rb more- intro (eng)

7/18/2019 RB More- Intro (Eng)

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Comrade Ramchandra Babaji More (1903-1972)

Comrade Ramchandra Babaji More was born on March 1, 1903 in the villageof Ladavali near Mahad. Born to a oor Mahar famil! of farmwor"ers he wassensiti#ed to the stigma of caste since childhood. $is %rst forcef&l reali#ation

of caste came when he was denied ermission to attend the high school atMahad desite his s&ccess in the scholarshi e'ams. (he denial and hiss&bse)&ent rotest was covered b! newsaers in Bomba! and &nderress&re of &blic oinion the British Collector granted him admission. (hiswas the starting oint of the lifelong olitical activism of Comrade More.

*n +&g&st , 19-3 a resol&tion introd&ced b! . /. Bole! was assed in theLegislative Co&ncil of Bomba! residenc! sti&lating that &nto&chables werea&thori#ed to &se &blic wells, ilgrim ho&ses, schools, co&rts, administrativeoces and disensaries. (hree !ears later Bole! roosed a new resol&tionfor s&bsidies to be withheld from non2comliant local bodies and

m&nicialities. n 19-4 R. B. More &ndertoo" his %rst s&ccessf&l oliticalcamaign to enforce the resol&tion in 5asgaon thro&gh &blic ress&re. *n5ecember , 19-4 the Crawford La"e was oened for the &se of&nto&chables. (his was a t&rning oint for him. +fter this he too" a leadingrole in the historical h&man rights at!agraha at Mahad on *ctober 19, 19-6.+s the %rst secretar! of the Mahar amaj ewa angh R. B. More was one ofthe rincial organi#ers of the at!agraha. *ther leaders and activists forMahad were /aramveer ambhaji (&"aram 7ai"wad, 7ovind +dre"ar,hivram 7oal 8adhav, ishram awad"ar, Bhi"aji ambhaji 7ai"wad, /eshav+dre"ar, Changdev Mohite, Bhai +nand Chitre, &raba :ana Chitnis andothers. ince 19-; he had activel! wor"ed to ens&re 5r. +mbed"ar<s

resence and s&ort at the conference for the Mahad at!agraha.

(he Chavdar tan" at!agraha gave 5r. Babasaheb +mbed"ar global visibilit!as the foremost leader of h&man rights str&ggles. R. B. More contin&ed to be"e! organi#er in the movements against the /hoti s!stem =#amindari s!stem>and other str&ggles for removal of &nto&chabilit! in /on"an. 5&ring thiseriod he wor"ed closel! with 5r. Babasaheb +mbed"ar, Bhai +nand Chitre,hamrao ar&le"ar, :ara!an :ag& atil, hri /ovale of Chil&n. $e served asthe secretar! of the /&laba ?illa het"ari angh. n 19-6 he la!ed asigni%cant role in setting & the @5r. +mbed"ar eva 5al< later renamed theamta aini" 5al. $e was one of the reresentatives of the Bomba!

residenc! at the %rst convention of the +"hil Bharati!a /isan abha held atL&c"now in 1934. (he British government iss&ed an arrest warrant o&tagainst More beca&se of his wor" organi#ing and mobili#ing farmers.

n 1930 he established the *rgani#ation of Ao&ng or"ers and ass&mededitorial resonsibilities for it<s eriodical +vahan =(he Challenge>. oonafter, the British banned +vahan and iss&ed a warrant for R.B. More. $ewent &ndergro&nd and contin&ed his olitical activities. (hro&gh his wor"

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among 5alits and v&lnerable sections he came in close contact with the laborand comm&nist movements. $e was one of the fo&nding members of the7irni /amgar nion =(e'tile or"ers< nion>. nterim the mobili#ation for the:asi" /alaram temle at!agraha was going strong. R.B. More cond&ctedvario&s &blic meetings and organi#ed a delegation of wor"ers and

comm&nist activists in Bomba! that wo&ld articiate in :asi". Between the1930s and 190s R.B More maintained a balance in his olitical wor" withboth the Comm&nist art! and Babasaheb +mbed"ar and 5adasaheb7ai"wad. t is imortant to remember that d&ring this eriod the tensionsbetween +mbed"ar and Comm&nists were most ac&te.

Moving between Bomba!, :ag&r, Bija&r, 8hansi, +gra R.B. More mobili#ed&nto&chables, janitors =safai "amgar> and str&ggled for imrovement of theirwor" conditions. Between 191 and 19- Comrade More served as thesecretar! of the 7.. railwa! &nion =now :ational Railwa! Ma#door nion>. n19;, then Labo&r Minister, Babasaheb +mbed"ar recommended More<s

name for the delegation to reresent labor movements of Bomba!residenc! at the nternational Labor *rgani#ation in aris. (here for the %rsttime he made a reresentation of the seci%cities of the e'eriences of&nto&chable wor"ers.

n 19;3 before the art! congress Comrade More sent a secial note to theolitb&ro of the Comm&nist art! arg&ing for the need of class olitics to ta"ea osition on caste oression. $e sent a revised version of the note in 19;6and 194 and emhasi#ed the need to ta"e cogni#ance of +mbed"ar<solitics. (he note was circ&lated widel! to all the art! state committeesand generated disc&ssions.

5esite being a comm&nist art! activist, Comrade More shared a warmolitical friendshi and m&t&al regard with 5r. Babasaheb +mbed"ar. n 1933he organi#ed the %rst &blic celebrations of +mbed"ar<s birthda! &nder thebanner of the Driends< circle on 5elisle road in Bomba!. n 1941 along with/ashinath 5. anvad"ar and 7hanash!am (alwat"ar he established theBabasaheb +mbed"ar niversit! at Mahad. n 19;4 Babasaheb +mbed"arwith la"hs of his followers converted to B&ddhism at :ag&r. n 1940 Morealong with Mr. 5./ Bede"ar, organi#ed a seminar on the Eroblems of neo2B&ddhistsF at the 7o"hale nstit&te in &ne. $e fo&nded the wee"l! 8eevanMarg on +ril 1, 194; in honor of Babasaheb +mbed"ar. t is now the

mo&thiece of the Maharashtra wing of the Comm&nist art! of ndia=Mar'ist>. $e reg&larl! contrib&ted to the eriodicals Bahish"rit Bharat, 8anata, rab&ddha Bharat, amta, +sr&sh!ata :iwara" =+bolition>, Bomba!"aamgar and wee"lies for the Comm&nist art! eseciall! /ranti, Lo"!&ddh, A&gantar, Mashaal, and others.

Comrade More was also an active articiant in the str&ggle for am!&"taMaharashtra and Liberation of 7oa. $e sent delegations of vol&nteers from

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Mahad tal&"a for the Liberation of 7oa movement. (hro&gh his life Morecontin&ed to be oliticall! involved in labor movement and ed&cationalstr&ggles of Mahad tal&"a and 5asgaon. $e established the @5asgaoneole<s rogressive Dor&m< that started the %rst rimar! school in thevillage. +fter this he started the rogressive Middle chool in the village, now

"nown as the Comrade R.B More rogressive Middle chool.

Comrade More dedicated his entire life to str&ggle for better conditions of lifefor the laboring classes and towards b&ilding a classless and castelesssociet!. Rah&l an"r&t!a!an ta"es note of this contrib&tion in a biograhicessa! in his boo" @:ew leaders of :ew ndia<. Rameshchandra inha alsocelebrated him along with other activists in his essa! @(hree l&minaries of thendian labor movement<.

Comrade More assed awa! on 11 Ma! 196- in Bomba!.

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rb more- intro (eng)

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