The gifted mind of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar would have shone forth in any epoch and in any society. He came on the Indian scene when the tide of socio-political revolution was sweeping the land and he took it at the flood. The accident of his birth as an 'untouchable' gave a touch of poetic justice to the role he played during India's transition from a colony to a republic. Ambedkar was born in a Mahar family on April 14, 1891 at Mhow. His father was a Subedar in the Mahar regiment.
As a child he was very studious and painstaking having realised at an early age that a sound education was the only means of bettering his lot. He said later, 'nobody can remove our grievances, as well as we can'. After graduation, he went on a scholarship to Columbia University at the age of 22. A thesis on Provincial Finance in British India, which earned him a Doctorate in Philosophy, capped his academic career at Columbia. He persued his studies in Economics and Law at London and was eventually called to the Bar from Gray's Inn. He returned to India in 1923 and started a campaign to remove the disabilities from which the Harijans were suffering.
Politically, he stood for a united self-governing community of Indians with special constitutional safeguards for the depressed classes. He was a socialist, but socialism meant little to him without religious and social equality. Though it might have appeared that Dr. Ambedkar took extreme positions on social and political matters, it is a tribute to his patriotism and erudiction that independent India decided to make use of his talents to consolidate the gains of freedom. As Minister of Law and chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar played a leading part in the framing of the Indian Constitution. An authority on Constitutional Law, his influence in politics, social reform, education and religion has been fundamental. Dr. Ambedkar passed away on the 6th December 1956.
His 75th birth anniversary falls on the 14th April 1966 and the P & T issued a commemorative stamp in honour of Dr. BR Ambedkar.
Thank you for posting Babasaheb's stamps on your blog. However, I wanted to let you know that 'Harijan' word is insulting to Ambedkarite community. It is rejected by the community. We can talk via email if you like to know what it connotates and why it is insulting. A more appropriate word would be either 'Dalit' or marginalized communities because he fought for labour rights, rights of women apart from working for Dalit rights. Reducing him to a Dalit icon is unfair by educated people like us. Also, association of 'disabilities from which Harijan's were suffering' is not right either. It should not refer to disabilities as any disability is internal (whether physical or psychological) however the condition that Dalits are in are external due to Hindu Caste system.
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