Dr BR Ambedkar was the architect of the Indian Constitution and the country's first law and justice minister. Today is his 129th birth anniversary. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891 to Ramji Maloji Sakpal, who was a subedar in the British Indian Army, and Bhimabai Sakpal. He was their 14th child.
Dr Ambedkar was born in a military cantonment in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
Growing up, BR Ambedkar and other Dalit children were subjected to segregation based on their caste. At school, they had to rely on someone from a higher caste to pour them drinking water from a height since neither BR Ambedkar nor the other children of his caste were allowed to touch the water or the vessel that contained it.
The school peon would generally pour water for young Ambedkar and on days that the peon would be on leave, he and the others would have to do without drinking water. He later described this in his writings as "No Peon, No Water".
BR Ambedkar was not allowed to sit with the other children inside the classroom and was forced to sit on a gunny sack outside. He would carry this sack to school everyday.
A student of Economics, he was the first Indian to pursue a doctorate in his field abroad. He studied at the Columbia University and the London School of Economics.
Although BR Ambedkar is widely known as the architect of the Indian Constitution, he played a major role in forming the Reserve Bank of India - the country's central banking system.
The President and other politicians took to Twitter to pay him their tributes.
President Ram Nath Kovind paid his respects to Dr BR Ambedkar at the rashtrapati Bhavan, his official Twitter handle posted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a video clip on Twitter and wrote: A humble tribute to Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary from all the countrymen.
Rahul Gandhi also paid tribute to "the great social reformer & chief architect of our Constitution, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Ji on his Jayanti".
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