'The whole world is but one family' - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia

the Sabha was to uplift the downtrodden socially
and politically and bring them to the level of the
others in the Indian society. In 1927, he led the
Mahad March at the Chowdar Tank at Colaba, near
Mumbai, to give the untouchables the right to draw
water from the public tank where he burnt copies of
the ‘Manusmriti’ publicly. In 1929, Ambedkar made
the controversial decision to co-operate with the all-
British Simon Commission which was to look into
setting up a responsible Indian Government in India.
The Congress decided to boycott the Commission
and drafted its own version of a constitution for free
India. The Congress version had no provisions for the
depressed classes. Ambedkar became more skeptical
of the Congress’s commitment to safeguard the rights
of the depressed classes. When a separate electorate
was announced for the depressed classes under Ramsay
McDonald ‘Communal Award’, Gandhiji went on a
fast unto death against this decision. Leaders rushed
to Dr Ambedkar to drop his demand. On September
24, 1932, Dr Ambedkar and Gandhiji reached an
understanding, which became the famous Poona Pact.
According to the pact the separate electorate demand
was replaced with special concessions like reserved
seats in the regional legislative assemblies and Central
Council of States. Dr Ambedkar attended all the three
Round Table Conferences in London and forcefully
argued for the welfare of the “untouchables”. He
exhorted the downtrodden sections to raise their
living standards and to acquire as much political
power as possible. He was of the view that there was
no future for untouchables in the Hindu religion and
they should change their religion if need be. In 1935,
he publicly proclaimed, “I was born a Hindu because
I had no control over this but I shall not die a Hindu”.
In 1937, Dr Ambedkar introduced a Bill to abolish the
“Khoti” system of land tenure in the Konkan region,
the serfdom of agricultural tenants and the Mahar
“watan” system of working for the Government as
slaves.
Architect of Indian Constitution
In 1947, when India became independent, the first
Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Dr Bhim
Rao Ambedkar, who had been elected as a Member
of the Constituent Assembly from Bengal, to join his
Cabinet as a Law Minister. The Constituent Assembly
entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a
Committee and Dr Ambedkar was elected as Chairman
of this Drafting Committee. While he was busy with
drafting the Constitution, India faced several crises.
The country saw Partition and Mahatma Gandhi was
assassinated. In the beginning of 1948, Dr Ambedkar
completed the draft of the Constitution and presented
it in the Constituent Assembly. In November 1949,
this draft was adopted with very few amendments.
Many provisions had been made in the Constitution to
ensure social justice for scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and backward classes. Dr Ambedkar was of
the opinion that traditional religious values should
be given up and new ideas adopted. He laid special
emphasis on dignity, unity, freedom and rights for all
citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. Ambedkar
advocated democracy in every field: social, economic
and political. For him Social Justice meant maximum
happiness to the maximum number of people.
Bharat Ratna
Dr Ambedkar’s patriotism started with the upliftment
of the downtrodden and the poor. He fought for their
equality and rights. His ideas about patriotism were
not only confined to the abolition of colonialism, but
he also wanted freedom for every individual. For him
freedom without equality, democracy and equality
without freedom could lead to absolute dictatorship.
In 1990, Dr Ambedkar, the Chief Architect of Indian
Constitution, was bestowed with Bharat Ratna. The
same year Dr Ambedkar’s life size portrait was also
unveiled in the Central Hall of Parliament. The period
from 14th April 1990–14th April 1991 was observed as
‘Year of Social Justice’ in the memory of Babasaheb,
the Champion of the poor and the downtrodden.
Conversion to Buddhism
In 1950, Ambedkar travelled to Sri Lanka to attend
a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks. After
his return he decided to write a book on Buddhism
and soon, converted himself to Buddhism. In his
speeches, Ambedkar lambasted the Hindu rituals
and caste division. Ambedkar founded the Bharatiya
Bauddha Mahasabha. His book “The Buddha and His
Dhamma” was published posthumously. On October
14, 1956 Ambedkar organized a public ceremony
to convert around five lakh of his supporters into
Buddhism. Ambedkar travelled to Kathmandu to
attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He
completed his final manuscript, “The Buddha or Karl
Marx” on December 2, 1956.
Final Days
Dr Ambedkar was suffering from serious health
problems including diabetes and weak eyesight. On
December 6, 1956, Baba Saheb Dr B.R. Ambedkar
died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Delhi.
Ambedkar had adopted Buddhism as his religion so a
Buddhist-style cremation was organized for him. The
ceremony was attended by hundreds of thousands of
supporters, activists and admirers.
Source: www.iloveindia.com, http://ambedkarfoundation.nic.in,
www.4to40.com, www.culturalindia.net