Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

14 th. April is the birth anniversary of  Babasaheb. No doubt he was the worthy son of India who suffered great hardship and difficulty in his making as such. Since his early school days he nourished bitter memories of discrimination of sorts. He was made to feel untouchable in course of interaction within and outside school. It can easily be assessed that child Bhimrao grew mature with a feeling that no matter what he may attain by virtue of his merit and talent the outlook of the rest of the Hindu was not going to change because of the age old practice of untouchability in hindu society. At the same time it must be acknowledged that the same hindu society got for him higher education abroad by way of scholarship from erstwhile Baroda State. But for this valuable support he would not have been that Ambedkar the world knows him today. This feeling of his against the irrational hindu practice of untouchability and the like not only continued throughout his academic, professional and political grooming but also gradually solidified to the extent of his conversion to Buddhism.A person who primarily was an economist par excellence with exquisite bent of legal acumen earning him the prestige of not only the first Law Minister of India but also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly kept himself as a perpetual dissenter of the caste ridden hindu society that India is composed of. A Person who rose to the occasion to annihilate the caste by his prolific writings, discourse and political actions ultimately gave way and chose to come out of that cast fold by way of conversion. Can hindu society be not reformed from within? It is in this context also his political thoughts and actions are required to be scrutinized. Not much seems to have been done on this count. Also why his meritorious contributions in the field of economics has been allowed to take a backseat amidst his social concerns is a matter of both concern and research.
R.R.Prabhakar.
13.04.2018.