Aakash Singh Rathore, Lecture on ‘The Perils of Writing B. R. Ambedkar’s Biography’

Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
invites you to a lecture
The Perils of Writing B. R. Ambedkar’s Biography
by Aakash Singh Rathore
Chair: Ananya Vajpeyi
Thursday, 27 April 2023, 4.30 pm IST
Seminar Room and Zoom
Link: bit.ly/3UDzrle
Meeting ID: 88696177763
Passcode: csdsdelhi
For 10 years, the speaker has been engaged in the perilous process of writing an entirely newly researched biography of B. R. Ambedkar. The biographies currently available rely on one of two sources. The first, relied upon by Marathi speakers, is C.B. Khairmode’s 12-volume Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Charitra. The second, relied upon by non-Marathi speakers - and the most cited book of Ambedkar Studies - is Dhananjay Keer’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Life & Mission. These 'authoritative' biographies are riddled with misinformation. Errors regarding dates, meetings, degrees, and so on are repeated and perpetuated in the most important collection of Ambedkar’s oeuvre till date, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Writings and Speeches. How is life writing to be undertaken in such a scenario?
Aakash Singh Rathore is a philosopher, author of nine books, including the just-released Becoming Babasaheb: A Definitive Biography (2023), and Ambedkar's Preamble: A Secret History of the Constitution of India (2020). He has also edited over a dozen books, including B.R. Ambedkar’s The Buddha and His Dhamma: A Critical Edition (2011), and more recently, B.R. Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice (a box set of 5 volumes, 2021).
Ananya Vajpeyi is Associate Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.