09-05-2012, 01:26 PM
A MULTIFACETED PERSONALITY
Counting on the names of political leaders, in Indian history dr.b.r.ambedkar is among the top personalities to be in the list. But we seem to have forgotten that he was not just a militant Dalit, but also a wise democrat, whose life and thought can profitably be studied by all Indians, regardless of the caste or religion to which they belong. He was a great patriot. The nationalist leader who was front-line fighter for Indian independence movement was alive to the phenomenon of social inequality in Indian society. He was conscious of the fact that India as a nation would remain weak structurally if the prevailing inequalities are not wiped out.
B.R.AMBEDKAR was born on 14 April 1891 popularly also known as Babasaheb, in a poor Mahar (considered an untouchable caste) family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna – the categorization of Hindu society into four varnas – and the Hindu caste system.Babasaheb was a multifaceted personality. He was not only a political leader but was an, Indian jurist philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. 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 the ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra They belonged to the Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to intense socio-economic discriminationc.Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company.
Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segregated and given no attention or assistance by the teachers. Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died.Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a higher school. Bhimrao Sakpal Ambavadekar the surname comes from his native village 'Ambavade' in Ratnagiri District.His Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname 'Ambedkar' in school records.
Ambedkar married in 1906, and the family moved to Bombay, he did his high schooling from Government High School near Elphinstone Road .he excelled in his studies but he did not liked the fact of discrimaination and segregation of untouchables. In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and entered the University Of Bombay, becoming one of the first persons of untouchable origin to enter a college in India. This success provoked celebrations in his community and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by his teacher Krishnaji Arjun Keluskar also known as Dada Keluskar, a Maratha caste scholar.By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government.
In 1913 he received Baroda State Scholarship of 11.50 British pounds a month for three years to join the Politics Department of Columbia University a postgraduate student. In New York he stayed at Livingston Hall with his friend Naval Bhathena, a Parsi. He passed his MA exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology as other subjects of study.t
Eventually earning law degrees and multiple 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 so-called untouchables. He is regarded as a Bodhisattva by some Indian Buddhists, though he never claimed himself to be a Bodhisattva.
While practicing law in the Bombay High Court he tried to uplift the untouchables in order to educate them. By 1927 he led moments against untouchability and satyagrahs for the upliftment of untouchables.
During second round table conference ,1932 ambedkar demanded seprate electorate for untouchables,but gandhiji was against it. When british agreed for seprate electorate ,gandhiji started fasting in pune jail.due to this babasaheb withdrew his request ,although some seats were reserved for untouchables.
In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Mumbai, a position he held for two years.he had his own library stocked with around 50,000 books. n 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which won 15 seats in the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. He published his book The Annihilation of Caste .Attaining immense popular success, Ambedkar's work strongly criticized Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general. Ambedkar intensified his attacks on Gandhi and the Congress, hypocrisy. n his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of the Shudras i.e. the lowest caste in hierarchy of Hindu caste system. He also emphasised how Shudras are separate from Untouchables. Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the elections held in 1946 for the Constituent Assembly of India.
Between 1941-1945 he published many books criticising Pakistan and muslims and justifying the partition of india.he also criticised polygamy,child marriage in muslim society and regarded it more of social evils than hindu society.
When india got Independence on 15 August 1947,the responsibility of drafting the constitution was assigned to Dr. Ambedkar, the all time great constitutional expert,which he accepted The Draft constitution was discussed and analysed in the Constituent Assembly. The political leaders thoroughly realised that India neither geographically nor politically a unified country. But having wrested freedom from the British rule, they wanted to create a new India based on justice, liberty, equality and fraternity which is evident from the Preamble of the Constitution of India. On 29 August, Ambedkar was appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write India's new Constitution.
Our republic owes its existence to a constitution whose drafting was overseen by Ambedkar. In his last speech to the Constituent Assembly—delivered on November 25, 1949—Ambedkar issued three warnings
that are compellingly relevant to the predicament that the nation finds itself in today. First, he urged his copatriots to “abandon the bloody methods of revolution”. In the circumstances of colonial rule, there were grounds for taking to the streets to protest, and even perhaps to use violence. But with the coming of a free, sovereign and democratic republic, wrote Ambedkar, “there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us”. Ambedkar would have been appalled by the activities of his fellow Maharashtrian, Raj Thackeray. But he would have had no time either for the Maoists, who claim to speak on behalf of the disadvantaged. He would have urged them to persuade rather than coerce citizens to their point of view, to abandon the gun and enter the democratic process that the Constitution had legitimised. At the same time, Ambedkar would have been sharply critical of the conduct of the mainstream political parties themselves. In that final speech to the Constituent Assembly, he invoked John Stuart Mill in asking Indians not “to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions”. There was “nothing wrong”, said Ambedkar, “IN BEING GRATEFUL TO GREAT MEN WHO HAVE GRATEFULNESS”. His worry was that in India, “bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.”
In 1950,ambdekar turned his full attention towards Buddhism after studying it whole life.he wrote a book on Buddhism and as soon as it finished, he planned to make his formal conversion to Buddhism. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dharma, in 1956.
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Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in 1954 owing to diabetes and failing eyesight. He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his health. His health worsened during 1955. Ambedkar died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 at his home in Delhi.
Ambedkar was survived by his second wife Savita Ambedkar (née Sharda Kabir), who converted to Buddhism with him and died as a Buddhist in 2002; his son Yashwant (known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar); and his daughter-in-law Meera Tai Ambedkar. Ambedkar's grandson, who is the national president of the Indian Buddhist Association.
His birthday is celebrated as a public holiday known as ambedkar jayanti or bhim jayanti. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Many public institutions are named in his honour, such as the Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad. Dr BR Ambedkar University in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh; B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur; the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar; the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport; the Tamil nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University in Tamilnadu; and the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College in Chennai, Tamilnadu. A large official portrait of Ambedkar is on display in the Indian Parliament building.
On the anniversary of his birth (14 April) and death (6 December), 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!