Ambedkar on Gandhi’s Death: The 1948 Letter
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s views on Mahatma Gandhi have remained an important subject of historical debate.
In a letter to Dr. Sharada Kabir, who later became Savita Ambedkar, he reflected on Gandhi’s assassination, his political influence, and the consequences of the loss of a towering national figure.
The letter contains Ambedkar’s personal response to Gandhi’s death, alongside his critical assessment of Gandhi’s influence on Indian politics and the Congress.
The passage is significant for understanding the complex relationship between two of modern India’s most influential leaders.
Ambedkar’s Letter on Gandhi’s Assassination: 8 February 1948
Alipur Road
February 8, 1948
I have been the greatest champion of the elevation and emancipation of women … I have done my best to raise the status of women and I am very proud of it.
I entirely agree with you that Gandhi should have not met his death at the hands of a Maharashtrian.
I May go further and say that it would have been wrong for anybody to commit such a foul deed. You know that I owe nothing to Gandhi and he has contributed nothing to my spiritual, moral and social make-up.
The only person to whom I owe all my being is Gautama Buddha. Nonetheless, I felt very sad on hearing of his assassination. Notwithstanding his antipathy to me, I went to the Birla House on Saturday morning and was shown his dead body. I could see the wounds. They were right on the heart. I was very much moved on seeing his dead body.
I went with the funeral procession for s short distance as I was unable to walk and then returned home and again went to the Rajghat on the Jamuna but could not get to burning place being unable to break the ring formed by the crowd.
My own view is that great men are of great service to their country but they are also at certain times a great hindrance to the progress of their country.
There is one incident in Roman History which comes to my mind on this occasion. When Caesar was done to death and the matter was reported to Cicero, Cicero said to the messenger, “Tell the Romans your hour of liberty has come”
While one regrets the assassination of Gandhi, one can’t help finding in his heart the echo of the sentiments expressed by Cicero on the assassination of Caesar.
Gandhi had become a positive danger to this country. He has choked all free-thought. He was holding together the Congress, which is combination of all the bad and self-seeking elements in society who agreed on no social or moral principles governing the life of society except the one of praising and flattering Mr. Gandhi. Such a body is unfit to govern a country.
As the Bible says ‘that sometimes good cometh out of evil,’ so also I think that good will come out of the death of Mr Gandhi. It will release people from bondage to a superman. It will make them think for themselves and it will compel them to stand on their own merits.
Yours,
Bhimrao Ambedkar
Historical Sources and Attribution
The correspondence between Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Dr. Sharada Kabir, later Savita Ambedkar, provides an important record of Ambedkar’s personal reflections during the period following Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
The online Letters of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar archive records a letter dated 8 February 1948 that begins with Ambedkar’s remarks on the elevation and emancipation of women. Separately, Savita Ambedkar’s autobiography, Babasaheb: My Life with Dr. Ambedkar, reproduces the passage discussing Gandhi’s assassination as an extract from a letter dated 6 February 1948.
Readers can consult the Ambedkar correspondence archive and Savita Ambedkar’s Babasaheb: My Life with Dr. Ambedkar for further reference.
