The Statue of B. R. Ambedkar in The Parliament of India (Left) The Portrait of B. R. Ambedkar in The Central Hall of The Parliament House (Right)

Many public institutions are named in his honour, and the
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International

Airport in Nagpur, otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute
of Technology, Jalandhar, Ambedkar University Delhi is also named in his honour.[118]
The Maharashtra government has acquired a house in London where Ambedkar lived during his
days as a student in the 1920s. The house is expected to be converted into a museum-cum-
memorial to Ambedkar.[119]
Ambedkar was voted "the Greatest Indian" in 2012 by a poll organised by History TV18 and CNN
IBN, ahead of Patel and Nehru. Nearly 20 million votes were cast.[120] Due to his role in
economics, Narendra Jadhav, a notable Indian economist,[121] has said that Ambedkar was "the
highest educated Indian economist of all times."[122] Amartya Sen, said that Ambedkar is "father of
my economics", and "he was highly controversial figure in his home country, though it was not
the reality. His contribution in the field of economics is marvelous and will be remembered
forever."[123][124]
The statue of B. R. Ambedkar in the Parliament of India (left)

The portrait of B. R. Ambedkar in the Central Hall of the Parliament House (right)
On 2 April 1967, an 3.66 metre (12 foot) tall bronze statue of Ambedkar was installed in
the Parliament of India. The statue, sculpted by B.V. Wagh, was unveiled by the then President
of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.[125][126][127] On 12 April 1990, a portrait of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is
put in the Central Hall of Parliament House.[128][129][130] The portrait of Ambedkar, painted by Zeba
Amrohawi, was unveiled by the then Prime Minister of India, V. P. Singh.[128] Another portrait of
Ambedkar is put in the Parliamentary Museum and archives of the Parliament House. [131][132]
Ambedkar's legacy was not without criticism. Ambedkar has been criticised for his one-sided
views on the issue of caste at the expense of cooperation with the larger nationalist movement.
[133]
Ambedkar has been also criticised by some of his biographers over his neglect of
organization-building.[134]
Ambedkar's political philosophy has given rise to a large number of political parties, publications
and workers' unions that remain active across India, especially in Maharashtra. His promotion of
Buddhism has rejuvenated interest in Buddhist philosophy among sections of population in India.
Mass conversion ceremonies have been organised by human rights activists in modern times,
emulating Ambedkar's Nagpur ceremony of 1956. [135] Some Indian Buddhists regard him as
a Bodhisattva, although he never claimed it himself. [136] Outside India, during the late 1990s, some
Hungarian Romani people drew parallels between their own situation and that of the
downtrodden people in India. Inspired by Ambedkar, they started to convert to Buddhism. [137]
Views
Religion
Ambedkar said in 1935 that he was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu. He viewed Hinduism
as an "oppressive religion" and started to consider conversion to any other religion.
[138]
In Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar claims that the only lasting way a true casteless society
could be achieved is through destroying the belief of the sanctity of the Shastras and denying
their authority.[139] Ambedkar was critical of Hindu religious texts and epics and wrote a work
titled Riddles in Hinduism during 1954-1955. The work was published posthumously by
combining individual chapter manuscripts and resulted in mass demonstrations and counter
demonstrations.[140][141][142]
Ambedkar viewed Christianity to be incapable of fighting injustices. He wrote that "It is an
incontrovertible fact that Christianity was not enough to end the slavery of the Negroes in the
United States. A civil war was necessary to give the Negro the freedom which was denied to him
by the Christians."[143]
Ambedkar criticized distinctions within Islam and described the religion as "a close corporation
and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive
and very alienating distinction". [144]
He opposed conversions of depressed classes to convert to Islam or Christianity added that if
they converted to Islam then "the danger of Muslim domination also becomes real" and if they
converted to Christianity then it "will help to strengthen the hold of Britain on the country". [145]
Initially, Ambedkar planned to convert to Sikhism but he rejected this idea after he discovered
that British government would not guarantee the privileges accorded to the untouchables in
reserved parliamentary seats.[146]
On 16 October 1956, he converted to Buddhism just weeks before his death. [147]

The Statue of B. R. Ambedkar in The Parliament of India (Left) The Portrait of B. R. Ambedkar in The Central Hall of The Parliament House (Right)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Statue of B. R. Ambedkar in The Parliament of India (Left) The Portrait of B. R. Ambedkar in The Central Hall of The Parliament House (Right)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Many public institutions are named in his honour, and the

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International

The statue of B. R. Ambedkar in the Parliament of India (left)

You might also like