New Delhi: A host of leaders paid tributes to Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution, on his 132nd birth anniversary on Friday, with many recalling his efforts to uplift the marginalised sections of society and others stressing the need to build strong institutions and create an egalitarian society.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others remembered the social reformer, economist and jurist, who went on to become the first law minister of the country.
Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet Babasaheb dedicated his life to the empowerment of the deprived and exploited sections of society. He also shared an audio clip of his earlier remarks on Ambedkar’s life.
At a ceremony in the Parliament complex, President Murmu and the prime minister were joined by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in paying floral tributes to Ambedkar. Birla called him an architect of social transformation who fostered equality, freedom, justice and brotherhood.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid a floral tribute to Ambedkar in Birbhum in West Bengal. “Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar sought to illuminate the nation by kindling the spark within every Indian. He laboured to create a constitution that provides justice, equality, and freedom to every citizen,” he said in a tweet.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he “respectfully remembers and salutes” him on his birth anniversary. “Along with his contribution to the making of the Constitution, his active role in building the institutions of independent India is incomparable. Babasaheb is an inspiration for all of us in building a strong India,” he added.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao unveiled a 125-ft-tall statue of Ambedkar in Hyderabad. Flower petals were showered on the statute from a helicopter. The statue was built using 360 tonnes of stainless steel and 114 tonnes of bronze, at a cost of Rs 146.50 crore.
Born in 1891 in a Dalit family in Mhow, near Indore, in the then Central Province (now Madhya Pradesh), Ambedkar rose from a humble background to become a leading voice of the marginalised people during the freedom struggle and is credited with introducing several social reforms.
BJP chief JP Nadda paid his tribute to Ambedkar at the party headquarters in Delhi. He said Prime Minister Modi is working to fulfil his dream by working for the development and prosperity of all sections of society.
However, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe at the government, saying the “culture of forcing silence” and branding people “anti-nationals” is a dangerous trend that will finish our democracy and destroy the Constitution. He recalled that Ambedkar had warned about the ills of ‘hero-worship’ or ‘Bhakti’ in the context of Indian politics.
In an article in The Telegraph, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said, “As we honour Babasaheb’s legacy today, we must remember his prescient warning that the success of the Constitution depends on the conduct of the people entrusted with the duty to govern.”
She also said the regime in power is “misusing and subverting” the institutions of the Constitution, and the people must act to defend the Constitution from this “systematic assault”.
“Equality, liberty, fraternity & justice – the universal values Babasaheb Ambedkar championed, will always remain our guiding light & strength! Tributes to the architect of India’s Constitution on his birth anniversary,” said Rahul Gandhi.
BSP president Mayawati said Ambedkar laid the strong foundation of a modern India by giving an ultra-humanist and welfare Constitution. “His life struggle is a ray of hope for crores of poor, labourers, deprived and other toiling people even today,” she said.
In a tweet, she said, “Taking inspiration from him, the Bahujan Samaj Party was established on this day, 14th April, in 1984, to take forward the stalled caravan of self-respect and to unite the people who were divided on the basis of caste, which has set an example of social change and economic liberation, especially in UP.”
Addressing a gathering at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extolled Ambedkar for laying out a vision for equality and egalitarianism in society. He hailed his pursuit of higher education during the British era when not many Indians thought about getting degrees from institutions such as Columbia University and the London School of Economics.
Ambedkar knew the value of education and its role in lifting society from poverty and bringing equality among people, he added.
Several other chief ministers and governors also remembered Ambedkar’s efforts to make India a developed society.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde garlanded the portrait of Ambedkar at “Varsha”, his official residence in south Mumbai, and greeted the people on the occasion. He later visited Chaitya Bhoomi, the memorial of the chief architect of the Constitution, at Dadar in central Mumbai, and paid tributes.
Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais tweeted, “Respectful tributes to the Architect of Indian Constitution Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on the occasion of his birth anniversary.”
Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararjan, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also paid tributes to Ambedkar.
