P C Sharma
Early Childhood
Bharat Bhoomi, the sacred Mother India is especially blessed to have given birth to divine souls after regular intervals as per need of the hour to deal with the prevalent challenging situations and steering the country out of the turbulent times. Dr Bhim Rao Ram Ji Ambedkar was one of such great sons who incarnated on the Indian soil when the country was passing through difficult times of slavery of not only the British Rulers but was also confronted with nasty problems of untouchability and severe caste based discrimination. He was born on 14-04-1891 in a very ordinary family in Dr Ambedkar Nagar , Mahar. The child was named as Bhim Rao Ram ji Ambedkar and lovingly called as Baba Saheb . He was extraordinarily intelligent, hardworking possessed higher level of self confidence and unflinching determination. Despite extreme hardships and odds he succeeded in achieving unprecedented excellence in the field of education, social reforms and politics. He obtained doctorate degrees in economics from two universities, one from Columbia University and another from London School of Economics. Further simultaneously he was also a prominent scholar of law and political science. In the early days of his career he faced a great deal of socio-economic injustice with courage and gumption. Apart from his personal excellence he adopted the cause of his upliftment of downtrodden elements of society as aim of his life. It remained his sole concern throughout his life span.
Reforms and political contribution
At that point of his time he observed that Hindu society was divided between the rich and poor, high cost and the low cost and the foreign rulers were endeavouring to further strengthen the division and exploit them for their benefit. Astonishingly even today leaders are resorting to these ugly tactics for petty politics. Baba Saheb Ambedkaar was unlike these political leaders as he had no selfish motive. He was compassionate towards downtrodden and suffering brethren. He refused to fall into the trap of foreign rulers. He analysed the problem in a scientific way as a true nationalist. According to his views the Indian traditions and law had been changing with the change of time but as a sequel to the on slaught of foreign invasions for thousand years the leadership didn’t get a chance to rebuild or reform the society which ultimately slipped into prolonged stagnation. Accordingly some of the social evils crept into the social set up where some classes claimed superiority over others and branded them as inferior classes. Subsequently, Revered Dr Ambedkar entered into politics and founded Independent Labour Party on 15.08.1936 and afterwards formed Scheduled Caste Federation in 1942 with a sole purpose of lending support to the millions of low caste people and ultimately succeeded in this noble cause.
Baba Saheb Views on Partition on communal basis
Dr Ambedkar was strongly opposed to the partition of the country on communal basis. He was of the view that it will be unscientific and shall prove disastrous in the long run. But however, when the resolution for partition were passed by the congress working committee and the transfer of population started happening from territories divided and named as Pakistan and India , he powerfully advocated that if at all the country has to be divided there should be complete transfer of population from India to Pakistan and vice versa and if it is not done at this juncture it will lead to a persistent problem for generations together in the coming times. However the leadership of the times paid no heed to his view and suggestion and accordingly country got divided with no complete transfer of population. Right from the day of partition the problems being faced by the country from across the borders as well as from within the country, his opinion and point of view is perfectly proved. His book Pakistan or the partition of India is worth reading. Post independence he was given the assignment of drafting the Constitution which he carried out with outstanding brilliance and drew applause from across the top jurists of the world.
Conversion to Budhism :- He was a strong votary of sweeping reforms in Hinduism and being not satisfied he decided to convert to Buddhism. This decision of Baba sahib immediately prompted the Nizam of Hyderabad to offer Rs.7 crores to win over him and the entire community but revered Dr B R Ambedkar refused to sell himself and his community for money. He was also approached by Christians but he did not succumb to any kind of allurements. He was initiated into Buddhism together with his 3 lakhs companions on 14 October 1956 at Nagpur. On his conversion to Buddhism he stated, “This religion is an integral part of Indian culture itself. I have taken all care to see that this conversion does not harm the country’s culture, history and traditions.” The country shall remain indebted to his farsightedness and the patriotic commitment. Dr B R Ambedkar contribution to the Nation was duly recognized by the Govt. by awarding him the status of Bharat Rattan 1990. He left for his heavenly abode on 6.12.1956. The befitting Homage to revered Baba Sahib on the occasion of his birth anniversary shall be to commit to follow his principles of serving the poor and downtrodden and to always stand in solidarity with the entire Nation. Jai Hind.
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