Baba Saheb Ambedkar
Remembering
Baba Saheb Ambedkar
14th
April marks the Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Father of the
Indian Constitution. Popularly known as Baba Saheb Ambedkar, he was an eminent
jurist, a revolutionary social thinker and a charismatic leader of the masses.
As the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Ambedkar imbued the nation’s
founding document with visionary prescience. Ambedkar’s life was a tribute to
the nation’s founding vision of inclusion and secularism for he fought
throughout his life against social evils like untouchablity. He ably campaigned
for the rights of the Dalits and other socially backward classes. For his
extraordinary breadth of vision and erudition, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru appointed Dr. Ambedkar as the nation’s first Law Minister. Ambedkar was
born on 14 April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh and subsequently his family to Satara
in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar’s
early experiences were life changing and would later influence the destiny of a
young nation. After graduating in Political Science and Economics from Bombay
University in 1912, Ambedkar went to the United States for higher studies. In
1920, he went to England where he earned a D.Sc at the London School of
Economics. In 1927, the brilliant academician earned a doctorate from the
University of Columbia.
Amidst
the brilliance of his academic accomplishments, he was deeply troubled by the
legacy of discrimination against the weaker classes of society. It was also a
time of great political and nationalist churning with Mahatma Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose leading the freedom struggle. Bhim Rao
decided to take on the fight against discrimination that was threatening to
divide the nation. He began to reach out to people and enlighten them about the
prevalent social evils. Much of the credit in making the Constitution an
instrument of national vision, inclusion and transformation goes to Dr.
Ambedkar. In that sense, he sought to unify India’s society and redefine and
transform relationships between people of all races, faiths and creed.
On
6 December 1956, Dr. Ambedkar breathed his last. In 1990, he was posthumously
awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s
intellectual legacy continues to inspire social scientists, thinkers and nation
builders.
#Ambedkar #Thinkers #NationBuilders #BharatRatna #SubhashBose #JawaharlalNehru #BhimRao #Society #MadhyaPradesh
Comments
Post a Comment