Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha was an organisation that B.R. Ambedkar founded in Bombay in July 1924. "Bahishkrit" means "outcast", and "hitakarini" means "working for the welfare of". It aimed to spread education and culture among the depressed classes, the castes treated as untouchable. It also worked to improve their economic condition and to voice their grievances. It was one of Ambedkar's first organised efforts to make dalits stand up for their own rights.
Example
The Sabha's work led to the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927 in Maharashtra. In this protest, Ambedkar led dalits to drink water from a public tank that they had been barred from using.
Don't confuse with
- Independent Labour Party (1936): Ambedkar founded this as a political party to fight elections. The Sabha was a social-welfare body, not a party.
Related concepts
- All India Kisan Sabha
- Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
- FICCI
- G.D. Birla
- Jamnalal Bajaj
- All India Trade Union Congress
- Communist Party of India
- Meerut conspiracy case
- Women in the civil disobedience movement
- Women's Indian Association