Dr.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was one of the most prominent figures in India's resistance
movement during the Colonial Period, and after independance, the main author of the
Indian Constitution, affirming India as a secular nation. However, while Ambedkar
was certainly hero to all Indians, he is considered more of a hero to India's
dalits, whose rights he championed against the Hindu elite. His story, as a member
of one of India's lowest castes, was filled with strife, and became a quasi-"Rama"
figure,an essentially moral figure. The Bhimayana, published in 2011, illustrates
this, despite the fact that Ambedkar was a strident critic of Hinduism and
casteism. It, being a graphic novel, has the added effect of drawings in the style
of Gond wall paintings, to create a sense of atmosphere of a Colonial-ruled India
mired with many pre-existing cultures and traditions. Bhimayana focuses on caste-
based discrimination, especially the type that Ambedkar faced. In several points of
the selected excerpts, Ambedkar mentions how caste-based discrimination was in act
not unique to Hinduism, but was common in all society, and was the primary element
hindering India's social progress. In many ways, this is enhanced by the fact that
this excerpt follows a group of untouchables who recount the cumulative misfortunes
that they faced. Ambedkar is thus shown to be not only a force of moral strength
for India's downtrodden, but also a figure who has the confidence of millions of
Indians. This was primarily shown by the "largest conversion" to Buddhism following
Ambedkar's conversion later on in his life. It is also intersting how Ambedkar's
criticism of Hinduism sparked a rift in ideology with that of Gandhi; Gandhi was
more interested in protecting the largely protecting Hindu constructs while
Ambedkar was more intersted in human rights regardless of religious traditions.