The Gandhi–Ambedkar Debate: Revisit, Re-Examination, and Reconciliation

The Gandhi–Ambedkar debate on caste is an integral part of discourses on social justice and the historiography of India. Recent events such as Arundhati Roy’s The Doctor and the Saint and the subsequent responses have revived interest in the debate and elicited a need to re-examine it. This article has three main aims. First, it seeks to systematically review, compile, and synthesise the literature and viewpoints on the debate. In doing so, the article comments and expands on the existing Gandhi–Ambedkar debate, including the prospect of reconciliation between them. Second, the authors contend that the young Ambedkar shared similarities with Gandhi in thought and action before the 1930s and that their understudied first meeting in 1931 could have played a crucial role in changing Ambedkar’s attitude towards Gandhi. Lastly, it reviews a neglected dimension of the debate, that of reconciliation, and reiterates the need to pursue it.