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Today is Ambedkar Jayanti.

Every year on April 14, cities and towns across Maharashtra and many other parts of India turn blue. Roads are filled with processions, blue flags, drums, songs and portraits of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. For many observers, Ambedkar Jayanti is simply a large public celebration. But it is one of the most important democratic and secular forms of public expression in modern Maharashtra.

Unlike many public celebrations in India that are centred on religion, Ambedkar Jayanti is organised around the memory of a modern thinker who stood for equality, justice, education and dignity. The celebration honours Ambedkar not as a religious figure, but as the architect of the Constitution and as a leader who fought against caste oppression. In that sense, Ambedkar Jayanti has created a different language of public celebration.

For Dalit people, the procession is not merely a festive event. It is a claim to visibility and dignity in a society where they have often been denied both. The streets, which historically belonged more easily to dominant castes and communities, are transformed on Ambedkar Jayanti into spaces where those belonging to Dalit communities can gather proudly and publicly.

The most striking image of the day is the well-organised procession. Thousands of people dressed in white, carrying blue flags and portraits of Ambedkar, move through the city. There is music, dancing and celebration, but there is also remarkable discipline. Community organisers usually plan the routes and timing carefully in order to avoid inconvenience to the general public.

For years, critics have often complained that such large rallies create disorder and leave cities dirty. While the concerns are important, we also see efforts made by a few organisers to ensure that they clean the litter. This has been testified by the number of videos and reports published on social media that have shown volunteers cleaning the streets after the processions are over. In several places, community groups have consciously tried to prove that a large public gathering can also be disciplined and responsible.

One of the most remarkable features of Ambedkar Jayanti processions is the participation of women. In many public rallies in Maharashtra, women are present in smaller numbers and often remain on the margins. Ambedkar Jayanti is different. Women do not merely walk in the procession; they often lead it. Women dressed in white sarees or salwar suits, often wearing blue turbans, play dhols, carry flags and raise slogans. Their presence changes the character of the rally. It is not simply a demonstration of community strength; it is also a public assertion of women’s leadership.

This aspect of Ambedkar Jayanti has had an influence beyond the Dalit community. In recent years, other public celebrations in Maharashtra have also begun to include women groups and more visible and active participation of women. Whether openly acknowledged or not, the Ambedkar Jayanti procession has become a model for many other communities.

Music is another important part of the celebration. Throughout the procession, songs about equality, dignity and resistance are played loudly. Many of these songs are associated with Ambedkarite cultural traditions and with well-known artists from the Dalit community such as Vamandada Kardak, Pralhad Shinde, Anand Shinde, Kadubai Kharat, and so on. These songs are not only entertainment. They remind people of a history of struggle and encourage a sense of pride.

The importance of these songs becomes clearer when one remembers that members of the Dalit community are sometimes mocked, threatened or even attacked for listening to Ambedkarite music in public spaces. To play these songs openly during the procession is therefore an act of confidence and resistance. It is a way of saying that Dalit people, too, have the right to occupy public space and shape public culture.

Ambedkar Jayanti is also different because it combines celebration with social service. Across Maharashtra, doctors, teachers, lawyers and students belonging to the Dalit community set up stalls during the celebrations. Medical professionals offer free health check-ups and advice. Teachers and senior students guide young people about careers, competitive examinations and admission to universities.

In many places, the celebration no longer lasts only for one day. Entire neighbourhoods organise week-long programmes that include essay competitions, drawing contests, speeches, book exhibitions and discussions on Ambedkar’s ideas. There is a growing feeling among educated members of the Dalit community that Ambedkar Jayanti should not become only a spectacle of loud music and large crowds. It should also remain an occasion to spread Ambedkar’s ideas about equality, education and social justice.

This concern is important because political parties have increasingly become involved in organising these events. Their money and influence often make the celebrations larger and more spectacular. But there is also a fear that this may reduce Ambedkar Jayanti to a show of power, while the deeper message of Ambedkar is forgotten.

The challenge, therefore, is to protect the spirit of the celebration. Ambedkar Jayanti matters not only because it honours a great leader. It matters because it has taught modern India a new way of being in public: a way that combines celebration with equality, music with memory, and public presence with dignity.

Long before many other communities realised the importance of claiming public space, Ambedkarites of Maharashtra had already shown how it could be done. Ambedkar Jayanti remains one of the most powerful examples of that democratic claim and politics of assertion.

Suhas Bhasme is an Assistant Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

© The Wire