Babasaheb Ambedkar: A Man with a Message for Today

“Dr Ambedkar communicates to me the self-respect, the intolerance of injustice, and the voice of those who were broken and ground down, but who now struggle against social and economic oppressions.”
— David Mosse, Head, Department of Anthropology, SOAS University, London

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is remembered as one of the most respected and revered leaders India has ever produced. To the young and old alike, he is an icon of equality, fraternity and social justice. He advocated politics with values, democracy with fraternity, and religion with social responsibility.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 at Mhow, in the Central Province (presently Madhya Pradesh). He was the fourteenth and the last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai Sakpal. Bhimrao was a brilliant student who earned two doctorates in Economics from the prestigious Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He was a well-known statesman, ambitious leader, erudite economist, expert jurist, dynamic journalist, brilliant scholar, prolific writer and social reformer, all capsuled into one. As the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution, he was its principal architect. He championed the cause of the Dalits, women, the poor and other socially backward people of India.

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