Today, on April 14 India is celebrating the130th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna constitution maker Dr. BhimraoAmbedkar. On Ambedkar Jayanti 2021, India retraces Babasaheb’s legacy as asocio-political reformer and a true feminist. His thoughts and principles had aprofound impact on modern India.
Babasaheb Ambedkar is mainly reviewed as a‘Dalit Leader’. However, he has innumerable contributions in almost everysphere like caste, Hindu social order, problems of Hindu women, Indianminorities, education, the revival of Buddhism in India, nation, andnation-building, etc, and looked at these from an alternate perspective.
On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti 2021, let'shave a look at a few of the many principles by Ambedkar
“I measure the progress of a community by thedegree of progress which women have achieved.”
Ambedkar had always been the flagbearer ofgender equality, a true feminist even at that point in time. When women's issueswere considered unimportant, Babasaheb Ambedkar was promoting women's educationand impressing upon the role of women education in national development.
A quote from Ambedkar reads, “Unity is meaninglesswithout the accompaniment of women. Education is fruitless without educatedwomen and agitation is incomplete without the strength of women.”
“Educate, Agitate and Organize”
Ambedkar had an exceptionally commendablephilosophy on education, “educate, agitate, and organize.” The philosophysimply meant, learn, prepare or build and finally unite for the cause.
Upliftment of minorities
Born into a lower caste family in MadhyaPradesh, Ambedkar had a tough childhood. Subjected to untouchability andsocio-economic discrimination, he later became the spokesperson of theminorities and backward classes in India. Ambedkar joined hands with Gandhi toabolish the caste system and pointed out the main problems in Indian society.
Ambedkar firmly opposed the caste system anduntouchability and was extremely vocal about it. He emphasized castediscrimination and described the caste system as another name of the divisionof labor and laborer, and stated it does not preserve the so-called racialpurity. "Caste has killed the public spirit and has destroyed the sense ofpublic charity". To bring reform in this highly controversial Hindu socialorder Ambedkar suggested inter-caste marriage as a solution. However, he alsosaid, “Caste cannot be abolished by inter-caste dinners or stray instances ofinter-caste marriages. Caste is a state of mind.”