Today the nation celebrates the 131st birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar. An Indian jurist, politician, reformer, and political activist Dr. Ambedkar are known as the father of the Indian constitution.
He was born on 14th April 1891 at Mhow, near Indore in Central province (present-day Madhya Pradesh). He was born in a Dalit Mahar family and his life was marked by struggles. Mahars were among the several untouchable castes of those times in Maharashtra…He did his schooling at Elphinstone High School. Afterward, he entered Elphinstone College which was affiliated with the University of Bombay. He obtained a degree in economics and political science from Bombay University. He worked for the upliftment of the untouchables. He was the voice of the depressed classes. In 1932 he signed the Poona pact. The pact abandoned the idea of separate electorates for depressed classes. He worked for the empowerment of Dalits.
He was India’s first minister for law and order. He worked for women. He put a ban on the employment of women for underground work in coal mines He believed that women should be considered equal and on par with men. He worked towards bringing equal pay for equal work and reducing working hours to 48 hours per week. He resigned as the law minister when his women’s rights bill was opposed by the Parliament.
He was also a foreign policy strategist. In his Scheduled Class Federation, he had a specific column that talked about the problems of Indian foreign policies.
He is considered the father of the Indian constitution. He knew the constitutions of many different countries and chaired the drafting committee of the Constitutional Assembly. The period 14 April 1990-to 14 April 1991 was the year of social justice. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1990.
The need of the hour is Ambedkar values.”…if we want to build up unity, it is not by devising a day, however, sacred that day maybe, when both Hindus and Mahomedans will come to the same polling booth. If we want really to devise some means to build up unity, what we should do is break up the social barrier”. These lines written by Ambedkar should be an eye-opener. India today is seeing young Muslim women of Karnataka being denied their right to education, and Muslim traders being banned from fairs. “Educate, Agitate and Organize” should be our slogan.
