Jai Bhim
(alternatively spelled Jay Bhim or Jai Bheem; transl. ”Victory for Bhim”, “Long live Bhim” or “Hail Bhim”) is a slogan and greeting used by followers of B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian scholar, social reformer, Nationalist and the chief architect of the Constitution of India. It refers to Ambedkar’s given name Babasaheb . In 1935, Jai Bhim conceived and developed by Babu L. N. Hardas (1904–1939), a staunch follower of Babasaheb Ambedkar, and the secretary of Samata Sainik Dal. However, its origin is obscure and may date as far back as 1818, well before Ambedkar’s birth.
Jai Bhim is also called as a slogan by some political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Republican Party of India (RPI)and other organizations like Congress.
History
The slogan ‘Jai Bhim’ was given by Babu Hardas in 1935. It is recorded that Babu Hardas L. N. (Laxman Nagarale) himself gave the slogan of ‘Jai Bhim’ in Ramchandra Kshirsagar’s book Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders. In 1938, a meeting was held at Makranpur in Kannad taluka of Aurangabad district by Bhausaheb More, an activist of the Ambedkarite movement. In this meeting, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was also present. In that meeting, More told the people that from now on, we will only say ‘Jai Bhim’ while greeting each other. Former Judge and scholar of the Dalit movement Suresh Ghorpade said, “The salutation ‘Jai Bhim’ started during Dr. Ambedkar’s lifetime. Activists of the Ambedkarite movement used to call each other ‘Jai Bhim’ but some activists also directly salutated Dr. Ambedkar as ‘Jai Bhim’.”
Dr. Narendra Jadhav says, “The slogan of Jai Bhim was given by Babu Hardas. It is an important triumph for all Dalits. ‘Jai Bhim’ has become a symbol of struggle, it has become a cultural identity as well as a political identity, it also shows the relationship with the Ambedkarite movement, this utterance has become a symbol of all kinds of identities. I think ‘Jai Bhim’ has become the overall identity of the revolution,”said Uttam Kamble.
In 1946, on the occasion of the birthday celebrations of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, for the time in the presence of Dr. Ambedkar, Jai Bhim was proclaimed by Dalit Poet Bihari Lal Harit (1913–1999) through a poem in Gandhi Ground, Opp. Old Delhi Railway Station.
Popular culture
Millions of songs are sung on the word ‘Jai Bhim’ in Maharashtra.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi during Ambedkar Jayanti festival and election rallies greets the citizen with Jai Bhim. Modi paid tributes to Ambedkar and raised the ‘Jai Bhim’ slogan before starting his speech.
The meaning of ‘Jai Bhim’ is explained in the 2021 Tamil film Jai Bhim, which is dedicated to Ambedkar. It says,
- Jai Bhim means light….
- Jai Bhim means love….
- Jai Bhim means journey
- From darkness to light….
- Jai Bhim means tears
- Of billions of people!