Dr. B.R. AMBEDKAR
Born: April 14, 1891
Died: December 6, 1956
Achievements:
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is viewed as
messiah of dalits and downtrodden in India. He was the chairman of the
drafting committee that was constituted by the Constituent Assembly in
1947 to draft a constitution for the independent India. He played a
seminal role in the framing of the constitution. Bhimrao Ambedkar was
also the first Law Minister of India. For his yeoman service to the
nation, B.R. Ambedkar was bestowed with Bharat Ratna in 1990.
Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on
April 14, 1891 in Mhow (presently in Madhya Pradesh). He was the
fourteenth child of Ramji and Bhimabai Sakpal Ambavedkar. B.R. Ambedkar
belonged to the "untouchable" Mahar Caste. His father and grandfather
served in the British Army. In those days, the government ensured that
all the army personnel and their children were educated and ran special
schools for this purpose. This ensured good education for Bhimrao
Ambedkar, which would have otherwise been denied to him by the virtue of
his caste.
Bhimrao Ambedkar
experienced caste discrimination right from the childhood. After his
retirement, Bhimrao's father settled in Satara Maharashtra. Bhimrao was
enrolled in the local school. Here, he had to sit on the floor in one
corner in the classroom and teachers would not touch his notebooks. In
spite of these hardships, Bhimrao continued his studies and passed his
Matriculation examination from Bombay University with flying colours in
1908. Bhim Rao Ambedkar joined the Elphinstone College for further
education. In 1912, he graduated in Political Science and Economics from
Bombay University and got a job in Baroda.
In 1913, Bhimrao Ambedkar lost
his father. In the same year Maharaja of Baroda awarded scholarship to
Bhim Rao Ambedkar and sent him to America for further studies. Bhimrao
reached New York in July 1913. For the first time in his life, Bhim Rao
was not demeaned for being a Mahar. He immersed himself in the studies
and attained a degree in Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Philosophy
from Columbia University in 1916 for his thesis "National Dividend for
India: A Historical and Analytical Study." From America, Dr.Ambedkar
proceeded to London to study economics and political science. But the
Baroda government terminated his scholarship and recalled him back.
The Maharaja of Baroda appointed
Dr. Ambedkar as his political secretary. But no one would take orders
from him because he was a Mahar. Bhimrao Ambedkar returned to Bombay in
November 1917. With the help of Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, a sympathizer
of the cause for the upliftment of the depressed classes, he started a
fortnightly newspaper, the "Mooknayak" (Dumb Hero) on January 31, 1920.
The Maharaja also convened many meetings and conferences of the
"untouchables" which Bhimrao addressed. In September 1920, after
accumulating sufficient funds, Ambedkar went back to London to complete
his studies. He became a barrister and got a Doctorate in science.
After completing his studies in
London, Ambedkar returned to India. In July 1924, he founded the
Bahishkrit Hitkaraini Sabha (Outcastes Welfare Association). The aim of
the Sabha was to uplift the downtrodden socially and politically and
bring them to the level of the others in the Indian society. In 1927, he
led the Mahad March at the Chowdar Tank at Colaba, near Bombay, to give
the untouchables the right to draw water from the public tank where he
burnt copies of the 'Manusmriti' publicly.
In 1929, Ambedkar made the
controversial decision to co-operate with the all-British Simon
Commission which was to look into setting up a responsible Indian
Government in India. The Congress decided to boycott the Commission and
drafted its own version of a constitution for free India. The Congress
version had no provisions for the depressed classes. Ambedkar became
more skeptical of the Congress's commitment to safeguard the rights of
the depressed classes.
When a separate electorate was
announced for the depressed classes under Ramsay McDonald 'Communal
Award', Gandhiji went on a fast unto death against this decision.
Leaders rushed to Dr. Ambedkar to drop his demand. On September 24,
1932, Dr. Ambedkar and Gandhiji reached an understanding, which became
the famous Poona Pact. According to the pact the separate electorate
demand was replaced with special concessions like reserved seats in the
regional legislative assemblies and Central Council of States.
Dr. Ambedkar attended all the
three Round Table Conferences in London and forcefully argued for the
welfare of the "untouchables". Meanwhile, British Government decided to
hold provincial elections in 1937. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar set up the
"Independent Labor Party" in August 1936 to contest the elections in the
Bombay province. He and many candidates of his party were elected to
the Bombay Legislative Assembly.
In
1937, Dr. Ambedkar introduced a Bill to abolish the "khoti" system of
land tenure in the Konkan region, the serfdom of agricultural tenants
and the Mahar "watan" system of working for the Government as slaves. A
clause of an agrarian bill referred to the depressed classes as
"Harijans," or people of God. Bhimrao was strongly opposed to this title
for the untouchables. He argued that if the "untouchables" were people
of God then all others would be people of monsters. He was against any
such reference. But the Indian National Congress succeeded in
introducing the term Harijan. Ambedkar felt bitter that they could not
have any say in what they were called.
In 1947, when India became
independent, the first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Dr.
Bhimrao Ambedkar, who had been elected as a Member of the Constituent
Assembly from Bengal, to join his Cabinet as a Law Minister. The
Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a
committee and Dr. Ambedkar was elected as Chairman of this Drafting
Committee. In February 1948, Dr. Ambedkar presented the Draft
Constitution before the people of India; it was adopted on November 26,
1949.
In October 1948, Dr. Ambedkar
submitted the Hindu Code Bill to the Constituent Assembly in an attempt
to codify the Hindu law. The Bill caused great divisions even in the
Congress party. Consideration for the bill was postponed to September
1951. When the Bill was taken up it was truncated. A dejected Ambedkar
relinquished his position as Law Minister.
On May 24, 1956, on the occasion
of Buddha Jayanti, he declared in Bombay, that he would adopt Buddhism
in October. On 0ctober 14, 1956 he embraced Buddhism along with many of
his followers. On December 6, 1956, Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar died
peacefully in his sleep.
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