Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar :( 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956),
popularly known as Babasaheb, was
an Indian jurist, politician, philosopher, anthropologist, historian and
economist. A revivalist for Buddhism in India, he inspired the Modern Buddhist movement.
As independent India's first law minister, he was principal architect of the Constitution of India.
Born into a poor Mahar family,
Ambedkar campaigned against social discrimination, the Indian caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited
with providing a spark for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of lower
caste members to Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990.
Eventually earning a law degree and doctorates for his study and research in
law, economics and political science from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar gained a reputation as a scholar and
practiced law for a few years, later campaigning by publishing journals
advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.
Ambedkar was born in the town
and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh). He was the 14th and last child of Ramji
Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai. His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade
(Mandangad taluka) in Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Mahar caste, who were
treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination. Ambedkar's
ancestors had long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment.
In 1897, Ambedkar's family
moved to Bombay where Ambedkar became the only untouchable enrolled at
Elphinstone High School. In 1906, his marriage to a nine-year old girl,
Ramabai, was arranged.
In 1907, he passed his matriculation
examination and in the following year he entered Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to
the University of Bombay, becoming the first from his untouchable
community to do so.He obtained his degree in economics and political science
from Bombay University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda
state government. His wife, by then 15 years old, had just moved his young
family and started work, when he had to quickly return to Mumbai to see his
ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.
In 1913, he moved to the United States. He had
been awarded a Baroda State Scholarship of £11.50 (Sterling) per month for
three years under a scheme established by the Gaekwar of Baroda that
was designed to provide opportunities for postgraduate education at Columbia University in New York City. Soon after arriving there he settled in rooms at Livingston Hall with Naval Bhathena, a Parsi who was to be a
lifelong friend. He passed his M.A. exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics,
with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology as other subjects of
study; he presented a thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. In 1916 he
completed his second thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and
Analytical Study for another M.A. and finally he received his PhD in
Economics in 1917 for his third thesis, after he left for London. On 9 May, he
read his paper Castes in India:
Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar conducted by the
anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser. In October 1916 he enrolled for the Bar
course at Gray's Inn, and also at the same time enrolled at the London School
of Economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. But in June 1917 he
was obliged to go back to India as the term of his scholarship from Baroda
ended. However, he was given permission to return to submit his thesis within
four years. His thesis was on the "Indian Rupee." Ambedkar came back
to London at the first opportunity and completed his studies. At the London
School of Economics he took a Master's degree in 1921 and in 1923 he took his
D.Sc.in Economics, and the same year he was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn.
His third and fourth Doctorates (Ll.D, Columbia, 1952 and Ll.D., Osmania, 1953)
were conferred honoris causa.
Ambedkar went on to work as a
legal professional. In 1926 he successfully defended three non-Brahmin leaders
who had accused the Brahmin community of ruining India and were then subsequently
sued for libel. Dhananjay Keer notes that "The
victory was resounding, both socially and individually, for the clients and the
Doctor".
By 1927 Ambedkar decided to
launch active movements against untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to
open up and share public drinking water resources. He also began a struggle for
the right to enter Hindu temples. He led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community
to draw water from the main water tank of the town.
In 1930, Ambedkar launched Kalaram Temple
movement. This was a non-violent movement for which he was preparing for three
months. About 15000 volunteers assembled at Kalaram Temple satygraha making one of the greatest processions of Nashik. The
procession was headed by a military band, a batch of scouts, women and men
walked in discipline, order and determination to see the god for the first
time. When they reached to gate, the gates were closed by brahmin authorities.
This movement was for human dignity and self-respect.
In 1935, Ambedkar was
appointed principal of the Government Law College, Mumbai, a position he held for two years. Settling in
Mumbai, Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a house, and stocked his personal
library with more than 50,000 books. His wife Ramabai died after a long
illness in the same year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a
pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling
her that he would create a new Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's
Pandharpur which treated them as untouchables. Speaking at the Yeola Conversion
Conference on 13 October in Nasik, Ambedkar announced his intention to convert
to a different religion and exhorted his followers to leave Hinduism. He repeats his message at numerous
public meetings across India.
In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which contested in the 1937 Bombay election
to the Central Legislative Assembly for the 13 reserved and 4 general seats
and securing 11 and 3 seats respectively.
Ambedkar published his book Annihilation of Caste in the same year. It strongly criticised
Hindu orthodox religious leaders, the caste system in general and included
"a rebuke of Gandhi" on the subject.
Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory
Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.
Ambedkar was also critical of
Islam and its practices in South Asia. While justifying the Partition of India, he condemned the practice of child marriage,
as well as the mistreatment of women, in Muslim society.
Upon India's Transfer of
Power by British Government to leaders of High Cast on 15 August 1947, the new
Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first Law
Minister, which he accepted. On 29 August, he was appointed Chairman of the
Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write India's new
Constitution.
Ambedkar resigned from the
cabinet in 1951 following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu
Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the laws of inheritance
and marriage. Ambedkar independently contested an election in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha,
but was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house, of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in
March 1952 and would remain as member till death.
Ambedkar was an economist by
training and until 1921 his career was as a professional economist. It was
after that time that he became a political leader. He wrote three scholarly
books on economics:
·
Administration
and Finance of the East India Company,
·
The
Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India, and
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI), formed in 1934, was based on the ideas that Ambedkar presented to the
Hilton Young Commission.
Ambedkar was against Article
370 in the Constitution, which gives a special status to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir, and it was put against his wishes.
After the completion of the
drafting of India's constitution, Ambedkar went to Bombay for treatment. He was
suffering from lack of sleep, had neurotic pain in his legs and was taking both insulin and homeopathic medicines. There he met Dr. Sharada Kabir, a Saraswat
Brahmin, whom he married on 15 April 1948, at his home in New Delhi.
Doctors recommended that he needed a companion who was both a good cook and a
possessor of medical knowledge and could thus take care of him. She adopted the
name Savita Ambedkar and took care of him for the rest of his life.
Since 1948, Ambedkar had been
suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in
1954 owing to side-effects from his medication and failing eyesight. He had
been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his
health. His health worsened during 1955. Three days after completing his final
manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, Ambedkar died in his sleep on 6 December 1956
at his home in Delhi.
A Buddhist cremationwas
organised for him at Dadar Chowpatty beach on 7 December, attended by half a
million sorrowing people. A conversion program was supposed to be
organised on 16 December 1956. So, those who had attended the cremation
were also converted to Buddhism at the same place.
Ambedkar was survived by his second wife, who
died in 2003. and his son Yashwant (known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar). Ambedkar's
grandson, Ambedkar Prakash Yashwant, is the chief-adviser of the Buddhist Society
of India, leads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and has
served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
On the anniversary of his
birth and death, and on Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din (14 October) at Nagpur, at
least half a million people gather to pay homage to him at his memorial in
Mumbai. Thousands of bookshops are set up, and books are sold. His message to
his followers was "Educate!,Organize!,Agitate!".
RED SALUTE to the Great
Leader
C.Sunish.
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