Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, writer, philosopher, scholar, social reformer, economist and a political icon. He is known for fighting for the rights of the socially backward castes, and working for the eradication of untouchability in India. He also headed the drafting committee for the Constitution of India and also served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement in India after renouncing Hinduism. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. 

Birth: 14 April 1891, Dr Ambedkar Nagar

Death: 6th December 1956

Education: University of Mumbai (BA, MA); Columbia University (MA, PhD); London School of Economics (MSc, DSc)

Spouses: Savita Ambedkar (m. 1948–1956); Ramabai Ambedkar (m. 1906–1935)

Children: Yashwant Ambedkar

Early Life and Education

Born on 14th April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh, he was the fourteenth and the last child of his parents. Due to being born into the Hindu Mahar caste, he was considered as an “untouchable” in the society and faced several discriminations since childhood. However, out of all his siblings, he was the only one who managed to pass his exams and attend high school. In 1912, he graduated from the University of Bombay in Political Science and Economics, and went on to pursue his masters in America, majoring in economics, and other subjects of Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. 

In October 1916, he enrolled for the Bar course at Gray’s Inn, and simultaneously enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started working on a doctoral thesis. In 1923, he completed a D.Sc. in Economics from University of London, and the same year he was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn.

Fight against Untouchability

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is remembered fondly for fighting for the rights of the dalit castes and helping them in the upliftment of their position in the society. He supported the concept of providing reserved seats for the backward castes and launched a number of periodicals, namely Mooknayak, Bahishkrit Bharat and Equality Janta, in order to spread awareness regarding the prevailing social evils of the society. In 1927, Ambedkar announced that he would launch active movements against untouchability. He conducted public movements and marched up to open up public drinking water resources. He also began a movement for the right of the dalits to enter Hindu temples.
Ambedkar publicly condemned the classic Hindu text, Manusmriti, for ideologically justifying the discrimination based on caste and supporting untouchability. He ceremonially burned the copies of the text, hence 25th December is annually celebrated as the Manusmriti Dahan Din (Manusmriti Burning Day) by Ambedkarites and Dalits.

Political Career

Ambedkar had an extensive and impressive political career. He was included as the law minister in the First Nehru ministry and went on to become the Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the formation of the Indian Constitution. 

In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which contested the 1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly and went on to secure 11 reserved and 3 general seats respectively.

Ambedkar was ultimately included as the law minister of India in the First Nehru ministry after Gandhi recommended his name to Nehru. On 27 September 1951, Ambedkar resigned from Nehru’s cabinet ministry after the Hindu code bill was defeated in parliament.

Later, he contested in the Bombay North first Indian General Election of 1952, but lost to Congress Party candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar. Ambedkar became a member of Rajya Sabha, and tried to enter Lok Sabha again in the by-election of 1954 from Bhandara, but he placed third (the Congress Party won). By the time of the second general election in 1957, Ambedkar had died.

When India gained independence, PM Jawaharlal Nehru invited Ambedkar to serve as the Dominion of India’s Law Minister. Two weeks later, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution for the future Republic of India.

Conversion to Buddhism

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar began devoting his attention to Buddhism around 1950 and travelled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to attend the World Fellowship of Buddhists. He also founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India in 1955. He announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism and he would convert to Buddhism once the book was completed.

Finally he completed his book on Buddhism in 1956, The Buddha and His Dhamma, which was then published posthumously. He had organised a public conversion ceremony for himself and his followers in Nagpur on 14th October 1956. He accepted the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist Monk in the traditional manner and completed his conversion, along with his wife. He also converted 500,000 of his supporters.

Death

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar passed away on 6th December 1956 at his home in Delhi. He had diabetes since 1948, and was bedridden for a period of 5 months in1954 due to medication. He was survived by his second wife Savita Ambedkar and son Yashwant Ambedkar. His funeral was attended by half a million people.

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