14 April
Ambedkar Jayanti
The birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution of India, the first Law Minister of India, in short B.R. Ambedkar is celebrated every year as Ambedkar Jayanti. On this day, prayer meetings, memorial lectures, processions etc. In different parts of the country even Dalit melas are also organised. Both the government and the private sector remember this great man through various programmes. Born on April 14, 1891 in a lower caste family in western India, B.R. Ambedkar continued his lifelong struggle for the rights of Dalits. He became a trusted leader of the Harijans by fighting relentlessly for the rights of the Harijans. He engaged in a legal battle in 1927 to assert the right of untouchables to draw water from a public pond and in 1937 the Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Ambedkar. Ambedkar also fought relentlessly for the adage of depriving harijans of access as untouchables in temples. He was also able to arrange special representatives for the Harijans in the government’s legislative assembly in the post-independence period. It is for these reasons that B R Ambedkar is a revered leader for Dalits across India. Not only Dalits, but the whole of India fondly remembers Ambedkar’s contribution to the anti-untouchability movement in the country. Ambedkar Jayanti has been playing a special role in spreading his ideals among the countrymen.