Vinay Lal - Moral & Political Thought of Gandhi, Lecture 15 of 19, May 19, 2016

University of California, Los Angeles. We resume our discussion of the debate between Gandhi and Tagore, and then move on to discussion of B R Ambedkar's critique of Gandhi. Their differences became most palapable over their varying interpretations of the Bihar Earthquake of 1934. Going back to their debate in 1921-22, what was Tagore's fear of the negative according to Gandhi? We then consider the differences between B R Ambedkar and Gandhi, and the dispute over the «Poona Pact». How is equality to be achieved? Is equality achieved only by upward mobility of the poor, or can we also think of achieving equality by moving some people downwards? Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism in 1956 in Nagpur. We should also take note of similarities between Gandhi and Ambedkar. Vinay Lal is an Indian historian. He is a professor of history and Asian American studies at UCLA. He writes widely on the history and culture of colonial and modern India, popular and public culture in India, cinema, historiography, the politics of world history, the Indian diaspora, global politics, contemporary American politics, the life and thought of Mohandas Gandhi, Hinduism, and the politics of knowledge systems.