e was popularly known as "Babasaheb" which is a symbolic name and honorary title. "Babasaheb" is a Marathi expression which means "Respected Father" (Baba stands for father and Saheb stands for sir). This revered appellation is commonly applied to Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar who was born into a Mahar Dalit caste which was treated as untouchable. As such Babasaheb and all the Indians born in this particular caste were subjected to socioeconomic discrimination which was outlawed by the Constitution of 1949. [ 1

Early Life ] The untouchables in India prior to 1949 were considered inferior to even the Shudras who were the lowest caste in Hinduism. Even today in India the untouchables are regarded with contempt by the society. Babasaheb's ancestors worked for the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the British Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment. [ 2 1 https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/357931/Mahar ] At school Babasaheb and other untouchable children were isolated on the basis on their Dalit caste and given little attention, guidance and supervision by their teachers. They were also not allowed to sit inside the class in order to study like normal students. When they were thirsty and needed to drink water, someone from a higher caste such as Vaishya, Kshatriya or Brahman had to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This degrading, weird and humiliating task to quench the thirst of the Dalit students was usually performed by the school peon, and if the peon was not available then they had to remain thirsty; Babasaheb described this discriminatory and problematic situation, and social agony later in his writings as "No peon, No Water". [3

] Once when Babasaheb was found furtively drinking water from a public tap, he was severely thrashed.

Of his two brothers (Balaram and Anandrao) and two sisters (Manjula and Tulasa), only Babasaheb passed his examinations and went to high school. After passing the matriculation examinations in 1907, the young Babasaheb got married at the age of 15. His wife Ramabai was just 9 years old then. In the following year he joined Elphinstone College which was affiliated to the University of Bombay, and was the first member of the Dalit caste to accomplish this monumental feat.

When he passed his English fourth standard examinations, the people of the Dalit caste celebrated his very achievements because they considered that his academic education had reached a spectacular horizon. A public ceremony was carried out to celebrate his success by the Dalit community, and it was at this special occasion that he was presented with a biography of Gautam Buddha (founder of Buddhism) by Dada Keluskar, the author and a family friend. [ 4 In 1913, at the age of 22, Babasaheb was awarded a Baroda State Scholarship of £11.50 (Sterling) per month for three years under a scheme created by Maharaja ] In 1912, he obtained a degree in economics and political science from the University of Bombay, and took up a job position in the Baroda State Government. Sayajirao Gaekwad III (Gaekwad of Baroda) whose purpose was to offer opportunities for postgraduate education to Indian students at the University of Columbia in New York City. Babasaheb arrived in New York in July 1913. He first stayed at Hartley Hall where he could not stand the food. [ 5 John Dewey ] He passed his M.A. exam in June 1915, majoring in economics, and other subjects of Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. He presented a thesis called "Ancient Indian Commerce". Babasaheb was influenced by and his work on democracy. In 1916, he submitted a second M.A. thesis called "National Dividend of India -A Historic and Analytical Study." This paper contained the backbone of his postdoctoral thesis. Under the supervision of Prof Edwin Seligman, Ambedkar wrote his PhD dissertation called "The Evolution of Personal Finance in British India." At the University of Columbia, Babasaheb also studied his paper "Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development" in a famous seminar, in which he argued two foremost points. One was for the cultural unity of India, and the other was the social origin of the caste system as opposed to a racial one. Both these conclusions were undoubtedly influential in his future life. [ 6 In 1917, Babasaheb enrolled himself for a course in Law at Gray's Inn and the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) for a Doctoral thesis. When his scholarship ended, he had to go back to India mid-way. When he set sail for India, he shipped his books separately. Unfortunately, the ship which was carrying his books was torpedoed by a German submarine. Fortunately, he was granted permission to come back and present his thesis within four years. In 1921, he completed his Master's degree. His thesis was called "The problem of the rupee: Its origin and its solution." Two years later, he was called to the Bar. He also received a Doctorate in Economics. [ ] 7

In India, Babasaheb struggled a lot to find lodgings in Baroda, which was his first place of appointment. He tried to do other professions. Even as a Professor at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, he was despised as an untouchable Dalit by other members of the staff. [ ] 8] Although he was a successful Professor for the students, other Professors objected to his sharing a drinking-water jug with them! [ 9 It is to be noted that his academic years in Unites States of America and United Kingdom had a profound effect on him intellectually and morally. He experienced a meritocratic and democratic environment ] This demonstrated how sinister, obscure and dogmatic the Indian society was during those days. in these two western countries. No other Indian personality had so far matched his academic feats, let alone one from the underprivileged classes such as the Dalit and Shrudas. Babasaheb was regarded as a brilliant barrister in the legal profession. In 1926, he successfully fought the case of three non-Brahmin leaders who had accused the Brahmin community of ruining India and were then subsequently sued for defamation. While practising law in the Bombay High Court, he tried to promote education to the untouchables of India in order to empower and uplift them. His first organised attempt was his creation of the central institution Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, intended to promote education and socio-economic improvement, as well as the welfare of "outcastes", at the time referred to as depressed classes. [ 10] For the defence of Dalit rights, he started many periodicals like "Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, and Equality Janta". [11 IV.

] By 1927, Babasaheb decided to launch active movements against untouchability. The intention of his public movements and marches was to open up public drinking water resources. He also began a fierce struggle for the right of the untouchables to enter Hindu temples all over India. He led a "satyagraha" in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town. [ 12

] In a conference in late 1927, Babasaheb publicly condemned the classic Hindu text, the (Laws of Manu), for ideologically vindicating caste discrimination and "untouchability", and he ceremonially burned copies of the Hindu ancient text. On 25 th December 1927, he led thousands of his followers to burn copies of Manusmriti. [ 13][14 Manusmriti Dahan Din ] Thus annually 25 th December is celebrated as (Manusmriti Burning Day) by Ambedkarites and Dalits. [ 15][16 10 ] It was evident that Babasaheb regarded Hinduism as an imperfect religion imbued with dogmatic and obscurantic tenets. He also said in 1935 that he "Dr. Ambedkar". National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012. 11 Benjamin, Joseph (June 2009). "B. R. Ambedkar: An Indefatigable Defender of Human Rights". Focus. Japan: Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA). 56 12 "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar". Maharashtra Navanirman Sena. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 13 Kumar, Aishwary. "The Lies Of Manu". outlookindia.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. 14 "Annihilating caste". frontline.in. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. 15 Menon, Nivedita (25 December 2014). "Meanwhile, for Dalits and Ambedkarites in India, December 25th is Manusmriti Dahan Din, the day on which B R Ambedkar publicly and ceremoniously in 1927". Kafila. Retrieved 21 October 2015 16 "11. Manusmriti Dahan Day celebrated as Indian Women's Liberation Day" . Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 th November 2015.

Volume XXII Issue VI Version I 2 ( ) was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu. He viewed Hinduism as a despicable religion that oppressed the untouchables and started to consider conversion to any other religion. [17 V.

] With respect to the Lahore resolution (1940) of the Muslim League demanding Pakistan, Babasaheb wrote a 400-page tract called "Thoughts on Pakistan", which scrutinized the notion of "Pakistan" in all its aspects. Babasaheb argued with vehemence that the Hindus should concede Pakistan to the Muslims. Therewithal he suggested that the provincial boundaries of Punjab and Bengal should be redrawn to separate the Muslim and non-Muslim majority parts. He thought the Muslims could not object to redrawing provincial boundaries. If they did, then it meant that they did not quite "recognize the nature of their own demand". Scholar Venkat Dhulipala states that "Thoughts on Pakistan" shook Indian politics for a decade. It dictated the course of dialogue between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress, preparing the way for the Partition of India. [18][19 VI. Ambedkarism Versus Gandhism ] The "Poona Pact" was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb on behalf of Dalits [ 20 depressed classes ] , , and upper caste Hindu leaders on the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British India in 1932. Mahatma Gandhi fiercely opposed a separate electorate for untouchables, saying he was apprehensive that such an arrangement would lead to division among the Hindu community. [ 21][22][23 Yerwada Central Jail ] Mahatma Gandhi protested by fasting while imprisoned in the of Poona. Following the fast, congressional politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organised joint meetings with Babasaheb and his supporters at Yerwada. [54] On 25 th September 1932, the agreement, known as the Poona Pact was contracted between Babsaheb (on behalf of the depressed classes 17 Anupama P. Rao (1999) In 1936, Babasaheb created the Independent Labour Party, which contested the 1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly for the 13 reserved and 4 general seats, and secured 11 and 3 seats respectively. [ 24 Babasaheb published his book " ] Annihilation of Caste" on 15 th May 1936. [ 25] It strongly criticised Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general, [ 26] and included "a rebuke of Mahatma Gandhi" on the subject. [ 27] Later, in a 1955 BBC Radio Interview, he accused Mahatma Gandhi of writing in opposition of the caste system in English language papers while writing in support of it in Gujarati language papers. [ judgement an episode in the history of India, never an epoch-maker. Gandhi has already vanished from the memory of people of this country. His memory is kept up because of Congress Party. You see annually it gives holiday, either on his birthday or some other day connected with some event in his life, has a celebration every year going on for 7 days in a week, naturally people's memory is revived, but if this artificial respiration were not given, I think Gandhi would be long forgotten.

Interviewer: You don't feel that he fundamentally changed the aspect?

Babasaheb: Not at all, not at all. In fact, he was all the time double-dealing. He conducted two papers, one in English the Harijan, before that young India, and in Gujarat, he conducted another paper you see, which is called the Deen Bandhu, something like that. If you read these two papers you will see how Mr Gandhi was deceiving the people. In the English newspaper, he posed himself as an opponent of caste system, and of untouchability, and that he was the democrat. But if you read his Gujarati magazine you will see him more as an orthodox man, he has been supporting the caste system, the varanaashrama dharma, or all the orthodox dogmas which have kept India down all through ages. In fact, someone ought to write Mr Gandhi's biography by making a comparative study of the statements made by Mr Gandhi in his Harijan and the statements made by Mr Gandhi in his Gujarati paper, there are seven volumes of it. The western world only reads the English paper, where Mr Gandhi in order to keep himself in the esteem of western people who believes in democracy was advocating democratic ideals. But you got to see also what he actually talked to the people in his vernacular paper, nobody seems to have made any reference. All the biographies that have been written of him you see are based on his Harijan and the young India not upon the Gujarati writings of Mr Gandhi.

Babasaheb: Well, he only wanted, you see there are two things about the schedule caste, we want untouchability to be abolished you see, but we also want you to see that we must be given equal opportunity so that we may rise to the level of other classes, mere washing of untouchability is no concept at all. We have been carrying on with untouchability for last 2000 years, nobody has bothered about it, you see nobody has bothered about it. Yes, there are some disabilities which are very harmful for example that people can't take out water, people can't have land to cultivate and earn their livelihood. But other things which are far more important namely they should have the same status in the country and they should have the opportunity to hold high offices so that not only their dignity will rise but also, they will get what I call strategic positions from which they could they could protect their own people, Mr Gandhi was totally opposed, totally opposed.

Babasaheb: The temple entry, that was all things he wanted to do. Nobody cares about the Hindu temples now, the untouchables have become so conscious of the fact that temple going is of no consequence at all, he will live in untouchable quarters just the same, whether you went to the temple or you did not go to the temple. People for instance in advent time would not allow untouchables to travel by railway because of the pollution. Now they don't mind because railways don't make any separate arrangements.

Babasaheb's views on Communism were stated in two texts of 1956, "Buddha or Karl Marx" and "Buddhism and Communism". [29 The Buddha and His Dhamma ] In 1955, he created the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India and in 1956, he completed his final work, " ", which was published posthumously. [30] On 16 October 1956, he converted to Buddhism just weeks before his death and his conversion glimmered a revitalization in interest in Buddhist philosophy in India and abroad. [ 31

Legacy ] Babasaheb's legacy as a socio-political reformer had a deep effect on modern India. [ 32][33 29 https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/bitstream/handle/1993/3135/Ambe dkar%20and%20the%20Indian%20Communists.pdf ] In post-Independence India, his socio-political thought is respected and admired across the political and social gamut. His initiatives have made a deep impact on various spheres of life and transformed the way India today looks at socio-economic and educational activities. His reputation as a scholar led to his appointment as free India's first law minister, and chairman of the committee for drafting the Indian Constitution. He ardently believed in individual freedom, some miscreants put a garland of slippers on his statue. [39] Whereas on 27 th April 2018, a garland of shoes this time was put on his statue in Bhimasar village near Anjar. [ 40 1. 1955 BBC Radio Interview Transcript: https://veliva da.com/2017/12/08/transcript-dr-ambedkar-speakson-m-k-gandhi-and-poona-pact-bbc-radio-1955/ ] This desecration of Babasaheb's symbolic statue is taking place in various villages and cities of India nowadays right under the noses of the Police and Government authorities. Had Babasaheb been born in a higher caste, such outrageous incidents would have never occurred in the independent India.