College Trust and Management Society was established and registered.

Try this PYQ:

Which among the following event happened earliest?

(a) Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj

(b) Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan

(c) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath

(d) Satyendranath Tagore became the first India to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination.

 

Post your answers here.

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Signed on February 9, 1757, the Treaty of Alinagar between the Nawab of Bengal and the East India Company raised the curtains for British colonial expansion in India.

Treaty of Alinagar, 1757

• Signed on February 9, 1757, the Treaty of Alinagar was signed between Robert Clive of the East India Company and Mirza Muhammad Siraj Ud Daula, then Nawab of Bengal.
• It is said to be one of the key events leading up to the Battle of Plassey later that year.
• Plassey was where the English laid a significant blow, defeating the nawab. It paved the way for the East India Company’s takeover of Bengal.
• The name Alinagar was a short-lived reference to modern-day Kolkata, and the treaty came about after the nawab was faced with both the British and Afghan forces.
• He compromised with the former; however, the peace was short-lived.

British advent in India: A quick backgrounder

• After the Anglo-Mughal War which took place between 1686 and 1690, the British began consolidating their presence in the subcontinent.
• It had established the Fort St. George in what was Madras, Fort William in then Calcutta and Bombay Castle by the beginning of the 18th century.
• The British initially helped local princes and nawabs quell uprisings or revolts and they, in turn, gave them concessions.

Course of the treaty

• In January 1757, the British attacked the town of Hooghly, close to then Calcutta, with over 700 men.
• The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daulah, who had just come to power a year earlier in his early 20s, mobilised forces.
• His troops would overpower the British and reach Calcutta on January 10, 1757, having lost over 600 men.
• However, the losses sustained in the war had resulted in the nawab losing confidence.
• He signed what came to be known as the Treaty of Alinagar with Robert Clive – who became the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency – on February 9, 1757.
• Siraj-ud-daulah agreed to the restoration of the company’s factories and allowed for the fortification of Calcutta.

Aftermath of the battle

• The British then moved on to wrest the remaining territories in Bengal from the French, laying siege to Chandannagar.
• However, the move did not go down well with the nawab.
• But, Daulah was also wary of Afghan forces under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marathas.
• Traders in his kingdom were already wary of him and there was a conspiracy led by the likes of his military general, Mir Jafar.
• Events would later culminate in the Battle of Plassey on June 23, 1757.
• It resulted in the East India Company gaining hold of Bengal and was a significant event in its rise to power in the subcontinent.

Try this question.

Q.For most Indians, the history of British colonial rule in India begins in Plassey. However, the roots of it were sown long back. Discuss. (250W)

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