Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar)

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

No one can forget the jurist, state economist and Dalit leader “Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar ji” of our India country because he spent his whole life in eradicating the evil ideology like casteism and untouchability spread in the society.

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was called by many names like Bhiva, Bhim, Bhimrao, Babasaheb Ambedkar etc.

Bhimrao Ambedkar served as the Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of leader Jawaharlal Nehru. He worked tirelessly for the Dalits, the oppressed, the low castes and the poor to get their rights. He presided over the drafting committee of the Constitution of India.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, who played an important role in the making of the Constitution of India.

Life span

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar ji was born on 14 April 1891, during the British era, in a town called Mahun in Indore district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. His father was Ramji Maloji Sakpal Ji and mother was Bhimabai. His family members were of Marathi origin and followed the Kabir Panth.

Bhimrao ji’s childhood was spent in many difficulties. They belonged to the Mahar caste, at that time this caste was considered untouchable, due to which they had to face discrimination, discrimination, humiliation, social boycott in every way.

Education

He completed his school education with endurance and valor in the face of deplorable situations during his lifetime. He received formal education in Marathi and English. Babasaheb took admission on 7th November 1900 in a government school located at Rajwada Chowk in Satara district of Maharashtra state. That’s why this day is celebrated as Student’s Day. He was called ‘Bhiva’ in school. Babasaheb had studied in this school till the fourth standard.

His name ‘Bhiva Ramji Ambedkar’ in the school is still inscribed in the attendance register at serial number – 1914. A public ceremony was made among the untouchables on his passing of the English fourth grade examination. His grandfather Keluskar was a writer. His grandfather presented him a self-written ‘Biography of the Buddha’. He was very impressed after knowing Gautam Buddha and Buddhism.

Babasaheb’s father Ramji Sakpal reached Bombay (Mumbai) with his entire family. Here he completed his further education at Government High School located on Elphinstone Road.

At that time the practice of child marriage was in vogue, when he was in the fifth standard, only then his child marriage was done. At the age of about 15, Bhimrao Ambedkar was married to Ramabai, a nine-year-old girl.

Babasaheb passed his matriculation examination in 1907 and joined Elphinstone College. This college was under the Bombay University. No one in his caste had even read. He was the first person in his community to reach this milestone.

In 1912, he received his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) education in Political Science and Economics from Bombay University. Then he started working with the Baroda State Government. In those days, his father’s health was deteriorating. At the very beginning of his work, he came to see his ailing father, but by then his father had died on 2 February 1913.

In 1913, when Bhimrao ji was 22 years old, he moved to the United States.

In June 1915, he passed the Master of Arts (M.A.) examination in Economics as the major subject, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology among others. Babasaheb ji presented a refinement on the topic Ancient Indian Commerce (Ancient Indian Commerce) for his post-graduation and John Dewey was greatly impressed by his work on democracy.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar received his second research work in 1916 for the National Dividend of India – A Historical and Analytical Study. He obtained his PhD in economics in 1916 for his second thesis, Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India.

On 9 May, anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser organized a seminar in which Bhimrao Ambedkar presented a research paper titled Castes in India: Their System, Origin and Evolution, the first published paper by him. He got 3 years to use the scholarship, but he completed the US course in just 2 years. He received his postgraduate education at Columbia University in New York City.

In October 1916, Bhimrao ji went to London and took admission in Grays Inn as well as Barrister Course (Law Studies), but due to some reason he had to leave his studies on a temporary basis and come to India in June 1917.

His third and fourth doctorates (L.L.D., Columbia University, 1952 and D.L.D., Osmania University, 1953) were honorable degrees.

Raised voice against untouchability, inequality

Babasaheb ji advocated separate electorates and reservation for religious communities. He criticized the reluctance of the Indian political community to fight caste discrimination. In the year 1927, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar decided to start a broad and active movement against untouchability. He struggled a lot to get equal rights for untouchables and Dalits.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was proficient in 9 languages and had 32 different degrees.

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