"OURS IS A BATTLE FOR FREEDOM,OURS IS A BATTLE NOT JUST FOR ECONOMICAL GAINS AND POLITICAL POWER,OURS IS A BATTLE FOR RECLAMATION OF HUMAN PERSONALITY WHICH HAS BEEN SUPPRESSED AND MUTILATED BY THE HINDU SOCIAL ORDER AND CONTINUE TO BE SUPPRESSED AND MUTILATED"---DR.BR.AMBEDKAR

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Commandments of Baba Saheb Ambedkar

ACHIEVEMENTS
Nothing valuable in this world is achieved except by great efforts.

All great things in the world were achieved by patient industry and by undergoing toil and tribulations.

AHIMSA
Ahimsa Permo Dharma is an extreme Doctrine. It is a Jaina Doctrine. It is not Buddhist Doctrine. Buddha meant to make a distinction between 'will to kill' and 'need to kill'. What he banned was killing where there was nothing but the will to kill. Buddha made a distinction between principle and Rule. He did not make Ahimsa a matter of Rule. He enunciated it as a matter of \Principle or way of life. A Principle leaves you freedom to act. A rule does not. Rule either breaks you or you break the rule.

AMBITION
One should always cherish some ambition to do something in the world. They alone rise who strive.

ANARCHY
In anarchy and dictatorship, liberty is lost.

APPEASEMENT
Appeasement means buying off the aggressor by conniving at his acts of murder, arson and loot against innocent victims of his displeasure.
Appeasement sets no limits to the demands and aspirations of the aggressor.

ARMY
The ultimate guarantee of the independence of a country is a safe army - an army on which you can rely to fight for the country at all times and in any eventuality.

A safe army is better than a safe border.

BACK TO NATURE
The call of back to nature means back to nakedness, back to squalor, back to poverty and back to ignorance for the vast mass of people.

BUDDHISM
I prefer Buddhism because it gives three principles in combination, which no other religion does. Buddhism teaches Prajna (understanding as against superstition and supernaturalism), Karuna (love), and Samata (equality). This is what man wants for a good and happy life.

BUDDHIST CULTURE
Even though Buddhism is almost extinct in India, yet it has given birth to a culture, which is far better and richer than the Brahminic culture. When the question of the National Flag and the National Emblem was being considered by the Constituent Assembly we could not find any suitable symbol from the Brahminic culture. Ultimately, the Buddhist culture came to our rescue and we accepted the Wheel of Law (Dhamma - Chakra) as the National Symbol.

CASTE AND CLASS
Caste System is not merely a division of labour. It is also a division of labourers. It is an hierarchy in which the divisions of labourers are graded one above the other.

Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible. Virtue has become caste?ridden and morality has become caste?bound. There is no sympathy to the deserving. There is no appreciation of the meritorious.

There cannot be a more degrading system of social organisation than the Chaturvarna. It is the system which deadens, paralyses and cripples the people from helpful activity.

Caste in the hands of the orthodox has been a powerful weapon for persecuting the reforms and for killing all reform.

These castes are anti?national. In the first place because they bring about separation in social life. They are anti-national also because they generate jealousy and antipathy between caste and caste.

The Caste system is a system which is infested with the spirit of isolation and in fact it makes isolation of one Caste from another a virtue. There is isolation in the class system. But it does not make isolation virtue nor does it prohibit social intercourse. The class system, it is true produces groups, but they are not akin to Caste groups. The groups in the class system are only non-social while the Castes in the Castes system are in their mutual relations definitively and positively anti-social.

Practically speaking, in a class structure, there is on the one hand, tyranny, vanity, pride, arrogance, greed selfishness and on the other insecurity, poverty, degradation, loss of liberty, self?reliance, independence dignity and self-respect.

The group set?up prevents an individual from acquiring consistency of mind, which is possible only when society has common ideals, common models.

The group set?up leads to stratification of classes. Those who are masters remain masters and those who are born in slavery remain slaves. Owners remain owners and workers remain workers. The privileged remain privileged and the serfs remain serfs.

CONSTITUTION
I feel that the Constitution is workable; it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new constitution the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile.

COURAGE
The secret of freedom is courage and courage is born in combination of individuals into a party.

CULTURE
It is true that man shares the constitution and functions of animals, nutritive, reproductive etc. But these are not distinctively human functions. The distinctively human function is reason, the purpose of which is to enable man to observe, meditate, cogitate, study and discover the beauties of the universe and enrich his life and control the animal elements in his life.

What divides the brute from man is culture. Culture is not possible for the brute but it is essential for man.

The aim of human society must be to enable every person to lead a life of culture which means the cultivation of the mind as distinguished from the satisfaction of mere physical wants.

While the ultimate goal of a brute's life is reached once his physical appetites are satisfied, the ultimate goal of a man's existence is not reached unless and until he has fully cultivated his mind.

DEMOCRACY
Political Democracy rests on four premises, which may be set out in the following terms: (i) The individual is an end in himself. (ii) That the individual has certain inalienable rights, which must be guaranteed to him by the Constitution. (iii) That the individual shall not be required to relinquish any of his constitutional rights as a precondition precedent to the receipt of a privilege. (iv) That the State shall not delegate powers to private persons to govern others.

The soul of Democracy is the doctrine of one man, one value.

Democracy is a form and method of government whereby revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of the people are brought about without bloodshed.

Democracy is not merely a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living of conjoined cominunicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellowmen.

Democracy is incompatible and inconsistent with isolation and exclusiveness, resulting in the distinction between the privileged and the unprivileged.

Democracy cannot work without friction unless there is fellow?feeling among those who constitute the State.

The first thing required for the successful working of democracy is that there must be no glaring inequalities and there must be neither an oppressed class nor a suppressed class. The second thing required is the existence of opposition to show whether the Govt. is going wrong. The third thing is equality before law and in administration. The fourth is the observance of constitutional morality. The fifth point is the functioning of moral order in society, for moral is taken for granted in the democracy. The sixth thing is the requirement of public conscience.

A democratic Government can remain democratic only if it is worked by two parties ?a party in power and a party in opposition.

DESPOTISM
To have popular government run by a single party is to let democracy become a mere form for despotism to play its part from behind it.

Despotism does not cease to be despotism because it is elective. Nor does despotism become agreeable because despots belong to our own kindred.

DHAMMA
According to the Buddha, Dhamma consists of Prajna and Karuna. Prajna is understanding. The Buddha made Prajna one of the two comer?stones of His Dhamma because he did not wish to leave any room for superstition. Karuna is love. Because, without it society can neither live nor grow, that is why the Buddha made it the second corner-stone of his Dhamma. A unique amalgam of Prajna and Karuna is the Dhamma of the Buddha.

In Dhamma there is no place for prayers, pilgrimages, rituals, ceremonies or sacrifices.

Dhamma is righteousness, which means right relations between man and man in all sphere of life.

DUTY
Blessed are those who are awakened to their duty to those among whom they are born.

The duty must be performed; let the efforts be successful or not; let the work be appreciated or not. When a man's sincerity of purpose and capacity are proved even his enemies come to respect him.

EDUCATION
Give up the idea that parents give 'Janma' to the child and not destiny (karma). They can mould the destiny of their children by giving them education.

Knowledge is the foundation of a man's life.

Education is as necessary for females as it is for males.

If one s education is detrimental to the welfare of the poor, the educated man is a curse to the society.

Character is more important than education.

ETHICS AND ECONOMICS
History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.

EQUALITY
Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as e governing principle.

FATE
Do not believe in fate. Believe in your strength.

FORCE
Force, it cannot be denied, is the medicine of the body politic and must be administered when the body politic becomes sick. But just because force is the medicine of the body politic, it cannot be allowed to become its daily bread.

FRATERNITY
Fraternity is the name for the disposition of an individual to treat men as the object of reverence and love and the desire to be in unity with his fellow beings.

FREEDOM
Freedom of the nation, if it is to be a reality, must vouchsafe the freedom of the different classes comprised in it, particularly of those who are treated as the servile classes.

GLORY
Glory to those who devote their time, talents and their all to the annihilation of slavery.

Glory to those who would keep on their struggle for the liberation of the enslaved in spite of heavy odds, carping humiliations, storms and dangers till the down?trodden secure their human rights.

GREAT MAN
A great man must be motivated by the dynamics of a social purpose and must act as the scourge and the scavenger of the society.

HAPPINESS
Poverty gives rise to sorrow. But removal of poverty does not necessarily give rise to happiness. Not high standard of living but a standard of culture is what gives happiness.

HERO-WORSHIP
Bhakti(hero-worship) in religion may be a road to salvation of the self. But in politics, bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.

Hero-worship in the sense of expressing our unbounded admiration is one thing. To obey the hero is a totally different kind of hero?worship. There is nothing wrong in the former while the latter is no doubt a most pernicious thing. The former is only man's respect for everything which is noble and of which the Great Man is only an embodiment. The former is consistent with respect, but the latter is a sign of debasement.

HINDUISM
Inequality is the soul of Hinduism.

To the Untouchables, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors. The iron law of caste, the heartless law of karma and the senseless law of status by birth are veritable instruments of torture, which Hinduism has forged against the Untouchables.

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM
There is a great difference between Buddhism and Hinduism. Buddhism means casteless society based on equal rights. Hinduism on the other hand is primarily based on caste?system; a system which encourages aloofness, inequality and exploitation.

Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism lays no emphasis on the attainment of heaven. Nor it is necessary. To be happy in the present life, one should practice the ethics of morality, non?violence (ahimsa), equality and universal brotherhood. This is an eternal truth taught by the Buddha.

HISTORY
They cannot make history who forget history.

It is quite wrong to hold that man is not a factor in the making of history. Man is necessary to rub two pieces of flint to make fire.

Man is a factor in the making of history and the environmental forces, whether impersonal or social, if they are, they are the first and not the last things.

HISTORY OF INDIA
The history of India is said to begin with the Aryans who invaded India, made it their home and established their culture. Whatever may be the virtues of the Aryans, their culture, their religion and their social system, we know very littler about their political history. Indeed notwithstanding the superiority that is claimed for the Aryans as against the Non?Aryans, the Aryans have left very little their political achievements for history to speak of. The political history of India begins with the rise of a non?Aryan people called Nagas, who were a powerful people, whom the Aryans were unable to conquer, with whom the Aryans had to make peace, and whom the Aryans were compelled to recognize as their equals. Whatever fame and glory India achieved in ancient times in the political field, the credit for it goes entirely to the Non-Aryan Nagas. It is they who made India great and glorious in the annals of the world.

There is only one period in Indian history, which is a period of freedom, greatness and glory. This is the period of Maurya Empire. At all other times, the country suffered from defeat and darkness.

It must be recognized that there has never been such as a common Indian culture, that historically there have been three Indias, Brahminic India, Buddhist India and Hindu India, each with its own culture. Secondly, it must be recognized that the history of India before the Muslim invasions is the history of a mortal conflict between Brahmanism and Buddhism. Any one who does not recognize these two facts will never to able to write a true history of India, a history which will disclose the meaning and purposes running through it.

IDEAS
Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Both will otherwise wither and die.

IDEAL SOCIETY
My (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar) ideal would be a society based on Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. An ideal society should be mobile, should be full of channels for conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts. In an ideal society there should be many interests consciously communicated and shared. There should be varied and free points of contact with other modes of association. In other words, there must be social endosmosis.

INDIANS FIRST AND LAST
I do not want that our loyalty as Indians should be in the slightest way affected by any competitive loyalty whether that loyalty arises out of our religion, out of our culture or out of our language. I want all people to be Indians first, Indian last and nothing else but Indians.

INDIFFERENTISM
Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can infect a people.

INSTRUCTION
What instructs me, amuses me.

INTELLECTUAL
There is a world of difference between one who is learned and who is an intellectual. The former is class?conscious and is alive to the interests of his class. The latter is emancipated being who is free to act without being swayed by class considerations.

LANGUAGE
One language can unite people. Two languages are sure to divide people. This is an inexorable law.

Culture is conserved by language.

LAW
Law is the abode of all worldly happiness.

LAW AND FRATERNITY
Law is secular which anybody may break while fraternity or religion is sacred which everybody must respect.

LEISURE
Leisure means the lessening of the toil and effort necessary for satisfying the physical wants of life.

LIBERTY
Liberty falls under two classes. There is civil liberty and there is political liberty. Civil liberty refers to (1) liberty of movement, which is another name for freedom from arrest without due process of law; (2) liberty of speech (which of course includes liberty of thought, liberty of reading writing and discussion); and (3) liberty of action.

The first kind of liberty is of course fundamental. Not only fundamental, it is also most essential. About its value, there can be no manner of doubt. The second kind of liberty, which may be called freedom of opinion, is important for many reasons. It is a necessary condition of all progress: intellectual, moral, political and social. Where it does not exist the status?quo becomes stereotyped and all originality even the most necessary is discouraged. Liberty of action means doing what one likes to do. It is not enough that liberty of action should be formal. It must be real. So understood, liberty of action means effective power to do specific things. There is no freedom where they're also no means of taking advantage of it. Real liberty of action exists only where exploitation has been annihilated, where no suppression of one class by another exists, where there is no unemployment, no poverty and where a person is free from the fear of losing his job, his home, and his food as a consequence of his action.

Political liberty consists in the right of the individual to share in the framing of laws and in the making and unmaking of governments.

LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY
Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, equality cannot be divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things.

LINGUISTIC STATE
A linguistic State with its regional language as its official language may easily develop into an independent nationality. The road between an independent nationality and an independent State is very narrow. If this happens, India will cease to be modern India we have and will become the medieval India consisting of a variety of States indulging in rivalry and warfare.

LOST RIGHTS
Lost rights are never regained by begging and by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by relentless struggle.

LOVE AND HATRED
No one can hope to make any effective mark upon his time and bring the aid that is worth bringing to great principles and struggling causes if he is not strong in his love and his hatred.

MACHINERY
Machinery and modern civilization are indispensable for emancipating man from leading the life of a brute, and for providing him with leisure and making a life of culture possible.

The slogan of a democratic society must be machinery and more machinery, civilization and more civilization.

MAN'S POWER
A man's power is dependent upon (1) physical heredity, (2) social inheritance or endowment in the form of parental care, education, accumulation of scientific knowledge, everything that enables him to be more efficient than the savage and finally, (3) on his own efforts.

MIND
Man is what mind makes of him.

For inspiration and enthusiasm one must have a healthy and sound mind. Man derives inspiration if his mind is free to develop.

The world cannot be reformed except by the reformation of the mind of the man, and the mind of the world.

MISERY
Man's misery is the result of man's inequity to man. Only righteousness can remove this inequity and the resultant misery.

NATIONAL FEELING
The national feeling is a feeling of a corporate sentiment of oneness which makes those who are charged with it feel that they are kith and kin.

NATIONAL LANGUAGE
Since Indians wish to unite and develop a common culture it is the duty of the all Indians to own up Hindi as their language.

NATIONALITY
Nationality means "Consciousness of kind, awareness of the existence of that tie of kinship".

NATIONALISM
Nationalism means "The desire for separate national existence for those who are bound by their tie of kinship".

NOBLE LIFE
Man is mortal. Every one is to die some day or other. But one must resolve to lay down one's life in enriching the noble ideals of self-respect and in bettering human life.

Man must eat to live and he should live and work for the well being of the society.

Dragging on life some?how or to live like a crow for a thousand years is not the only way and worthy way in this world. Life can be ennobled by sacrificing it for a lasting good such as the cause of truth, a vow, honour or country.

Better to die in the prime of youth for a great cause than to live like an oak and do nothing.

NORMS
Ideals or norms are good and necessary. Neither a society nor an individual can do without a norm. But a norm must change with change in time and circumstances. No norm can be permanently fixed. There must always be room for revaluation of the values of our norm.

PARENTS
There will be no difference between parents and animals if they will not desire to see their children in a better position than their own.

PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
Every one should have a philosophy of life, for every one must have a standard by which to measure his conduct. And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure. My social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: Liberty, equality and fraternity. Let no one, however, say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution. I have not. My philosophy has roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teachings of my master, the Buddha.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
The difference between philosophy and religion may be put in two ways. Philosophy is concerned with knowing truth. Religion is concerned with the love of truth. Philosophy is static. Religion is dynamic.

POLITICAL POWER
Political power is the key to all social progress.

Political power is the most precious thing in the life of a community especially if its position is constantly being challenged and the community is required to maintain it by meeting challenge. Political power is the only means by which it can sustain its position.

POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS
Puritanism founded the new world. It was Puritanism, which won the war of American Independence, and Puritanism was a religious movement. The same is true of the Muslim Empire. Before the Arabs became a political power, they had undergone a thorough religious revolution started by Prophet Mohammed. Even Indian History supports the same conclusion. The political revolution led by Chandragupta was preceded by the religious and social revolution of Buddha. The political revolution led by Shivaji was preceded by the religious and social reform brought about by the saints of Maharashtra. The political revolution of the Sikhs was preceded by the religious and social revolution led by Guru Nanak.

POLITICS
Politics is nothing if not realistic. There is very little in it that is academic.

POVERTY
Renunciation of riches by those who have it may be a blessed state. But poverty can never be. To declare poverty to be a blessed state is to pervert religion, to perpetuate vice and crime, to consent to make earth a living hell.

The poor are made to suffer wants, privations and humiliations not because it was pre?ordained by the sins committed in their previous births, but because of the overpowering tyranny and treachery of those who are above them.

The sooner the poor remove the foolish belief that their miseries were pre?ordained, the better.

The thought that poverty is an inevitability and is inborn and inseparable is entirely erroneous.

POWER AND WISDOM
Power is one thing, and wisdom and prudence quite a different thing.

PROGRESS
The good things of this earth do not fall from heaven. Every progress has its bill of costs and only those who pay for it will have that progress.

REBELS
The world owes much to rebels who would dare to argue in the face of pontiff and insist that he is not infallible.

RELIGION
Religion is not an opium as it is held by some. What good things I have in me or whatever have been the benefits of my education to society, I owe them to the religious feelings in me. I want religion but I do not want hypocrisy in the name of religion.

Man cannot live by bread alone. He has a mind which needs food for thought. Religion instils hope in man and drives him to activity.

Religion is for man and not man for religion.

Religion and slavery are incompatible.

Religion in the sense of morality must remain the governing principle in every society.

Religion if it is to function must be in accord with reason which is merely another name for science.

Religion must recognise the fundamental tenets of liberty, equality and fraternity. Unless a religion recognises these three fundamental principles of social life, religion will be doomed.

Religion must not sanctify or ennoble poverty.

RELIGION AND MORALITY
As a matter of truth, morality has no place in religion.

The content of religion consists of God, soul, prayers, worship, rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices.

Morality comes in only wherein man comes in relation to man.

Morality comes in into religion as a side wind to maintain peace and order.

Be good to your neighbour because you are both children of god. That is the argument of religion.

Every religion preaches morality but morality is not the root of religion. It is a wagon attached to it. It is attached and detached, as the occasion requires. The action of morality in the functioning of religion is therefore, casual and occasional.

RESPONSIBILITY
No thinking human being can be tied down to a view once expressed in the name of consistency. More important than consistency is responsibility. A responsible person must learn to unlearn what he has learned. A responsible person must have the courage to re?think and change his thoughts. Of course, there must be good and sufficient reasons for unlearning what he has learned and for recasting his thoughts. There can be no finality in thinking.

RIGHTS
Rights are protected not by law but by the social and moral conscience of society. If social conscience is such that it is prepared to recognise the laws which law chooses to enact, rights will be safe and secure. But if fundamental rights are opposed by the community, no law, no Parliament, no judiciary can guarantee them in real sense of the word.

SECULARISM
The conception of a secular state is derived from the liberal democratic tradition of the west. No institution, which is maintained wholly out of state funds, shall be used for the purpose of religious instruction irrespective of the question whether the religious instruction is given by the state or by any other body.

It (secular state) does not mean that we shall not take into consideration the religious sentiments of the people. All that a secular state means is that this Parliament shall not be competent to impose any particular religion upon the rest of the people. That is the only limitation that the Constitution recognises.

SELF-HELP
You must stand on your own feet and fight as best you can for your rights. Power and, prestige will come to you through struggle.

It is not enough that a people are numerically in majority. They must be always watchful, strong, well?educated and self?respecting to attain and maintain success.

Whatever might be one's ideal, either of national progress or of self?development, one should patiently exert oneself to reach it.
One should concentrate one's mind and might on one's goal.

SELF-RESPECT
Self-respect is the most vital factor in life. Without it, man is a mere cipher.

Nothing is more disgraceful for a brave man than to live a life devoid of self-respect and without love for the country.

Learn to live in this world with self-respect.

No race can be raised by destroying its self-respect.

SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
Social conscience is the only safeguard of all rights, fundamental or non-fundamental.

SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
Social democracy means a way of life, which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity as the principle of life.

A democratic form of Government presupposes a democratic form of society. The formal framework of democracy is of no value and would indeed be misfit if there were no social democracy. The politicians never realised that democracy was not a form of government; it was essentially a form of society. It may not be necessary for a democratic society to be marked by unity, by community of purpose, by loyalty to public ends and by mutuality of sympathy. But it does unmistakably involve two things. The first is an attitude of mind, an attitude of respect and equality towards their fellows. The second is a social organisation free from rigid social barriers.

SOCIAL EVILS
Wherever there are social evils, the health of the body politic requires that they shall be removed before they become the symbols of suffering and injustice. For it is the social and economic of revolution or decay.

SOCIAL TYRANNY
Political tyranny is nothing compared to social tyranny and a reformer, who defies society, is a much more courageous man than a politician, who defies Government.

SOCIETY
Making of the individual a sharer or partner in the associated activity so that he feels its success as his success and its failure as his failure is the real thing that binds men and makes a society of them.

The society must have either the sanction of law or the sanction of morality to hold it together. Without either, society is sure to go to pieces.

More than political or religious, man is a social animal. He may not have, need not have religion; he may not have needed not have politics. He must have society; he cannot do without society.

SLAVE
Tell the slave he is a slave and he will revolt.

To a slave, his master may be better or worse. But there cannot be a good master. A good man cannot be a master and a master cannot be a good man.

SLAVERY
Slavery does not merely mean a legalised form of subjection. It means a state of society in which some men are forced to accept from others the purposes, which control their conduct.

STRIKE
Strike is a civil wrong and not a crime, and making a man serve against his will is nothing less than making him a slave.

SURVIVAL
It is not survival but the quality, the plane of survival that is important.

There is no honour in mere survival. What matters is the plane of survival. One can survive by unconditional surrender. One can survive by beating a cowardly retreat and one can survive by fighting.

STATE SOCIALISM
State socialism should be prescribed by the law of the Constitution so that it will be beyond the reach of a Parliamentary majority to suspend, and amend or abrogate it. It is only this that one can achieve the triple object. Namely, to establish Socialism, retain Parliamentary Democracy and avoid Dictatorship.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL METHODS
When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was some justification for unconstitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives. But where constitutional methods are open there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy.

UNITY
If unity is to be an abiding factor, it must be founded on a sense of kinship, in the feeling of being kindred. In short, it must be spiritual.

VIRTUE IN DANGER
Where virtue is in danger, do not avoid fighting, do not be mealy mouthed

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Quotations of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

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

The conception of secular state is derived from the liberal democratic tradition of west. No institution which is maintained wholly out of state funds shall be used for the purpose of religious instruction irrespective of the question whether the religious instruction is given by the state or any other body.

If you ask me, my ideal would be the society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. An ideal society should be mobile and full of channels of conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts.

To idealise the real which more often than not is full of inequities is a very selfish thing to do. It is only when a person finds a personal advantage in things, as they are that he tries to idealise the real. To proceed to make such an ideal real is nothing short of criminal. It means perpetuating inequity on the ground that whatever is settled is settled for all times. Such a view is opposed to all morality. No society with ideal conscience has ever accepted it. On the contrary whatever progress in improving the terms of associated life between individuals and classes has been made in the course of history, is due entirely to the recognition of the ethical doctrine that whatever is wrongly settled is never settled and must be resettled.

A historian ought to be exact, sincere and impartial; free from passion, unbiased by interest, fear, resentment or affection; and faithful to the truth, which is the mother of history the preserver of great actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the director of the future.

In every country the intellectual class is the most influential class. This is the class which can foresee, advise and lead. In no country does the mass of the people live the life for intelligent thought and action. It is largely imitative and follows the intellectual class. There is no exaggeration in saying that the entire destination of the country depends upon its intellectual class. If the intellectual class is honest and independent, it can be trusted to take the initiative and give a proper lead when a crisis arises. It is true that the intellect by itself is no virtue. It is only a means and the use of a means depends upon the ends which an intellectual person pursues. An intellectual man can be a good man but he may easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity or it may easily be a gang of crooks or a body of advocates of narrow clique from which it draws its support.


My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can loose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality.

You must abolish your slavery yourselves. Do not depend for its abolition upon god or a superman. Remember that it is not enough that a people are numerically in the majority. They must be always watchful, strong and self-respecting to attain and maintain success. We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves.

Untouchability shuts all doors of opportunities for betterment in life for Untouchables. It does not offer an Untouchable any opportunity to move freely in society; it compels him to live in dungeons and seclusion; it prevents him from educating himself and following a profession of his choice.

Untouchability has ruined the Untouchables, the Hindus and ultimately the nation as well. If the depressed classes gained their self-respect and freedom, they would contribute not only to their own progress and prosperity but by their industry intellect and courage would contribute also to the strength and prosperity of the nation. If the tremendous energy Untouchables are at present required to fritter away in combating the stigma of Untouchability had been saved them, it would have been applied by them to the promotion of education and development of resources of their nation as a whole.

There have been many Mahatmas in India whose sole object was to remove Untouchability and to elevate and absorb the depressed classes, but everyone has failed in their mission. Mahatmas have come, Mahatmas have gone but the Untouchables have remained as Untouchables.

A historian ought to be exact, sincere and impartial; free from passion, unbiased by interest, fear, resentment or affection; and faithful to the truth, which is the mother of history the preserver of great actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the director of the future.

From the point of view of annihilation of caste, the struggle of the saints did not have any effects on society. The value of a man is axiomatic and self-evident; it does not come to him from the gilding of Bhakti. The saints did not struggle to establish this point. On the contrary their struggle had very unhealthy effect on the depressed classes. It provided the Brahmins with an excuse to silence them by telling them that they would be respected if they attained the status of Chokhamela.

It is mischievously propagated by Hindu scriptures that by serving the upper classes the Shudras achieve salvation. Untouchability is another appellation of slavery. No race can be raised by destroying its self-respect. So if you really want to uplift the Untouchables, you must treat them in the social order as free citizens, free to carve out their destiny.

What you have lost others have gained. Your humiliations are a matter of pride with others. You are made to suffer wants, privations and humiliations not because it was pre-ordained by the sins committed in your previous birth, but because of the overpowering tyranny and treachery of those who are above you. You have no lands because others have usurped them; you have no posts because others have monopolised them. Do not believe in fate; believe in your strength.

Learn to live in this world with self-respect. You should always cherish some ambition of doing something in this world. But remember that the age of selflessness has ended. A new epoch is set in. All things are now possible because of your being able to participate in the politics and legislature of your country.

Some people think that religion is not essential to the society. I do not hold this view. I consider the foundations of religion are essential to the society. At the roots of Hindu social system lies a Dharma as prescribed in the Manusmriti. Such being the case I do not think it is possible to abolish the inequality in the Hindu society unless foundations of the Smriti-religion is removed and a better one laid in its place. I however, despair of Hindu society, being able to reconstruct itself on such a better foundation.

My religious conversion is not inspired by any material motive. This is hardly anything I cannot achieve even while remaining an Untouchable. There is no other feeling than that of a spiritual feeling underlying my religious conversion. Hinduism does not appeal to my conscience. My self-respect cannot assimilate Hinduism. In your case change of religion is imperative for worldly as well as spiritual ends. Do not care for the opinion of those who foolishly ridicule the idea of conversion for material ends. Why should you live under the fold of that religion which has deprived you of honor, money, food and shelter?

I tell you, religion is for man and not man for religion. If you want to organise, consolidate and be successful in this world, change this religion. The religion that does not recognise you as a human being, or give you water to drink, or allow you to enter in temples is not worthy to be called a religion. The religion that forbids you to receive education and comes in the way of your material advancement is not worthy of the appellation 'religion'. The religion that does not teach its followers to show humanity in dealing with its co-religionists is nothing but a display of a force. The religion that teaches its followers to suffer the touch of animals but not the touch of human beings is not a religion but a mockery. The religion that compels the ignorant to be ignorant and the poor to be poor is not a religion but a visitation!

The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual. This being the situation, it is clear that you cannot develop your personality at all in Hinduism.

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


It is your claim to equality which hurts them. They want to maintain the status quo. If you continue to accept your lowly status ungrudgingly, continue to remain dirty, filthy, backward, ignorant, poor and disunited, they will allow you to live in peace. The moment you start to raise your level, the conflict starts. Untouchability is not transitory or temporary feature; it is eternal, it is lasting. Frankly it can be said that the struggle between the Hindus and the Untouchables is a never-ending conflict. It is eternal because the religion which assigns you the lowest status in society is itself divine and eternal according to the belief of the so-called high caste Hindus. No change warranted by change of time and circumstances is possible.

I have never claimed to be a universal leader of suffering humanity. The problem of the untouchables is quite enough for my slender strength. I do not say that other causes are not equally noble. But knowing that life is short, one can only serve one cause and I have never aspired to do more than serve the Untouchables.

Every man must have a philosophy of life, for everyone must have a standard by which to measure his conduct. And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure.

Negatively I reject the Hindu social philosophy propounded in Bhagvad Gita, based as it is on the Triguna of Sankhya Philosophy which in my judgement is a cruel perversion of the philosophy of Kapila, and which had made the caste system of graded inequality the law of Hindu social life.


Positively, my social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: liberty, equality and fraternity. Let no one however say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution. I have not. My philosophy has its roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teachings of my master, the Buddha.

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.


Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.

Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead. Freedom of mind is the proof of one's existence.

What is the proof to judge that the flame of mental freedom is not extinguished in the mind of person? To whom can we say that his mind is free. I call him free who with his conscience awake realises his rights, responsibilities and duties. He who is not a slave of circumstances and is always ready and striving to change them in his flavor, I call him free. One who is not a slave of usage, customs, of meaningless rituals and ceremonies, of superstitions and traditions; whose flame of reason has not been extinguished, I call him a free man. He who has not surrendered his free will and abdicated his intelligence and independent thinking, who does not blindly act on the teachings of others, who does not blindly accept anything without critically analysing and examining its veracity and usefulness, who is always prepared to protect his rights, who is not afraid of ridicule and unjust public criticism, who has a sound conscience and self-respect so as not become a tool in the hands of others, I call him a free man. He who does not lead his life under the direction of others, who sets his own goal of life according to his own reasoning and decides for himself as to how and in what way life should be lead, is a free man. In short, who is a master of his own free will, him alone I call a free man.


Caste cannot be abolished by inter caste dinners or stray instances of inter caste marriages. Caste is a state of mind. It is a disease of mind. The teachings of the Hindu religion are the root cause of this disease. We practice casteism and we observe Untouchability because we are enjoined to do so by the Hindu religion. A bitter thing cannot be made sweet. The taste of anything can be changed. But poison cannot be changed into nectar.

What struck me most was that my community still continues to accept a position of humiliation only because caste Hindus persist in dominating over them. You must rely on your own strength, shake off the notion that you are in any way inferior to any community.

Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top dressing on an Indian soil whish is essentially undemocratic.


Majorities are of two sorts: (1) communal majority and (2) political majority. A political majority is changeable in its class composition. A political majority grows. A communal majority is born. The admission to a political majority is open. The door to a communal majority is closed. The politics of political majority are free to all to make and unmake. The politics of communal majority are made by its own members born in it.

The minorities in India have loyally accepted the rule of the majority whish is basically a communal majority and not a political majority. It is for the majority to realise its duty not to discriminate against minorities. Whether the minorities will continue or will vanish must depend upon this habit of majority. The moment the majority looses the habit of discriminating against the minority, the minorities can have no ground to exist. They will vanish.

We want our own people, people who will fight tooth and nail for our interest and secure privilege for the under-privileged; people who will undo the wrongs done to our people ;people who will voice our grievances fearlessly; people who can think, lead and act; people with principles and character. Such people should be sent to the legislatures. We must send such people to Legislatures who will be slaves to none but remain free to their conscience and get our grievances redressed.

Why does a human body become deceased? The reason is that as long as the human body is not free from suffering, mind cannot be happy. If a man lacks enthusiasm, either his body or mind is in a deceased condition.... Now what saps the enthusiasm in man? If there is no enthusiasm, life becomes drudgery - a mere burden to be dragged. Nothing can be achieved if there is no enthusiasm. The main reason for this lack of enthusiasm on the part of a man is that an individual looses the hope of getting an opportunity to elevate

himself. Hopelessness leads to lack of enthusiasm. The mind in such cases becomes deceased.... When is enthusiasm created? When one breaths an atmosphere where one is sure of getting the legitimate reward for one's labor, only then one feels enriched by enthusiasm and inspiration.


The fundamental principle of Buddhism is equality... Buddhism was called the religion of Shudras. There was only one man who raised his voice against separatism and Untouchability and that was Lord Buddha.

The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible. The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have...Now what is the basis of Buddhism? If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.

I am myself a believer in Animas (non-violence). But I make a distinction between Animas and meekness. Meekness is weakness and weakness is voluntarily imposed upon oneself is not a virtue. I am believer in Animas but in the sense defined by the saint Takuma. Takuma has quite rightly said that Animas consisted of two things: (1) love and kindness towards all creatures and (2) destruction of evil doers. The second part of this definition is often lost sight of that the doctrine of Animas becomes so ridiculous.

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.

We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the social plane we have an India based on the principles of graded inequality, which means elevation for some and degradation for others. On the economic plane we have a society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty.

The second thing we are wanting in is the recognition of the principle of fraternity. What does fraternity mean? Fraternity means a sense of common brotherhood of all Indians, all Indians being one people. It is a principle that gives solidarity to social life. It is difficult thing to achieve. It seems to me that there lies a heavy duty to see that democracy does not vanish from the earth as a governing principle of human relationship. If we believe in it, we must both be true and loyal to it. We must not only be staunch in our faith in democracy but we must resolve to see that whatever we do, we do not help the enemies of democracy to uproot the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. It follows that we must strive along with other democratic countries to maintain the basis of democratic civilization. If democracy lives we are sure to reap the benefit of it. If democracy dies it will be our doom. On that there can be no doubt.

The basis of my politics lies in the proposition that the Untouchables are not a sub-division or sub-section of Hindus, and that they are a separate and distinct element in the national life of India.

The true function of law consists in repairing the faults in society. Unfortunately ancient societies never dared to assume the function of repairing their own defects; consequently they decayed. This country has seen the conflict between ecclesiastical law and secular law long before Europeans sought to challenge the authority of the Pope. Kautilya's Arthshastra lays down the foundation of secular law. In India unfortunately ecclesiastical law triumphed over secular law. In my opinion this was the one of the greatest disasters in the country. The unprogressive nature of the Hindu society was due to the notion that the law cannot be changed.


Civilization has never been a continuous process. There were states and societies which at one time had been civilised. In the course of time something happened which made these societies stagnant and decayed. This could be illustrated by India's history itself. There could be no doubt that one of the countries which could boast of ancient civilization is India. When the inhabitants of Europe were living under the barbaric conditions, this country had reached the highest peak of civilization, it had parliamentary institutions when the people of Europe were mere nomads.

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

Justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation. Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights and equal liberty... In short justice is another name of liberty, equality and fraternity.

Anyone who studies working of the system of social economy based on private enterprise and pursuit of personal gain will realise how it undermines, if it does not actually violate the individual rights on which democracy rests. How many have to relinquish their rights in order to gain their living? How many have to subject themselves to be governed by private employers?

I hate injustice, tyranny, pompousness and humbug, and my hatred embraces all those who are guilty of them. I want to tell my critics that I regard my feelings of hatred as a real force. They are only the reflexes of love I bear for the causes I believe in and I am in no wise ashamed of it.

Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people.

Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.

Every man who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is no fit to rule another country must admit that one class is not fit to rule another class.

One cannot have any respect or regard for men who take the position of the reformer and then refuse to see the logical consequences of that position, let alone following them out in action.

History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.

Slavery does not merely mean a legalised form of subjection. It means a state of society in which some men are forced to accept from others the purposes which control their conduct.

This condition obtains even where there is no slavery in the legal sense. It is found where as in caste system, some persons are forced to carry on the prescribed callings which are not their choice.

India is a peculiar country and her nationalists and patriots are a peculiar people. A patriot and a nationalist in India is one who sees with open eyes his fellow men treated as being less than man. But his humanity does not rise in protest. He knows that men and women for no cause are denied their rights. But it does not prick his civil sense of helpful action. He finds a whole class of people shut out from public employment. But it does not rouse his sense of justice and fair play. Hundreds of evil practices that injure man and society are perceived by him. But they do not sicken him with disgust. The patriot's one cry is power for him and his class. I am glad I do not belong to that class of patriots. I belong to that class which takes its stand on democracy and which seeks to destroy monopoly in every form. Our aim is to realise in practice our ideal of one man one value in all walks of life - political, economical and social.

There is no nation of Indians in the real sense of the world, it is yet to be created. In believing we are a nation, we are cherishing a great delusion. How can people divided into thousand of castes be a nation? The sooner we realise that we are not yet a nation, in a social and psychological sense of the world, the better for us.


It is not enough to be electors only. It is necessary to be law-makers; otherwise those who can be law-makers ill be the masters of those who can only be electors.

Walter Bagehot defined democracy as ' Government by discussion'. Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as ' A Government of the people, by the people and for the people'.

My definition of democracy is - A form and a method of Government whereby revolutionary changes in the social life are brought about without bloodshed. That is the real test. It is perhaps the severest test. But when you are judging the quality of the material you must put it to the severest test.

Democracy is not merely a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards our fellow men.

A democratic form of Government presupposes a democratic form of a society, The formal framework of democracy is of no value and would indeed be a misfit if there was no social democracy. It may not be necessary for a democratic society to be marked by unity, by community of purpose, by loyalty to public ends and by mutuality of sympathy. But it does unmistakably involve two things. The first is an attitude of mind, and attitude of respect and equality towards their fellows. The second is a social organisation free from rigid social barriers. Democracy is incompatible and inconsistent with isolation and exclusiveness resulting in the distinction between the privileged and the unprivileged.

Democracy is not a Form of Government, but a form of social organisation.


What we must do is not to content ourselves with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there is at the base of it, a social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. These principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items. They form a union in the sense that, to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity.

Without social union, political unity is difficult to be achieved. If achieved, it would be as precarious as a summer sapling, liable to be uprooted by the gust of wind. With mere political unity, India may be a state. But to be a state is not to be a nation and a state which is not a nation has small prospects of survival in the struggle of existence. This is especially true where nationalism - the most dynamic force of modern times, is seeking everywhere to free itself by the destruction and disruption of all mixed states. The danger to a mixed and composite state, therefore lies not so much in external aggression as in the internal resurgence of nationalities which are fragmented, entrapped, suppressed and held against their will.

The idea of fundamental rights has become a familiar one since their enactment in the American Constitution and in the Constitution framed by the Revolutionary France. The idea of making a gift of fundamental rights to every individual is no doubt very laudable. The question is how to make them effective? The prevalent view is that once the rights are enacted in law then they are safeguarded. This again is an unwarranted assumption. As experience proves, rights are protected not by law but by social and moral conscience of the society. If social conscience is such that it is prepared to recognise the rights which law proposes to enact, rights will be safe and secure. But if the fundamental rights are opposed by the community, no Law, no Parliament, no Judiciary can guarantee them in the real sense of the world. What is the use of Fundamental rights to the Untouchables in India? As Burke said, there is no method found for punishing the multitude. Law can punish a single solitary recalcitrant criminal. It can never operate against the whole body of people who choose to defy it. Social conscience is the only safeguard of all rights, fundamental or non-fundamental.

Rights are real only if they are accompanied by remedies. It is no use giving rights if the aggrieved person has no legal remedy to which he can resort when his rights are invaded.

Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by relentless struggle.... Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions.



For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights.

I feel that the constitution is workable, it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile.

Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.


What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights.

Our object in framing the Constitution is rally two-fold: (1) To lay down the form of political democracy, and (2) To lay down that our ideal is economic democracy and also to prescribe that every Government whatever is in power shall strive to bring about economic democracy. The directive principles have a great value, for they lay down that our ideal is economic democracy.

If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.

On the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognising the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of democracy which this Constituent Assembly has so laboriously built up.

There can be no gain saying that political power in this country has too long been the monopoly of the few, and the many are not beasts of burden but also beasts of prey.

The monopoly has not merely deprived them of their chance of betterment, it has sapped them of what may be called the significance of life. Those downtrodden classes are tired of being governed. They are impatient to govern themselves. This urge of self-realisation in the downtrodden must not be allowed to devolve into class struggle or class war. It would lead to the division of the House. That would indeed be a day of disaster. For, as has been well-said by Abraham Lincoln: "A house divided against cannot stand very long". Therefore the sooner room is made for realisation of their aspiration, the better for the few, the better for the country, the better for the independence and the better for the continuance of its democratic structure. This can only be done by the establishment of equality and fraternity in all walks of life.


It is disgraceful to live at the cost of one's self-respect. Self-respect is the most vital factor in life. Without it, man is a cipher. To live worthily with self-respect, one has to overcome difficulties. It is out of hard and ceaseless struggle alone that one derives strength, confidence and recognition.

Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.

Sincerity is the sum of all moral qualities.

Man is mortal. Everyone has to die some day or the other. But one must resolve to lay down one's life in enriching the noble ideals of self-respect and in bettering one's human life. We are not slaves. Nothing is more disgraceful for a brave man than to live life devoid of self-respect.

My social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: liberty, equality and fraternity. My philosophy has roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teachings of my master, the Buddha.

Emerson has said that consistency is a virtue of an ass. No thinking human being can be tied down to a view once expressed in the name of consistency. More important than consistency is responsibility. A responsible person must learn to unlearn what he has learned. A responsible person must have the courage to rethink and change his thoughts. Of course there must be good and sufficient reason for unlearning what he has learned and for recasting his thoughts. There can be no finality in rethinking.

John Dewey said: "Every society gets encumbered with what is trivial, with what is dead wood from the past and what is positively perverse. As a society becomes more enlightened, it realises that it is responsible not to conserve and transmit the whole of its achievement, but only such as makes a better future society"

There is nothing fixed, nothing eternal, nothing sanatan; everything is changing, change is the law of life for individuals as well as for society. In a changing society there must be constant revolution of old values.

No civilised society of today presents more survivals of primitive times than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive and its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, operates in all its pristine vigor even today. Indian society still savors of the clan system, even though there are no clans.


An ideal society should be mobile, should be full of channels for conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts. In an ideal society there should be many interests consciously communicated and shared.

The strength of a society depends upon the presence of points of contacts, possibilities of interaction between different groups that exist in it. These are what Carlyle calls "Organic filaments", i.e. the elastic threads which helps to bring the disintegrating elements together and to reunite them.

Heroes and hero-worship is a hard fact in India's political life. I agree that hero-worship is demoralising for the devotee and dangerous to the country. I welcome the criticism so far as it conveys the caution that you must know your man is really great before you start worshipping him. This unfortunately is not an easy task. For in these days with the Press in hand it is easy to manufacture Great Men. Carlyle used a happy phrase when he described the Great Men of history as so many bank notes. Like bank notes they represent gold. What we have to see that they are not forged notes. I admit that we ought to be more cautious in our worship of Great Men. For in this country we have arrived at such a stage when alongside the notice boards saying "Beware of pickpockets", we need to have notice boards saying "Beware of Great Men". Even Carlyle who defended the worship of Great Men warned his readers how: "Multitudes of Great Men have figured in history who were false and selfish ".

Hero-worship in the sense of expressing our unbound admiration is one thing. To obey the hero is a totally different kind of worship. There is nothing wrong in the former while the latter is no doubt a most pernicious thing. The former is man's respect for which is noble and of which the great men are only an embodiment. The latter is the serf's fealty to his lord. The former is consistent with respect, but the latter is a sign of debasement. The former does not take away one's intelligence to think and independence to act. The latter makes one perfect fool. The former involves no disaster to the state. The latter is a source of positive danger to it.

In India, 'Bhakti' or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship plays a part in politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other of the world. 'Bhakti' in religion may be a road to salvation of the soul. But in politics, 'Bhakti' or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.

The questions which President Roosevelt propounded for the American public to consider will arise here, if they have not already arisen: Who shall rule - wealth or man? Which shall lead - money or intellect? Who shall fill the public stations - educated and patriotic free men or the feudal serf's of the corporate capital? For the president, Indian politics, at any rate the Hindu part of it, instead of being spiritualised has become grossly commercialised, so much so that it has become a byword for corruption. Many men of culture are refusing to concern themselves in this cesspool. Politics has become a kind of sewage system intolerably unsavory and insanitary. To become a politician is like going to work in the drain.


History bears out the proposition that political revolutions have always been preceded by social and religious revolutions. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics.

Law and order are the medicine of the body politic and when the body politic gets sick, medicine must be administered.

The world owes much to rebels who would dare to argue in the face of the pontiff (high priest) and insist that he is not infallible.

A people and their religion must be judged by social standards based on social ethics. No other standard would have any meaning if religion is held to be necessary good for the well-being of the people.

Ethnologists are of the opinion that men of pure race exist nowhere and that there has been admixture of all races in all parts of the world - especially is this the case with the people if India. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar has stated: "There is hardly a class or caste in India which has not a foreign strain in it. There is as an admixture of alien blood not only among the warrior classes - the Rajputs and Marathas - but among the Brahmins who are under the happy delusion that they are free from all foreign elements.

The question is not whether a community lives or dies, the question is on what plane does it live. There are different modes of survival. But all are not equally honorable. For an individual as well as a society, there is a gulf between merely living and living worthily. To fight in a battle and live in a glory is one mode. To beat a retreat to surrender and to live the life of a captive is also a mode of survival.

The sovereignty of scriptures of all religions must come to an end if we want to have a united integrated modern India.

Law and religion are two forces which govern the conduct of men. At times they act as handmaids to each other. At other times they act as check and counter-check. Of the two forces, Law is personal while religion is impersonal. Law being personal it is capable of being unjust and iniquitous. But religion being impersonal, it can be impartial, it is capable of defeating the inequity committed by law. Religion is believed to ennoble man and not degrade him. Hinduism is an exception.

I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality & fraternity.The relationship between husband & wife should be one of closest friends.

To open or not to open the temples is a question for you to consider & not for me to agitate. If u think it is bad manners not to believe in the sanctity of human beings, then throw open the doors & be a gentleman, but if u wish to remain a orthodox Hindu then shut the doors & damn yourself, for I don't care to come. We are Indians, firstly & lastly

Given the time & circumstances, nothing under the sun shall stop this country from becoming a super power.
Being grateful has limitations, no man can be grateful at the cost of his dignity, no woman at the cost of her chastity & no country at the cost of its freedom.
I hope that Mr. Gandhi will not drive me to the necessity of making a choice between his life & rights of my people, for I shall never consent to deliver my people bound hand & foot to the orthodox for generations to come.
A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society.
So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you.
On 26th Jan. 1950,India will be an independent country. What would happen to her independence? Will she maintain or will she lose it again? This is the first thought that comes to my mind.It is not that India was never an independent country. The point is that she once lost the independence she had. Will she lose it a second time? It is this thought which makes makes me most anxious for the future. What perturbs me greatly is the fact that not only India has once beforelost her independence, but she lost it by treachery of some of her own people...Will history repeat itself ?It is this thought which fills me with anxiety. This anxiety is deepened by the realization of the fact that in addition to our old enemies in the form of castes &creeds, we are going to have many political parties with diverse & opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or creed above their country? I do not know, But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time & probably be lost forever. This eventuality we all must resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood!

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF BABA SAHEB AMBEDKAR


Important Events
1891
Apr 14
Born at Mahu (Madhya Pradesh), the fourteenth child of Subhedar Ramji Sapkal and Mrs Bhimabai Ambedkar.
1896
Death of the mother, Mrs Bhimabai Ambedkar
1900
Nov
Entered the Government High School at Satara.
1904

Entered the Elphinstone High School at Bombay.
1906
Married Ramabai daughter of Mr. Bhiku Walangkar, one of the relations of Gopal Baba Walangkar
1907
Passed Matriculation Examination, scored 382 marks out of 750.
1908
Jan
Honoured in a meeting presided over by Shri S K Bole, Shri K A (Dada) Keluskar Guruji presented a book on the life of Gautam Buddha written by him. Entered the Elphinstone College, Bombay.
1912
Dec
Birth of the son Yeshwant.
1913
Passed B.A Examination with Persian and English from University of Bombay, scored 449 marks out of 1000.
1913
Feb
Death of father Subhedar Ramji Maloji Ambedkar at Bombay.
1913
July
Gaikwar's Scholar in the Columbia University, New York, reading in the Faculty of Political Science.
1915
June 5
Passed M.A. Examination majoring in Economics and with Sociology, History Philosophy, Anthropology and Politics as the other subjects of study.
1916
May
Read a paper on The Castes in India' before Prof. Goldernweiser's Anthropology Seminar. The paper was later published in The Indian Antiquary in May 1917. It was also republished in the form of a brochure, the first published work of Dr Ambedkar. Wrote a Thesis entitled 'The National Divident of India – A Historical and Analytical Study' for the Ph.D Degree.
1916
June
Left Colombia University after completing work for the Ph.D, to join the London School of Economics and Political Science, London as a graduate student.
1917
Columbia University conferred a Degree of Ph.D.
1917
June
Return to India after spending a year in London working on the thesis for the M.Sc. (Econ) Degree. The return before completion of the work was necessitated by the termination the scholarship granted by the Baroda State.
1917
July
Appointed as Military Secretary to H.H. the Maharaja Gaikwar of Baroda with a view Finance Minister. But left shortly due to ill. Treatment meted out to him because of his lowly caste. Published "Small Holdings in India and Their Remedies".
1918
Gave evidence before the Southborough Commission on Franchise. Attended the Conference of the depressedClasses held at Nagpur.
1918
Nov
Professor of Political Economy in the Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, Bombay.
1920
Jan 31
Started a Marathi Weekly paper Mooknayak to champion the cause of the depressed classes. Shri Nandram Bhatkar was the editor, later Shri Dyander Gholap was the editor.
1920
Mar 21
Attended depressed classes Conference held under the presidency of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj at Kolhapur.
1920
Mar
Resigned professorship at Sydenham College to resume his studies in London.
1920
May
Memorable speech in Nagpur, criticised Karmaveer Shinde and Depressed Classes Mission.
1920
Sept
Rejoined the London School of Economics. Also entered Gray's Inn to read for the Bar.
1921
June
The thesis 'Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India' was accepted for M.Sc. (Econ) Degree by the London University.
1922-23
Spent some time in reading economics in the University of Bonn in Germany.
1923
Mar
The Thesis 'The Problem of the Rupee – Its origin and its solution' was accepted for the degree of D.Sc. (Econ.). The thesis was published in December 1923 by P S King & Company, London. Reissued by Thacker & Company, Bombay in May 1947 under the title History of Indian Currency and Banking Vol. 1.
1923
Called to the Bar.
1923
Apr
Returned to India.
1924
June
Started practice in the Bombay High Court.
1924
July 20
Founded the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha' for the uplift of the depressed classes. The aims of the Sabha were educate, agitate, organise.
1925
Published 'The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India' - dissertation on the provincial decentralisation of ImperialFinance in India'.
Opened a hostel for Untouchable students at Barshi.
1926
Gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Indian Currency (Hilton Young Commisssion).
Nominated Member of the Bombay Legislative Council.
1927
Mar 20
Started Satyagraha at Mahad (Dist Kolaba) to secure to the untouchables the Right of access to the Chavdar Tank.
1927
Apr 3
Started a fortnightly Marathi paper Bahiskrit Bharat Dr Ambedkar himself was the editor.
1927
Sept
Established 'Samaj Samata Sangh'.
1927
Dec
Second Conference in Mahad.
1928
Mar
Introduced the "Vatan Bill" in the Bombay Legislative Council.
1928
May
Gave evidence before the Indian Statutory Committee (Simon Commission).
1928
June
Professor. Government Law College Bombay.
Principal. Government Law College Bombay.
1928-29
Member. Bombay Presidency Committee of the Simon Committee.
1930
Mar
Satyagraha at Kalram Temple. Nasik to secure for the Untouchables the right of entry into the temple.
1930-32
Delegate. Round Table Conference representing Untouchables of India.
1932
Sept
Signed with Mr. M.K. Gandhi the Poona Pact giving up, to save Gandhi's life. separate electorates granted to the Depressed Classes by Ramsay MacDonald's Communal Award, and accepting, instead representation through joint electorates.
1932-34
Member joint Parliamentary Committee on the Indian Constitutional Reform.
1934
Left Parel, Damodar Hall and came to stay in 'Rajagriha' Dadar (Bombay). This was done in order to get more accommodation for his library which was increasing day by day.
1935
May 26
Death of wife. Mrs. Ramabai Ambedkar.
1935
June
Dr. Ambedkar was appointed as Principal of Government Law College, Bombay. He was also appointed Perry Professor ofJurisprudence.
Oct 13
Historical Yeola Conversion Conference held under the Presidentship of Dr. Ambedkar at Yeola Dist., Nasik. He exhorted the Depressed Classes to leave Hinduism and embrace another religion. He declared: 'I was born as a Hindu but I will not die as a Hindu'. He also advisedhis followers to abandon the Kalaram Mandi entry Satyagriha, Nasik.
Dec
Dr. Ambedkar was invited by the Jat Pat Todak Mandal of Lahore to preside over the Conference. Dr.Ambedkar prepared his historical speech. The Annihilation of Caste'. The conference was cancelled by the Mandal on the ground that Dr.Ambedkar's thoughts were revolutionary. Finally, Dr. Ambedkar refused to preside and published his speech in book form in1937.
1936
Jan 12-13
The Depressed Classes Conference was held at Pune.
Dr. Ambedkar reiterated his resolve of the Yeola Conference to leave Hinduism. The conference was presided over by Rav Bahadur N. Shina Raj.
Feb 29
Dr. Ambedkar's Conversion Resolution was supported by the Chambars (Cobblers) of East Khandesh.
May 30
Bombay Presidency Conversion Conference (Mumbai Elaka Mahar Panshad) of Mahars was held at Naigaum (Dadar) to sound their opinion on the issue of Conversion. Mr. Subha Rao, popularly known as Hydrabadi Ambedkar, presided over the Conference. In the morning the Ascetics shaved their beards, moustaches and destroyed their symbols of Hinduism in an Ascetic's Conference.
June 15
Conference of Devadasis was held m Bombay to support Dr. Ambedkar's Resolution of Conversion.
June 18
Dr. Ambedkar-Dr. Moonje talks on conversion. Pro Sikkhism.
June 23
Matang Parishad in support of Conversion.
Aug
Dr. Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, a strong opposition party in Bombay's Legislative Council.
Sept 18
Dr.Ambedkar sent a delegation of 13 members to the Golden Temple Amritsar to study Sikkhism.
Nov 11
Dr.Ambedkar left for Geneva and London.
1937
Dr.Ambedkar organised the 'Municipal Workers' Union' Bombay in 1937.
Jan 14
Dr. Ambedkar returned to Bombay.
Feb 17
The First General Elections were held under the Govt. of India Act of 1935. Dr. Ambedkar was elected Member of Bombay Legislative Assembly (Total Seats 175. Reserved Seats 15. Dr. Ambedkar's Independent Labour Party won 17 seats.)
Mar 17
The Mahad Chowdar Tank case was decided in favour of D.C. by which they got a legal right to use the public wells and tanks.
July31
Dr. Ambedkar received a grand reception at Chalisgaon Railway station.
Sept 17
Dr. Ambedkar introduced his Bill to abolish the Mahar Watan in the Assembly
Dec31
Reception at Pandhapur on the way to Solapur, where he was going to preside over the Solapur District D.C'. Conference.
1938
Jan 4
Reception given by the Solapur Municipal Council.
1938
Jan
The Congress Party introduced a Bill making a change in the name of Untouchables. i.e. they would be called Harijans meaning sons of God. Dr. Ambedkar criticised the Bill. as in his opinion the change of name would make no real change in their conditions. Dr. Ambedkar and Bhaurav Gaikwad protested against the use of the term Harijans in legal matters. When the ruling party by sheer force of numbers defeated the I.L.P., the Labour-Party group walked out of the Assembly in protest under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar. He organised peasants march on Bombay Assembly. The peasants demanded the passing of Dr. Ambedkar's Bill for abolition of the Khoti system.
1938
Jan 23
Dr. Ambedkar addressed a Peasants' Conference at Ahmedabad.
1938
Feb 12-13
Dr. Ambedkar addressed a historical Conference of Railway workers at Manmad (Dist. Nasik).
1938
Apr
Dr. Ambedkar opposed creation of a separate Karnataka State in the national interest.
1938
May
Dr. Ambedkar resigned from the Principal-ship of the Government Law College, Bombay.
1938
May 13-21
Dr. Ambedkar went on tour of Konkan Region. He also went to Nagpur in connection with a court case.
1938
Aug
A meeting was held at R.M. Bhat High School, Bombay for exposing Gandhiji's attitude in disallowing a D.C. man being taken into the Central Ministry.
1938
Sept
Dr. Ambedkar spoke on the Industrial Disputes Bill in the Bombay Assembly. He bitterly opposed it for its attempt to outlaw the right of workers to strike. He said: If Congressmen believe that Swaraj is their birth-right, then the right to strike is the birth-right of workers.
1938
Oct 1
Dr. Ambedkar addressed a large gathering at Bawala, near Ahmedabad. On return he addressed another meeting at Premabhai Hall, Ahmedabad.
1938
Nov 6
The Industrial Workers strike. The procession (under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar, Nirnkar, Dange, Pasulkar etc) was organised from Kamgar Maidan to Jambori Maidan, Worli. Dr.Ambedkar toured the workers areas with Jamvadas Mehta.
1938
Nov 10
Dr. Ambedkar moved a Resolution for adoption of the methods for birth-control in the Bombay Assembly.
1938
Dec
Dr. Ambedkar addressed the first D.C. Conference in Nizam's dominion at Mahad.
1939
Jan 18
Dr. Ambedkar addressed a large gathering at Rajkot
Jan 19
Ambedkar-Gandhi talks.
Jan 29
Kale Memorial Lecture of Gorkhale School of Politics and Economics, Poona reviewing critically the All India Federation Scheme set out in the Govt. of India Act of 1935. The speech was issued in March 1939 as a tract for the times under the title 'Federation v/s Freedom'.
July
Dr. Ambedkar addressed a meeting organised for Rohidas Vidya Committee.
Oct
Dr.Ambedkar-Nehru first meeting.
Dec
The Conference at Haregaon was held under the Presidentship of Dr.Ambedkar to voice the grievances of Mahar and Mahar Watandass
1940
May
Dr. Ambedkar founded the 'Mahar Panchayat'.
1940
July 22
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose met Dr. Ambedkar in Bombay.
1940
Dec
Dr. Ambedkar published his Thoughts on Pakistan. The second edition with the title Pakistan or Partition of India was issued in February 1945. A third impression of the book was published in 1946 under the title India's Political What's What: Pakistan or Partition of India.
1941
Jan
Dr.Ambedkar pursued the issue of recruitment of Mahars in the Army. In result the Mahars Battallion was formed
1941
May 25
Mahar Dynast Panchayat Samiti was Formed by Dr. Ambedkar.
1941
July
Dr.Ambedkar was appointed to sit on the Defence Advisory Committee.
1941
Aug
The Conference was held at Sinnar in protest of tax on Mahar Watams. Dr.Ambedkar launched a no-tax campaign. He saw the Governor. Finally, the tax was abolished. The Mumbai Elaka Conference of Mahars, Mangs and Derdasis were organised under the Chairmanship of Dr.Ambedkar
1942
Apr
Dr. Ambedkar founded the All India Scheduled Castes Federation in Nagpur.
1942
July 18
Dr. Ambedkar addressed All India D.C. Conference at Nagpur.
1942
July 20
Dr.Ambedkar joined the Viceroy's Executive Council as a Labour Member
1942
Dec
Dr. Ambedkar submitted a paper on "The problems of the Untouchables in India" to the Institute of Pacific Relations at its Conference held in Canada. The paper is printed in the proceedings of the Conference. The paper was subsequently published in December 1943 in the book form under the title Mr Gandhi and Emancipation of the Untouchables.
1943
Jan 19
Dr. Ambedkar delivered a Presidential address on the occasion of the 101st Birth Anniversary of Justice Mahader Govind Ranade. It is published in book form in April 1943 under the title Ranade. Gandhi and Jinnah.
1944
Dr. Ambedkar founded "The Building Trust and the Scheduled Caste Improvement Trust".
1944
May 6
Dr.Ambedkar addressed the Annual Conference of the All India S.C. Federation at Parel (Bombay) The speech was later published under the title "The Communal Deadlock and a way to solve it.'
1944
June
Dr.Ambedkar published his book What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables - a complete compendium of information regarding the movement of the Untouchables for political safeguards. Dr.Ambedkar attended the Simla Conference.
1944
July
Dr Ambedkar founded 'People's Education Society' in Bombay.
1946
Dr Ambedkar gave evidence before the British delegation.
1946
Apr
Opening of Siddharth College of Arts and Science in Bombay
1946
May
The Bharat Bhushan Printing Press (founded by Dr Ambedkar) was burnt down in the clashes between D.C. and the Caste-Hindus
1946
June 20
Siddharth College started
Sept
Dr Ambedkar went to London to urge before the British Government and the Opposition Party the need to provide safeguards for the D.C., on grant of Independence to India and thus to rectify the wrongs done to the D.C. by the Cabinet Mission.
Oct 13
Dr Ambedkar published his book. Who were Shudras? An enquiry into how the Shudras came to be the fourth Varna in the Indo-Aryan Society.
Dr Ambedkar was elected Member of the Constitution Assembly of India.
Nov
Dr Ambedkar's First speech in the Constituent Assembly. He called for a 'strong and United India'.
1947
Mar
Published 'States and Minorities'. A memorandum of Fundamental Rights, Minority Rights, safeguards for the D.C. and on the problems of Indian states.
1947
Apr 29
Article 17 of the Constitution of India for the abolition of Untouchability was moved by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the Constituent Assembly and it was passed.
1947
Aug 15
India obtained her Independence. Dr Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly by the Bombay Legislature Congress Party. Dr Ambedkar joined Nehru's Cabinet. He became theFirst Law Minister of Independent India. The Constituent Assembly appointed him to the drafting Committee, which elected him as a Chairman on 29th August 1947.
1948
Feb
Dr Ambedkar completed the Draft Constitution of Indian Republic.
1948
Apr 15
Second marriage - Dr Ambedkar married Dr Sharda Kabir in Delhi.
1948
Oct
Published his book The Untouchables. A thesis on the origin of Untouchability. Dr Ambedkar submitted his Memorandum, "Maharashtra as a linguistic Province" to the Dhar Commission. The Linguistic Provinces Commission).
1948
Oct 4
Dr.Ambedkar presented the Draft Constitution to Constituent Assembly.
1948
Nov 20
The Constituent Assembly adopted Article 17 of the Constitution for the abolition of Untouchability.
1949
Jan
Dr Ambedkar, Law Minister of India visited Hydrabad (Deccan)
1949
Jan 15
Dr Ambedkar was presented with a Purse at Manmad by his admirers. He addressed a large gathering.
1949
Jan 21
He stayed at Aurangabad in connection with his opening proposed College. During the stay he visited Ajanta - Ellora Caves.
1949
Mar/ may
Dr Ambedkar visited Bombay in connection with College work and for a medical check-up.
1949
Sept
Meeting between Dr Ambedkar and Madhavrao Golvalker, Chief of RRs and the residence of Dr Ambedkar at Delhi.
1949
Nov
Dr Ambedkar came to Bombay for college work meeting and medical check-up.
1949
Nov
Dr Ambedkar addressed the Constituent Assembly.
1949
Nov 26
Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution. Dr Ambedkar came to Bombay for check-up.
1950
Jan 11
Dr Ambedkar addressed the Siddharth College Parliament on the Hindu Code Bill. In the evening he was presented with a silver casket containing a copy of the Indian Constitution at Nare Park Maidan, Bombay.
May
Dr Ambedkar's article The Buddha and the Future His Religion' was published in the journal of Mahabodhi Society, Calcutta. Dr.Ambedkar addressed the Young Men's Buddhist Association on "The Rise and Fall of Hindu Women". Dr Ambedkar spoke on the "Merits of Buddhism" at the meeting arranged on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti in Delhi.
1950
Sept 1
Dr Rajendra Prasad, the First President of the Indian Republic laid the foundation stone of Milind Maharidyalaya, Aurangabad. Dr.Ambedkar delivered a speech on the occasion (The printed speech is available with Mr Surwade)
1950
Dec
Dr Ambedkar went to Colombo as a Delegate to the World Buddhist Conference.
1951
Feb 5
Dr.Ambedkar, Law Minister introduced his "Hindu Code Bill" in the Parliament.
1951
Apr 15
Dr Ambedkar laid the foundation stone of "Dr Ambedkar Bhavan". Delhi.
1951
July
Dr Ambedkar founded "The Bhartiya Buddha Jansangh".
1951
Sept
Dr Ambedkar compiled a Buddhist prayer book Buddha Upasana Palha
1951
Sept 9
Dr Ambedkar resigned from the Nehru Cabinet because, among other reasons, the withdrawal of Cabinet support to the Hindu Code Bill in spite of the earlier declaration in the Parliament by the Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, that his Government would stand or fall with the Hindu Code Bill. Apart from this Nehru announced that he will sink or swim with the Hindu Code Bill.
Dr Ambedkar published his speech in book form under the title The Rise and Fall of Hindu Women.
1951
Sept 19
The marriage and divorce Bill was discussed in the Parliament.
1951
Oct 11
Dr Ambedkar left the Cabinet.
1952
Jan
Dr Ambedkar was defeated in the First Lok Sabha elections held under the Constitution of Indian Republic. Congress candidate N. S. Kajrolkar defeated Dr Ambedkar.
1952
Mar
Dr Ambedkar was introduced into Parliament as a member of the Council (Rajya Sabha) of States, representing Bombay.
1952
June 1
Dr Ambedkar left for New York from Bombay.
1952
June 15
Columbia University (USA) conferred the honorary Degree of LL.D., in its Bi-Centennial Celebrations Special Convocation held in New York.
1952
June 16
Dr Ambedkar returned to Bombay.
1952
Dec 16
Dr Ambedkar addressed Annual Social Gathering of Elphinstone College, Bombay.
1952
Dec 22
Dr Ambedkar delivered a talk on "Conditions Precedent to the Successful working of Democracy" at the Bar Council, Pune.
1953
Jan 12
The Osmania University conferred the honorary Degree of LL.D on Dr Ambedkar.
1953
Mar
The Untouchability (offences) Bill was introduced in the Parliament by the Nehru Government.
1953
Apr
Dr Ambedkar contested the By-Election for Lok Sabha from Bhandara Constituency of Vidarbha Region but was defeated Congress Candidate Mr Borkar.
1953
May
Opening of Siddharth College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay.
1953
Dec
Dr Ambedkar inaugurated the All India Conference of Sai devotees at the St. X'avier's Maidan Parel Bombay (His inaugural speech is available with Mr Surwade)
1954
May
Dr Ambedkar visited Rangoon to attend the function arranged on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti.
1954
June
The Maharaja of Mysore donated 5 acres of land for Dr Ambedkar's proposed Buddhist Seminary to be started at Bangalore
1954
Sept 16
Dr Ambedkar spoke on the Untouchability (Offences) Bill in the Rajya Sabha
1954
Oct 3
dj- ambedkar broadcast his talk "My Personal Philosophy"
1954
Oct 29
Shri R. D. Bhandare, President of Bombay Pradesh S.C. Federation presented a purse of Rs 118,000 on behalf of S.C.F. to Dr Ambedkar at Purandare Stadium, Naigaum (Bombay)
1954
Dec
Dr Ambedkar participated as delegate to the 3rd World Buddhist Conference at Rangoon.
1955
April 3
Delivered a speech "Why Religion is necessary".
1955
May
Dr Ambedkar established Bhartiya Bauddha Mahasabha (The Buddhist Society of India
1955
Aug
Founded 'Murnbai Rajya Kanishtha
Garkamgart Association'
1955
Dec
Published his opinions on linguistic states in book form under the title Thoughts on linguistic States.
1955
Dec
Dr Ambedkar installed an image of Buddha at Dehu Road (near Pune)
1955
Dec 27
Dr Ambedkar spoke against reservation of seats in the State and Central Legislatures.
1956
Feb
Dr Ambedkar completed his The Buddha and His Dhamma, Revolution & Counter-revolution in Ancient India.
1956
Mar 15
Dr Ambedkar wrote and dictated the Preface of The Buddha and His Dhamma.
1956
May 1
Dr Ambedkar spoke on Linguistic states in the Council of States.
Dr Ambedkar spoke on BBC London on "Why I like Buddhism", Also, he spoke for Voice Voice of America on "The Future of IndianDemocracy".
1956
May 24
Dr Ambedkar attended a meeting at Nare Park organised on the eve of Buddha Jayanti, Shri B.G.Kher, Prime Minister of Bombay was Chief Guest. This meeting was the last meeting of Dr Ambedkar in Bombay.
1956
June
Opening of Siddharth College of Law in Bombay.
1956
Oct 14
Dr Ambedkar embraced Buddhism at an historic ceremony at Diksha Bhoomi, Nagpur with his millions of followers. Announced to desolve S.C.F and establish Republican Party.
1956
Nov 20
Delegate, 4th World Buddhist Conference, Khalinandu, where he delivered his famous speech famous speech 'Buddha or Karl Marx'.
1956
Dec 6
Maha Nirvana at his residence, 26 Alipore Road,New Delhi.
1956
Dec 7
Cremation at Dadar Chawpatti – Now known as Chaitya Bhoomi Dadar (Bombay).
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