Phule’s life and thought can be understood as a constitutional project. Reading English classic texts furnished him with a vocabulary through which he could begin to articulate claims of rights, equality, and justice. This positioned Phule as one of the earliest Indian thinkers to envision constitutional responses to the oppression of marginalised communities. AdvertisementPhule’s constitutional imagination extended to the material conditions of labour and agrarian life. B R Ambedkar drew upon his vision of social transformation and gave it concrete expression in constitutional guarantees.

Source: Indian Express April 08, 2026 03:50 UTC