Baba Amte – A great Indian social activist

By: Mishti Nagar

Baba Amte (Murlidhar Devidas Amte) was born on 26 December, 1914 in Hinganghat, Wardha district of Maharashtra, and died on February 9, 2008. He was an Indian lawyer and social activist who devoted his life to India’s poorest and least powerful individuals. A great social reformer, Baba Amte dedicated his entire life to serving humanity and moved forward with the motto, “Work Build; Charity Destroys.”

Early life of Baba Amte

During the college holidays, Baba traveled all over India. He visited Shantiniketan initially and got attracted by Rabindranath Tagore’s music and poetry. Closer to home, at Sewagram (Gandhiji’s ashram) near Wardha, Baba tried to change what he could. Harijans (also known as untouchables) had always walked a long distance on his family’s lands to collect water because the village well was forbidden to them. Baba defied the bitter opposition of the upper-caste villagers and opened up the well for all.

He said, “I believe that political awareness without constructive work is important and that constructive work without political awareness is equally sterile. If you put a label to what guides my action, it would be, creative humanism.”

Baba believed that we as a society need to evolve, through experimentation, a system that combines the principles of individual freedom and common ownership. And this is what we have tried, basically with success, in all our projects, involving leprosy patients, tribal people, and the so-called ‘disabled’ persons.

He is also known as the “Modern Gandhi of India.” Baba Amte was convinced that the fear of leprosy was far worse than the disease itself and that this fear must be addressed if any meaningful rehabilitation was to be achieved. What the patients needed more than anything else were hope, dignity and self-respect. Baba Amte died in Anandwan on February 9, 2008. According to his wish, his body was buried, and not cremated. Upon Amte’s death, the 14th Dalai Lama, said, “Amte’s demise is a great loss to all of us. I am an admirer of Baba Amte. I vividly remember my visit to his thriving community of handicapped people at Anandvan in 1990”

His mission was to motivate, rejuvenate and empower. He dedicated his entire life to serving humanity. He is the greatest inspiration for all of us. His discoveries of the new world have inspired the generations to move forward with the techniques of development which could transform the nation.