Dalit History Month | From Philosophy to Praxis—Tracing Kanshi Ram’s Journey

Baba saheb ka dusra naam, Kanshi Ram-Kanshi Ram—this slogan is widely recognised in the Dalit-Bahujan movement. Kanshi Ram’s followers affectionately refer to him as Bahujan Nayak, Manyavar and Saheb. In the post-Ambedkar era, he created political consciousness among the Dalit-Bahujans. His movement was not only socio-political but also epistemic in nature, focusing on epistemic justice to promote social justice in India. According to him, social justice cannot be realised without epistemic justice.

Miranda Fricker, a famous British philosopher, coined the term epistemic injustice to get epistemic justice knowledge resources distributed and fairly. Kanshi Ram institutionalised the epistemic movement of Ambedkar through various institutions and organisations. His Bahujan movement, based on the ideas of social equality of Phule and Ambedkar, is not only a socio-political movement but also represents a new and profound epistemological intervention in Indian politics, through challenging the caste system and by establishing counter-knowledge systems from the Dalit-Bahujan perspective.

It also restores the value, validity, and dignity of Dalit-Bahujan epistemology. Kanshi Ram critically analyses that the caste system is not only maintained through socio-political and economic domination, but also epistemological injustice, and can only be dismantled by establishing a counter-epistemology. By founding various organisations, he built democratic and inclusive knowledge systems, representing a unique attempt in Indian politics to institutionalise direct knowledge justice. His movement established the voices of Dalit-Bahujans in Indian politics by creating alternative ways of knowing through various institutions and challenging the systems that suppress the voices of these communities, thereby establishing a Dalit-Bahujan epistemology that has proven to be very important in Indian politics today.

An Epistemic Movement that led to Social Transformation

Following the Bahujan epistemic revolution of Kanshi Ram, Dalit-Bahujans gained the tools, mechanisms, language, organisations and institutions to represent and govern themselves. They have historically been victims of epistemic injustice due to the entrenched caste system for hundreds of years, which is the reason their voices, experiences, and knowledge are still excluded from the mainstream of society due to systematic exclusion.

Kanshi Ram wanted political power through epistemic justice, which is why he established different organisations to create awareness among the Dalit-Bahujans, and that laid the foundation stone for alternative knowledge systems to combat caste-based discrimination and hierarchy, aiming to create a just and equitable society through political power. He often stated that political power is ‘Guru Killi’—a Punjabi term, reflecting his roots in Punjab. Through this Guru Killi, he believed, all social and economic liberation could be achieved.

Kanshi Ram emphasised that the politics of a society with weak social roots could never succeed. He urged Dalit-Bahujans to focus on strengthening their social roots for successful political endeavours. 

Epistemic Justice through Organisations and Institutions

Kanshi Ram founded several institutions and organisations to create alternative knowledge systems for knowledge justice. He established the Backwards and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) in 1978 and Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) in 1981 to raise awareness among the Bahujan community and prepare them for politics. He also founded the Buddhist Research Centre (BRC) to explore the cultural heritage and history of the Bahujan communities. These organisations worked to decolonise knowledge and ensure that Dalit-Bahujan history and culture were recognised and institutionalised by mainstreaming them. These institutions published several books, pamphlets, and journals that critiqued caste oppression and educated Dalit-Bahujans about their historical, social, and political rights.

BAMCEF was a non-religious and non-political organisation comprising of government employees. He regularly reminded them that government officials should work for the betterment of society through T3—time, talent, and treasure. His core belief was that, for epistemic justice, Bahujan officials should not only live for themselves but also work collectively as knowledge producers for marginalised communities. He advocated that educated Bahujans should serve their society alongside their work through the ‘Pay Back to Society’ concept. He encouraged government employees to act as epistemic agents, and for them, he created a platform like BAMCEF that became a focal stage for the epistemic movement.  

By establishing DS4, he aimed to politically and ideologically awaken the general masses of Dalit-Bahujan and also organise them to ensure they became active agents in knowledge production and political representation rather than passive subjects of history. It served as a bridge between BAMCEF and the later formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). After BAMCEF and DS4, he established the BSP not only for political change but also for ideological reform in Indian politics, aiming to implement these changes through law when the government gained power. The BSP was founded with the intent to express Bahujan subjectivity through the government. Kanshi Ram founded the BSP on April 14, 1984, coinciding with Ambedkar Jayanti, and sought to transform knowledge justice into social justice through electoral politics.

Through these organisations, Kanshi Ram rewrote and revived the erased history of Dalit-Bahujans and expanded and established narratives within the Bahujan community that were suppressed by the caste system. He redefined Dalit-Bahujan ideology, identity, and culture, establishing it as an agency of resistance instead of victimhood. He mobilised Dalit-Bahujan through the literature, media, and anti-caste cinema further to redefine their ideology, identity, and culture. These tools emerged as alternatives for Dalit-Bahujan knowledge production. Through this platform, Dalit-Bahujans began to lead themselves rather than being directed by upper-caste privileged individuals. His movement also started Bahujan festivals, programs and cultural traditions to counter-hegemonic discourse. As a result, Bahujans began to express their issues and counter the upper-caste narrative in the political system.

He launched magazines and newspapers in several languages, such as Oppressed India and Bahujan Sangathak. Through these magazines, he totally transformed the political grammar of Dalit-Bahujan. By creating a new political vocabulary (e.g., “Bahujan,” “Chamcha Yug”) he empowered and made enable Dalit-Bahujan to create bahuajn discourse. their experiences and political demands. The most significant aspect of Kanshi Ram’s movement was his epistemic contributions, which led to the emergence of Dalit-Bahujan literature in the post-Ambedkar era. This literature helped as a counter-narrative discourse by establishing the Dalit-Bahujan perspective and played a major and historical role in evolving the movement of Phule-Ambedkar. Mainstream politics of India started understanding the perspective of the oppressed and provided new frameworks for interpreting caste, identity and resistance. 

Epistemic Justice through Cultural Capital

Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan movement established organisations and institutions for epistemic justice and led the epistemic movement through Dalit-Bahujan symbols. His Bahujan movement-built memorials and parks when the BSP government came to power, and people awakened by the movement started building statues of Ambedkar in every village.

This movement revived the Dalit-Bahujan culture that had been historically erased or sidelined by bringing the Dalit-Bahujan narrative into the mainstream of society through symbols and bringing cultural consciousness among the people. These symbols served as symbols of epistemic justice for the Bahujan community. This monument, memorials, parks and other symbolic mechanisms helped in asserting the presence of Dalit-Bahujan in public spaces.

Kanshiram organised various fairs such as Ambedkar Mela, Periyar Mela and Adivasi Mela, etc. Through these fairs, Kanshiram strengthened the epistemic movement. Through these fairs, he strengthened social and political empowerment. He further contributed to the awakening and organising of Dalit-Bahujan society. Kanshiram played an important role in advocating the rights and representation of marginalised communities through such events and political initiatives. Through these events, Kanshiram gave birth to a political and cultural revolution based on the epistemic movement. These fairs proved to be a symbolic celebration - a revolutionary educational space for mass awakening.   

Epistemic Justice through Substantive Representation

Ambedkar fought for separate electorates, and Kanshi Ram also emphasises substantive political representation. He opposed the Poona Pact of 1932 by writing his book The Chamcha Age on the 50th anniversary of the Poona Pact in 1982. In this book, he has criticised the emergence of Dalit leadership through reserved seats. Through this book, he has rejected false representation. He argues that Dalit leaders who are working in upper caste parties are actually ‘chamchas’ and act as puppets, and they cannot represent their communities. They only act as mediators in upper caste parties and maintain the socio-political and cultural hegemony of the upper castes. Such fake leadership has prevented the original leadership of the Dalit-Bahujan people from achieving real socio-political liberation. This fake representation also leads to epistemic injustice to the Dalit-Bahujans, due to which true social justice is not being achieved. 

Epistemic Justice through Buddhism

Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in Nagpur on October 14, 1956, along with six lakh Dalits. Kanshi Ram, too, had proposed to convert to Buddhism before his death to do epistemic justice by rejecting Hinduism. Through Buddhism, he, like Ambedkar, wanted to create a cultural capital of an alternative knowledge system based on the principles of rationality and equality. However, he could not formally convert to Buddhism as he died on October 9, 2006, just five days before his conversion. But he followed Buddhist principles all his life. He was cremated at Nigam Bodhi Ghat in New Delhi with Buddhist rituals.

Like Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, too, saw Buddhism as a tool of intellectual resistance against the caste system. His proposed conversion to Buddhism was not merely a religious decision, but like Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram also believed that true liberation required both material upliftment and spiritual engagement and intellectual empowerment.

Structuring the Epistemic Movement of Phule and Ambedkar

Kanshi Ram's Bahujan movement of epistemology was carried forward by fully adopting Ambedkar's idea of ​​ “Educate, Agitate, Organise".

Kanshi Ram’s movement also aimed to democratise knowledge resources and ensure adequate distribution of knowledge among the oppressed, enabling them to lead themselves. By organising cadre camps all over the country, he demonstrated that true liberation and attaining political power require intellectual empowerment first, so Dalit-Bahujans gain access to resources and control over their narratives and representations. His movement should be viewed as an effort to democratise knowledge resources. The politics of Kanshi Ram gave the oppressed society an intellectual and cultural capital and institutions through which they began to challenge caste hegemony and claim their political agency.

His Bahujan movement continues Phule’s assertion—Vidya bina mati gayee, mati bina neeti gayee, neeti bina gati gayee, gati bina vitt gaya, vitt bina shood gaye, itane anarth, ek avidya ne kiye (without education, wisdom is lost, without wisdom, morality is lost, without morality, progress is lost, without progress, wealth is lost, without wealth, Shudra are lost, so many misfortunes are caused by ignorance of knowledge). It also continues Ambedkar’s mission to educate, agitate and organise.

The philosophical and ideological basis that Phule-Ambedkar had laid for epistemic justice was established by Kanshi Ram in Indian politics in the post-Ambedkar era through organisations, which became the main architects of the epistemic project. He will be known as the one who successfully transformed Phule-Ambedkar's epistemology into Indian politics through organisational strategy. This Bahujan movement of Kanshi Ram has, in a way, eliminated the structural barriers to knowledge production and political mobilisation in the post-Ambedkar era in India. He institutionalised the Phule-Ambedkar movement, through which Dalit-Bahujans became active socio-political knowledge producers. 

Krishna Mohan Lal is a PhD research scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.