By Devendra Kumar Nayan
Bharat Ratna Doctor Bhim Rao Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891. His father’s name was Ramji Molaji Sakpal and mother’s name was Bhimabai Sakpal. Dr. Ambedkar was brilliant since childhood. Due to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s caste Mahar, he had to suffer discrimination.
The relevance of the thoughts and messages of Babasaheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, one of the leading makers of modern India, has been steadily increasing. Unfortunately, his tendency to chant his name instead of reading and listening is also increasing, which is contrary to his education and politics. He has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of issues while leading a struggling life. His ideas are the key to the solution of present and future problems.
Babasaheb’s personality is not limited to any one community, his struggle and his life are inspiring for every citizen of this country. But political malicious parties always ignored Babasaheb and did not make any effort to cherish his great legacy.
Our independence has been completed for 74 years, but have you ever thought that if there is no human freedom then what will be the importance of this freedom?
Just imagine you are free but cannot worship God by going to the temple, you are prohibited from seeing the idol even if you worship, you cannot drink the water of public well, you are also forbidden to enter the premises of the school.
Tell me, what kind of freedom is this? There were similar circumstances in 1947 and before but one person who fought for freedom from all these evils, struggled on his own and achieved victory, was Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, who was a human in India. Said to be the great hero of freedom. He had an unwavering belief in “freedom of the individual” and offered his all for it. He was a staunch critic of the orthodox, casteist, communalism, bigotry of the society. Liberated the people of the whole of India from the shackles of social order Tightness had denied people equality and dignity. They not only provided rights to the exploited sections and marginalized sections of the society, but also succeeded in giving women the right to equality and respect. It is no exaggeration to say that It is necessary that he gave a new direction to the whole of India year. Today the whole country is following the same things. Today, when the honorable Prime Minister of the country, Shri Narendra Modi, talks about “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, he will be somewhere. Is seen to reflect the principles of Saheb.
The Modi government developed Babasaheb’s birthplace in Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Ambedkar Memorial on his Shikshabhoomi in London, Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai and Parinirvan Bhoomi in Delhi as national monuments. The importance of these five events will be reflected in India’s political and social life for many decades to come.
The Modi government also issued a special coin and postage stamp of Rs 125 in the year 2015 to commemorate the completion of 125 years of Babasaheb’s birth. Not only this, the money transfer app of National Payments Corporation of India was named in honor of ‘Bhima’ Babasaheb.
The Modi government strives to build an India that lives in Babasaheb’s life values, where the glory of the real upliftment of Dalits, backward, deprived and poor is being written.
We can guess from this how much Baba Saheb was aware of our society and country. Representatives of Guardian newspaper of Manchester and representative of New York Times of USA came to interview Indian leaders. He first met Gandhiji and he gave his 9 o’clock time for the interview. When he met Jinnah, he gave him a time of 9.30 pm. When he met Baba Saheb, he gave him the freedom to interview him at any time. When the two representatives reached Gandhiji at 9:00 pm, they were told that Gandhiji was sleeping, and they should come in the day. When Jinnah went to Saheb’s house, he too was asleep. When he reached Babasaheb at midnight (around 12 o’clock), he was surprised. He saw that Baba Saheb was waiting for him in his study room while studying in full costume. He said as soon as he was surprised that two great leaders of the country Mahatma Gandhi and Mo Ali Jinnah met us asleep and you are still awake in our regular dress in our wait. Baba Saheb replied that Gandhi and Jinnah sleep comfortably because their society is awake, they are aware. I am awake because my society is asleep, ignorant, it is not aware like them. Both journalists were stunned to hear this answer. Has our society been able to become aware even today?
Today’s constitution maker Dr. Bhimrao is the birth anniversary of Ambedkar. In such a situation, we should remember that Baba Saheb has contributed so much in making India as it is today. Apart from constitution formulation, he also has a contribution that has affected the life of a worker or laborer since before independence till date. And that contribution was to reduce the working hours of the day from 12 or 14 to 8. This story is about the time when the British were ruling the country and the Viceroy used to be the top man from the British power in the country. Then the Viceroy’s Executive Council was constituted to conduct administrative work. It had experts from different fields who advised the Viceroy. Administrative policies were made on the same basis. Many years after its formation, Dr. Ambedkar was appointed as a Labor Member in the Viceroy’s Executive Council due to his intelligence, deep study and sharp thinking. Then he gave the most important advice that the working hours should be reduced from 12 or 14 to 8. At first the British refused to do so, but Baba Saheb gave such strong arguments that the council could not do it. Eventually it became the rule. Even today, if you get leave after working for eight hours instead of 12-14, then thank Baba Sahab.
One time Dr. B R Ambedkar spoke of a casteless India in which everyone has an identity. In today’s perspective, there is a need for a casteless society, which can eliminate the poison of caste arrogance and domination. This is possible only when the identity of everyone in India is not caste but only Indian. It is my personal opinion that discipline of discipline is necessary and credible even in the freedom of the individual. Along with freedom, it is necessary to bring a sense of self-discipline within, so that the overall discharge of responsibility can be confined within the realm of truth. The way some anti-national powers are raising their heads in the country. It is unfortunate that anti-national statements and slogans are termed as freedom of expression. Freedom does not mean that we should promote anti-national activities.
(The author is civil engineer and young writer based in Deoghar. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at [email protected])