On 6 December 1956, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar passed away.
This year his 65th death anniversary is observed and is also known as Mahaparinirvan Diwas.
Throughout his life, he worked for the upliftment of the Dalit community. In 1936, he published the book Annihilation of Caste which describes the caste system and Hindu orthodox religious leaders. In the same year, he also formed the Independent Labor Party. He was converted to Buddhism in 1956. “Constitution is not a mere lawyers document, it is a vehicle of Life, and its spirit is always the spirit of Age.”
• Bhimrao Ambedkar was born in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow, Ambedkar was the 14th and the last child of his parents. He was primarily an Economist and educationist.
• Babasaheb was also the flag bearer of India’s Dalit Activism, is called the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
• BR Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee for the constitution of independent India on August 29, 1947. He was also the law minister of India after independence.
• He had also started fortnightly and weekly papers named ‘Excluded India’, ‘Mook Nayak’, ‘Janta’ to raise voice against the atrocities on Dalits. Some lesser-known facts about Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar:
• In 1990, he was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
• Rajgirh, Babasaheb’s personal library was the world’s largest library with over 50 thousand books.
• He was the first lawyer belonging to a backward caste. • He was also the first untouchable to have entered Elphinstone College which was affiliated with the University of Bombay.
• His original surname was Ambawadekar, which was changed to Ambedkar by his teacher in school.
• He was the only Satyagrahi worldwide, who did Satyagraha for drinking water.
• Around the world all Buddha paintings and statues have Buddha’s eyes closed, Ambedkar was the first person to make a painting of him with open eyes.
• The chief architect of the Indian Constitution’s 20-page autobiography, 'Waiting for a Visa', is used as a textbook at Columbia University.
-By Swastik Daga
