The message of
Gautam Buddha has endured the passage of time and continues to resonate
around the world, more than two and a half millennia later. For
centuries, the life, spirituality and the teachings of Gautam Buddha
have offered solace to millions of people across the world, and his
teachings are an invaluable part of our proud national heritage. Gautam
Buddha’s uniqueness lay in the fact that he prescribed a moral code of
conduct, based on love and compassion, which could enable any person to
realize the Truth. Gautam Buddha’s approach to be ‘ …like the breath of
the fresh wind from the mountains after the stale air of metaphysical
speculation’.

More than
2,500 years after Lord Gautam Buddha’s Maha-parinibbana, we find his
teachings still casting a lasting influence on the political and social
priorities of our times. Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, was deeply influenced
by the egalitarianism and humanism of Gautam Buddha’s teachings. He
eventually embraced Buddhism because he was seeking, in his own words, ‘Pragyan that is awakenment; Karuna, that is compassion; and Samata, that is equality.’ Dr. Ambedkar, gave a new meaning and relevance to the ancient wisdom of Gautam Buddha.

Dr. Bhimrao
Ramji Ambedkar, affectionately called ‘Baba Saheb’ by millions of his
admirers and followers, played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of
free India and left an indelible imprint on our national life and
polity. The architect of our Constitution, the champion of the
downtrodden, and a rebel against social and economic inequities, Dr.
Amebdkar was a patriot of
sterling worth.

Born in a
‘Mahar (Aborginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath)’ family, Baba Saheb had to suffer the ugliest forms of caste
oppression and social discrimination by the Central Asian Invaders in his early days. But he fought
against them with indomitable courage, and overcoming the twin social
barriers of extreme poverty and caste prejudice, obtained a law degree
and multiple doctorates in law, economics and political science from
universities in the UK and USA.

Dr. Ambedkar
was chiefly instrumental in creating a new awakening, a new sense of
social significance and a unique sense of dignity and self-respect
amongst a large section of our people who were otherwise placed at the
lowest strata in our hierarchical social order of first, second, third, fourth rate of souls and human beings without any soul while the Buddha never believed in soul but felt all were equal. Endowed with
extraordinary brilliance, great foresight, tenacious purpose and
courage of conviction, Babasaheb inspired the deprived sections of our
society to question the basis of the exploitative and degrading social
milieu in which they lived and to stand up for their legitimate rights.

Baba Saheb’s
eminence as a national leader, jurist, constitutional expert and
Parliamentarian was fully recognized when he was elected to
Constituency Assembly in 1946, and appointed as the Chairman of
Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution in August, 1947. Working
prodigiously, literally burning the midnight oil, Dr. Ambedkar sat for
141 days to draw up the Draft Constitution of India. Being an
economist, legal luminary and socialist, he was deeply aware that the
Constitution was not merely a legal document but an organic entity,
representing the aspirations of millions of our countrymen. Speaking on
the vitality and the endurability of the Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar
said ‘The Constitution as settled by the Drafting Committee is
workable. It is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country
both in peace time and war time. 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.’

Dr. Ambedkar’s
attempt was to link the interest of the depressed classes and their
liberation with the common national movement for freedom. Nationalism
in him emerged out of his principled fight against both external
domination and internal oppression. His view of nationalism not only
contemplated the liberation of every country enslaved by colonial
domination but also the freedom for all subjects and subjugated people
even in free countries. He emphasized that without freedom that ensured
the dignity of all individuals social brotherhood cannot be achieved.

He believed
that certain political rights alone did not constitute the basis of
democracy. He perceived it as a form of social engineering, a way of
life. The fundamental elements in the democracy of his concept were:
liberty, equality, fraternity, reason, human experience, prevalence of
rule of law, respect for natural rights, and an emphasis on the
individual in social relationships

On the
inauguration of the Constitution, he declared in unequivocal terms that
though India had attained equality in politics, there still existed
inequality in social and economic life. In his concluding Address in
the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Ambedkar forcefully put forth his views
in this regard. He said, and I quote: ‘We must make our political
democracy a social democracy. It means a way of life, which recognizes
liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. 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.’

The Indian
Constitution as given to us by Dr. Ambedkar is a unique affirmation of
individual rights and social justice. Its great value lies in the fact
that it guarantees social empowerment through constitutional and
democratic means. Our unique path of achieving social and economic
emancipation through peaceful and democratic means holds lessons for
all societies in transition and for all countries striving to cope with
social and economic disparities.

Dr. Ambedkar’s
role as a political leader and his intellectual contribution have
become an integral part of our country’s political evolution. He
brought to the forefront of our nation’s conscience, the deprivations
suffered by a large section of our people due to our exploitative
social system. More than anything else he will be remembered for his
role in laying the institutional foundation of our Republic and for his
heroic struggle for raising the down-trodden to a life of dignity and
self-respect.

In recognition
of the distinguished services rendered by Dr. Ambedkar, the Government
of India conferred on him the nation’s highest award ‘the Bharat Ratna’
posthumously in 1990, and commemorated the centenary year of his birth
in 1990-91 as the Year of Social Justice.

Even today,
Dr. Ambedkar’s vision for a just and free society continues to guide
political thought and action in India. The scheme for affirmative
action or positive discrimination in favour of the weak, enjoys support
of all political parties across the ideological spectrum. Drawing
inspiration from Dr. Ambedkar’s life - where education provided
empowerment, the Indian State is paying special attention to making
education, especially higher education, more accessible to the weaker
sections of society.

However,
administrative measures alone cannot bring about societal changes.
There is a need to change our mind-sets too. This requires an all -
encompassing political and cultural movement against various forms of
injustice in our society. Ultimately, the battle for a just social
order has to be waged and won in the minds of our people.Narrow Minds have to be converted into Mighty Great Minds.

Today, there
are thousands of young men and women in India whose lives mirror that
of Baba Saheb. More and more talented young persons from the so-called
backward castes are able to achieve recognition in different fields due
to their merit despite disadvantages and discrimination faced by them.
And that is because of their educational attainments. As this trickle
becomes a flood, Indian Society and Economy will speedily become more
just, more equalitarian, more inclusive and above all, more productive.

India’s
position as an emerging global power will lie in the manner it treats
its weaker sections and its minorities, and in following a path of
inclusive growth. The vision of Baba Saheb and his life continue to be
a beacon light, showing us the way forward in our search for a just
social order.

Now we must thank Bahen Ms. Mayawati who is successfully carrying forward the Caravan stranded after Baba Saheb Ambedkar  and  elect her the next Prime Minister of Jambudvipa, that is, this Great Prabuddha Bharath.