Parinirvan is the prime principle of Buddhism. It means ‘someone who has acquired nirvana or freedom’ in his death. Mahaparinirvan Diwas is celebrated across India on 6th of December every year to mark the death anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and to remember his contribution to society. Dr BR Ambedkar was born on 14th of April 1891 in Mhow (currently known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar), Madhya Pradesh. Dr Ambedkar is popularly known as Baba Saheb and is considered as the Father of Indian Constitution as he headed the drafting committee of Indian Constitution.
Baba Saheb was an economist, jurist, social reformer, politician and renowned author. He was honoured with the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1990. Baba Saheb was born in the Mahar (dalit) community at a time when Mahars were treated as untouchables. When Ambedkar joined primary school he and other untouchables were segregated and not allowed to sit in class. They had to sit on a gunny sack. At school they were prohibited to touch the water tap. Whenever they needed water another person from a higher caste poured water from a height so that they do not touch the vessel. Usually, the water was poured by the peon of the school; if the peon wasn’t at school, then they had to be without water, an experience that Baba Saheb later described in his writings as “No Peon No Water”.
Ambedkar was the only person from a dalit caste who got admission in Elphinstone High School where he completed his secondary examination (1907) and Bachelors degree (1912) in economics and political science. The college was affiliated to University of Bombay. In 1913, he got a scholarship from Baroda State of 11.50 sterling per month for three years under the scheme of Gaekwad of Baroda, which was formulated to provide opportunities for postgraduates to study at Columbia University, New York. Thereafter, he completed post-graduation in economics (Columbia University), PhD in economics (Columbia University, New York), M.Sc (London school of economics), D.Sc (London school of economics), and Barrister at law (Gray’s Inn, London).
Baba Saheb toiled for the upliftment of the untouchable community and later became the icon for untouchables. On Article 32 (Right to Constitutional Remedies) he said, “If I was asked to name any particular Article in the constitution as most important, an Article without which the Constitution would be a nullity, I could not refer to any other Article except this one. It is the very soul of the constitution and the very heart of it.”
Ambedkar had an ideological difference with Gandhi and Congress which he outlined in his book “What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables”. On the Gandhian fast against reservation to the backward classes, he remarked, “There was nothing noble in the fast. It was a foul and filthy act. The Fast was not for the benefit of the Untouchables. It was against them and was the worst form of coercion against a helpless people to give up the constitutional safeguards [which had been awarded to them].”
Dr BR Ambedkar castigated all the major religions like Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. On Hinduism he said “I was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu”. He considered Hinduism as an “oppressive religion”. Islam, he said, was “a closed corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction”. On Christianity he wrote: “It is an incontrovertible fact that Christianity was not enough to end the slavery of the Negroes in the United States. A civil war was necessary to give the Negro the freedom which was denied to him by the Christians.”
The contribution of BR Ambedkar to this nation is unforgettable and we as a nation are indebted to him, particularly those who belong to minorities because all the reservations which they enjoy are because of Baba Saheb. Article 17 (Abolition of untouchability), Article 23 (Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour) and Article 24 (Prohibition of employment of children in factories) are also benefactions of Baba Saheb. Some of his important works are: The Annihilation of Caste, The Untouchables, Buddha Or Karl Marx, The Buddha and His Dhamma, and many more. On his birth and death anniversaries, innumerable people pay homage to his memorial, Chaitya Bhoomi, which is at Dadar, Mumbai. His message to the oppressed was: “Educate, Agitate, Organise”.

The writer is a student at GDC Sogam. [email protected]

SHAHID SHAFI SHAH