Ambedkar Jayanti – April 14

Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated every year to commemorate his birthday, and the contributions he made for the people of India.

Dr. BR Ambedkar popularly known as Baba Saheb was a politician, social reformer, economist, and jurist. He was the principal architect of the Constitution of India and was also called as Father of the Indian Constitution.

Born on 14 April 1891 in the town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces now Madhya Pradesh. He inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Untouchables (Dalits), while also supporting the rights of women and labor.

He was involved in campaigning and negotiations for India’s independence, publishing journals, advocating political rights and social freedom for Dalits, and contributing significantly to the establishment of the state of India.

Upon India’s independence on 15 August 1947, he became the first Law Minister and was appointed by the Assembly to write India’s new Constitution.  He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor, in 1990.

Celebrations

14 April is Ambedkar Jayanti to commemorate the memory of B. R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar Jayanti Processions are carried out by his followers at Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai and Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur. It is customary for senior national figures, such as the President, Prime Minister, and leaders of major political parties, to pay homage to the statue of Ambedkar at the Parliament of India in New Delhi.

It is celebrated throughout the world especially by Dalits who embraced Buddhism after his example. In India, large numbers of people visit local statues commemorating Ambedkar in procession with a lot of fanfare. Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated not only in India but also abroad; significantly in the United Kingdom, United States, etc.

Schools and Colleges across the nation organize activities like dance, painting, debate, dramatics, essay writing, as well as sports to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti.

Popular Quotes by Baba Saheb

• Religion and slavery are incompatible.

• Life should be great rather than long.

• Be Educated, Be Organised, and Be Agitated.

• We are Indians, firstly, and lastly.

• The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.

• I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress that women have achieved.

• In Hinduism, conscience, reason, and independent thinking have no scope for development.

• Religion must mainly be a matter of principles only. It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it degenerates into rules, it ceases to be a religion, as it kills responsibility which is an essence of the true religious act.

• Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise, both will wither and die.

• Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.

• Indians today are governed by two different ideologies. Their political ideal set in the preamble of the Constitution affirms a life of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Their social ideal embodied in their religion denies them.

B. R. Ambedkar