Mangu Ram (Aged 94) also known as Mugowalia was born on January 14, 1886, in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. He was born to Harman Dass and Atri in a Chamar family. Harman Dass abandoned the traditional Chamar Caste occupation of Leather craft. Atri died when Mugowalia was three years old. Harman Dass faced discrimination at every step of his life, so he did not want his son to face the same problems and enrolled him in school for early education. Initially, Mangu Ram was taught by a village saint (Sadhu) until the age of seven. He attended schools in the Mugowal area and Dehradun. In most of the schools, Mangu Ram was the only Dalit student.
He was forced to sit in the back of the classroom, or even in a separate room, and had to listen through the open door. When he attended high school in Bajwara, he was forced to stay outside the building and had to listen to the classes through the windows. Once when he came inside during a heavy hailstorm, the Brahman teacher beat him and put all the classroom furniture, which he had “polluted” by his presence, outside in the rain to be literally and ritually washed clean.
Nonetheless, Mangu Ram was a good student, he came third in his class in primary school. While the other students were encouraged to become patwaris (village record-keeper) or to seek higher education, Mangu Ram was encouraged to leave school and help his father with a more proper “Chamar task.”
In 1925, after returning from the US, Babu Mangoo Ram started teaching in a primary school in his home village of Mugowal. He named the school Ad Dharm School. It was the same school where Babu Mangu Ram first convened the meeting that formally launched the Ad Dharam Movement. The establishment of the movement was to raise their voice against the society that put Dalits at the bottom of the social structure. It was a glorious step by Dalits to attain equality in the caste-laden society. He passed away on April 22, 1980.
Mangu Ram Mugowalia
(1886 – 1980) – (Punjab)
Mangu Ram (Aged 94) also known as Mugowalia was born on January 14, 1886, in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. He was born to Harman Dass and Atri in a Chamar family. Harman Dass abandoned the traditional Chamar Caste occupation of Leather craft. Atri died when Mugowalia was three years old. Harman Dass faced discrimination at every step of his life, so he did not want his son to face the same problems and enrolled him in school for early education. Initially, Mangu Ram was taught by a village saint (Sadhu) until the age of seven. He attended schools in the Mugowal area and Dehradun. In most of the schools, Mangu Ram was the only Dalit student.
He was forced to sit in the back of the classroom, or even in a separate room, and had to listen through the open door. When he attended high school in Bajwara, he was forced to stay outside the building and had to listen to the classes through the windows. Once when he came inside during a heavy hailstorm, the Brahman teacher beat him and put all the classroom furniture, which he had “polluted” by his presence, outside in the rain to be literally and ritually washed clean.
Nonetheless, Mangu Ram was a good student, he came third in his class in primary school. While the other students were encouraged to become patwaris (village record-keeper) or to seek higher education, Mangu Ram was encouraged to leave school and help his father with a more proper “Chamar task.”
In 1925, after returning from the US, Babu Mangoo Ram started teaching in a primary school in his home village of Mugowal. He named the school Ad Dharm School. It was the same school where Babu Mangu Ram first convened the meeting that formally launched the Ad Dharam Movement. The establishment of the movement was to raise their voice against the society that put Dalits at the bottom of the social structure. It was a glorious step by Dalits to attain equality in the caste-laden society. He passed away on April 22, 1980.
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