Dr. Rahul Sonpimple | Full Speech | From Decline to Discipline: Rebuilding the Dalit Movement the Ambedkarite Way

Address at the 2nd National Conference of AIISCA, Pune

In this keynote address, Dr. Rahul Sonpimple, Founding President of the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association (AIISCA), offers a critical reflection on the current crisis facing the Dalit movement. Under the theme From Decline to Discipline, he outlines the ideological drift, organizational fragmentation, and political stagnation that have weakened Ambedkarite mobilization in recent years.

Situating AIISCA as a necessary political intervention, Dr. Sonpimple calls for a disciplined, ideologically grounded, and collective resurgence of Scheduled Caste leadership across India. This speech is both a diagnosis of the present and a roadmap for rebuilding the Dalit movement—rooted in Babasaheb Ambedkar’s principles of social justice, democratic struggle, and transformative vision.

This moment marks more than a gathering; it is a step toward reorganizing the movement on firm Ambedkarite foundations.

#AIISCA #RahulSonpimple #AmbedkaritePolitics #DalitMovement #JaiBhim

डॉ. राहुल सोनपिंपले | पतन से अनुशासन की ओर: अंबेडकरवादी मार्ग पर दलित आंदोलन का पुनर्निर्माण
 AIISCA के दूसरे राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन, पुणे में दिया गया संबोधन
इस उद्घाटन भाषण में, डॉ. राहुल सोनपिंपले, ऑल इंडिया इंडिपेंडेंट शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट्स एसोसिएशन (AIISCA) के संस्थापक अध्यक्ष, दलित आंदोलन की वर्तमान संकटपूर्ण स्थिति पर गंभीर चिंतन प्रस्तुत करते हैं। “पतन से अनुशासन की ओर” विषय के अंतर्गत, वे अंबेडकरवादी राजनीति में विचारधारा की ढील, संगठनात्मक विखंडन और राजनीतिक जड़ता पर स्पष्ट और तीखा विश्लेषण करते हैं।
AIISCA को वे एक आवश्यक राजनीतिक हस्तक्षेप के रूप में प्रस्तुत करते हैं—एक ऐसा मंच जो अनुशासित, विचारधारात्मक रूप से स्पष्ट और सामूहिक नेतृत्व के पुनर्गठन के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है। यह भाषण केवल एक चेतावनी नहीं, बल्कि बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर के मूल्यों पर आधारित एक पुनर्निर्माण का स्पष्ट खाका है।
यह क्षण केवल एक सम्मेलन नहीं, बल्कि आंदोलन को नए आधारों पर संगठित करने की दिशा में एक ऐतिहासिक कदम है।
#AIISCA #RahulSonpimple #AmbedkaritePolitics #DalitMovement #JaiBhim

Dr. Rahul Sonpimple | From Decline to Discipline: Rebuilding the Dalit Movement the Ambedkarite Way

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Prashant Randive, AIISCA Maharashtra President, talks about AIISCA’s role to unite Scheduled Castes at national level. The importance of building long-term institutions for students of the present as well as upcoming generations. He speaks regarding the work of Savitribai Phule Resource Center and The Ambedkarian Chronicle in this respect.

Prashant Randive | AIISCA’s Role to Unite Scheduled Castes and Build Seminal Institutions

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, I spoke about the urgent necessity of building a collective Ambedkarite movement under the banner of AIISCA.
In these challenging times, when our communities are facing increasing repression and appropriation, we must unite across regions and institutions. AIISCA is not just an organization—it is a political vision rooted in Babasaheb’s ideals.
We need AIISCA because it gives us a national platform to assert our voice, share our struggles, and build solidarities across caste, class, and geography.
Now more than ever, we must organize nationally—not in fragments but with a united resolve—to confront Brahmanical hegemony, institutional injustice, and capitalist exploitation.
It is time to reclaim our politics. It is time to rise together.
- Ashutosh Vidrohi

Ashutosh Vidrohi | Need of Ambedkarite National Grassroots Front

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Atish Bansode, Ambedkarite activist from Solapur, talks about the history of Solapur in the context of Ambedkarite movement.
There is a crisis of unity amongst Dalit youths in the college due to differences in education and culture which they got before coming to that place. AIISCA's role is to unite and reconcile these voices to a coherent and strong front under its umbrella.

Atish Bansode | The Role of AIISCA For Uniting Dalit Youth

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Jyoti Kumari, from Bihar, talks about the role of AIISCA in widening the reach of local issues to national level and forming solidarity throughout the country.

Jyoti Kumari | AIISCA’s Role in Lifting Local Issues to The National Level

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Nilesh Mohite talks about the history and current status of the Ambedkarite mission, highlighting his efforts to disseminate the principles of the Dalit Panther movement to a wider audience. He emphasized the essential qualities of effective leadership within the mission, outlining key considerations for evaluating and embracing leadership roles. Additionally, Mohite shared valuable experiences from his work in the Ambedkarite movement, offering practical perspectives on its implementation and impact.

Nilesh Mohite | Advancing the Ambedkarite Mission: Insights and Experiences

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Prashant Suryavanshi, from Satyashodhak Maitri Sangh, Pune, talks about the need of unlearning by activists engaged in Ambedkarite movement as per relevant times. In the same line, he focuses on reworking of ideas and strategies drawing from the example of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He also speaks about the work being done by AIISCA’s initiative Savitribai Phule Resource Center.

Prashant Suryavanshi | Continuous Reworking of Ideas Within Ambedkarite Movement

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Rahul Pagare talks about the importance of controlling and owning the narrative in the Ambedkarite movement. He points out the lack of any substantial and independent Ambedkarite narrative and issues raised through culture, media and political space from the last 30 years. He also shares about the work done by The Ambedkarian Chronicle in the same context.

Rahul Pagare | Building Ambedkarite Youth Movement Amidst A Decline In Political Space

At AIISCA's 1st Ambedkarite Youth Convention, Dr. Rahul Sonpimple, AIISCA president, talks about the history of Ambedkarite youth movement right from the launch of All India Scheduled Castes Student Federation in 1942. He also explains about the failure of the middle class in addressing the caste question in everyday form. In the same line, he puts forward a strategy to fight fearlessly, through the same mindset which Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar envisioned in Samata Sainik Dal.

He stresses on the most ignored reality of privatisation in the context of reservations, talking about rapid capture and rupture of the public sector by upper castes industrialists after liberalisation in the 1990s.

Dr. Rahul Sonpimple | The Role of Youth in Ambedkarite Movement

Vishal Sarpe, AIISCA Vice-President and Prashant Randive, AIISCA Maharashtra's President present a brief overview of AIISCA's mission and grassroots level work: From its launch in 2023 till May 2025.

Vishal Sarpe and Prashant Randive | A Brief Overview of AIISCA and its Grassroots Level Work

Official Soundcloud handle of All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association (AIISCA)

Dr. Rahul Sonpimple | From Decline to Discipline: Rebuilding the Dalit Movement the Ambedkarite Way

AIISCA

Related tracks