BR Ambedkar Quotes on Constitution Day: Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated on November 26th to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1949. It was officially declared a national observance by the government in 2015 to honor the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect and chairman of the Constitution’s Drafting Committee. The day serves to promote constitutional values and increase awareness of the principles of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity among citizens. On this occasion, The EBNW Story presents the rare quotes of Ambedkar as follows:
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“If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean,
man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives.
Man’s life is independent.
He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self too.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil which is essentially undemocratic.”
― B.R. Ambedkar
“On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.
In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value.
In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value.
How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?
How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life?
If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual
“The Hindus criticise the Mahomedans for having spread their religion by the use of the sword. They also ridicule Christianity on the score of the Inquisition.
But really speaking, who is better and more worthy of our respect—the Mahomedans and Christians who attempted to thrust down the throats of unwilling persons what they regarded as necessary for their salvation, or the Hindu who would not spread the light, who would endeavour to keep others in darkness, who would not consent to share his intellectual and social inheritance with those who are ready and willing to make it a part of their own make-up?
I have no hesitation in saying that if the Mahomedan has been cruel, the Hindu has been mean; and meanness is worse than cruelty.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste
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“In the Hindu religion, one can[not] have freedom of speech. A Hindu must surrender his freedom of speech. He must act according to the Vedas. If the Vedas do not support the actions, instructions must be sought from the Smritis, and if the Smritis fail to provide any such instructions, he must follow in the footsteps of the great men.
He is not supposed to reason. Hence, so long as you are in the Hindu religion, you cannot expect to have freedom of thought”
― B.R. Ambedkar
“Life should be great rather than long.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual
“Humans are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”
― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“Though, I was born a Hindu, I solemnly assure you that I will not die as a Hindu”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual
“Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers,
but by relentless struggle…. Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual
“History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.”
― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible.
The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have…
Now what is the basis of Buddhism?