Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar: The leader of India's oppressed
Babasaheb Ambedkar
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb was the man behind India's constitution and the undisputed leader of India's Dalits.
He was born on April 14, 1891, in town and military cantonment of Mhow in the central provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh) into a Mahar family, a caste considered untouchable.
He was last of his parents' 14 children.
Born in a Dalit family, Ambedkar himself was a victim of the social evils since childhood days.
He was so oppressed that throughout his life, he campaigned to eliminate social discrimination against untouchables.
He drafted the Indian constitution, championed Dalit and women's rights, and remains a beacon for marginalised groups in Indian society. Today, he would have been 128 years old.
He was the first Minister of Law and Justice in 1947, but he resigned when his women rights bill was opposed by the Parliament.
Ambedkar was a diabetes patient and died in his sleep at the age of 65 on December 6, 1956, three days after he completed his manuscript— The Buddha and his Dhamma.