General Body

Self-dignity and self-worthiness are defined as what an individual feels about her/himself. Self-respect is defined as how an individual allows her/himself to be treated by others. People can cultivate a sense of self-dignity and self-worthiness only under the certain favorable material and social conditions which is necessary to assert self-respect. Wealth as a material factor and caste as a social factor are great impediments for the majority to live a self-dignified life where wealth is concentrated in fewer hands and caste is manifested in all walks of life. Dalits and Adivasis share a very minuscule portion of the wealth and are subjected to untouchability, the most blatant form of caste discrimination, and are denied to develop any sense of self-dignity.

Dr. Ambedkar writes,

Most people believe that Untouchability is a religious system. That is true. But it is a mistake to suppose that it is only a religious system. Untouchability is more than a religious system. It is also an economic system which is worse than slavery. As an economic system, it permits exploitation without obligation. Untouchability is not only a system of unmitigated economic exploitation, but it is also a system of uncontrolled economic exploitation.

Ambedkar King Study Circle (AKSC) perceives on the lines of Dr. Ambedkar, Dr. King Jr. and other social revolutionaries and reformers that caste and race are an economical, social, political and cultural problem and hence they have to be tackled at all these planes by rightly aligning with other oppressed sections of the society. Liberation of one oppressed class and caste is inextricably coupled with the liberation all oppressed classes and groups.