On December 6, 1956, India lost a great soul and a legendary figure who passed away at his home in Delhi; he was none other than Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar), popularly known as Babasaheb/Ambedkar-Saheb. Dr. Babasaheb was born on April 14, 1891, at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. Now, Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a cantonment. I had the opportunity to visit his birthplace for academic purposes.
From time to time, many genius people were born in India and all were not born with a silver spoon as many had to struggle in their lives owing to economic, social, and other issues. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was one such person who had to fight in his life because of social stigma (caste issue), not economic. With his knowledge, wisdom, and humanitarian feelings, he had proved by caste that one cannot be great and one can be great only by deeds.
Anyway, to commemorate Dr Ambedkar’s valuable contribution to society, December 6 is observed as Mahaparinirvan Diwas across the country.
Babasaheb was fond of reading books, so he purchased about 2,000 old books in New York, also, at the time of the Second Round Table Conference, he bought many books in London and sent them to India in 32 boxes. He had his own library in his house, and it is believed that he lived, took his meals, and even slept in the library.
Being an eminent economist and endowed with foresight, Dr. Ambedkar Saheb contributed substantially to the formulation of a postwar economic development plan in general and water resources and electric-power development in particular. Another highlighting point is that because of his initiative, the Constitution of India has directed, “no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory, mine or engaged in any hazardous employment”. His views towards family planning and the development of agriculture have great relevance today.
In school days, I read about him feeling bad as he suffered because of caste issues. I read some books and articles about him, and I respect his many sayings. I am presenting here one – “History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.”.
I would like to mention one historical fact for the readers. Both India and Pakistan were created (because of British politics), in the same month, same time only with a day variation, but there was an interesting phenomenon. Dr. Ambedkar was appointed the first Law Minister in the Cabinet of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. What a coincidence, as Pakistan’s first Law and Labour Minister was also from the Scheduled Caste (Hindu) community, Sri Jogendra Nath Mandal, hailing from undivided Bengal. However, both resigned subsequently – Dr. Ambedkar resigned in September 1951 and Jogendra Nath Mandal in October 1950. Sri Mandal later migrated to India, West Bengal.
In 1990, Dr Ambedkar Saheb was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. Although Babasaheb passed away on December 6, 1956, through his activities and contributions, he will be in the hearts of millions of Indians generation after generation.
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
Track2Training 
You must be logged in to post a comment.