vi DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Dr. Ambedkar carried out this herculean intellectual labour “in spite of his indifferent health” as Dr. Rajendra Prasad put it, and “added lustre to the work he has done.” His writings and speeches throw floodlight on the principles and ideas behind the Constitution, on its numerous provisions affecting the whole gamut of the life of the nation and the rights and liberties and obligations of the people. To read these to-day is an experience akin to being present at the creation of the Constitution. As Shri R. Venkataraman, the former President of India, said : “Dr. Ambedkar anticipated every conceivable requirement of the new polity.” His words light up the context and the intent of the provisions of the Constitution that are periodically being interpreted and re-interpreted by our Courts. They also contain salutary warnings that we must pay heed to if we are to preserve the structure and the spirit of the Constitution, the unity of the nation and the welfare and progress of the people that it was intended to protect and advance.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had described Dr. Ambedkar as “a symbol of the revolt against all the oppressive features of Hindu society.” Dr. Ambedkar was indeed a symbol of revolt by all the oppressed and deprived sections of our society, a symbol which is to-day inspiring millions of our people into widespread social and political action. A passionate believer in democracy he also believed that “social and economic democracy are the tissues and the fibre of political democracy”. He warned in one of his speeches in the Constituent Assembly that:—“To leave equality between class and class, between sex and sex which is the soul of Hindu society untouched and to go on passing legislation relating to economic problems is to make a farce of our Constitution and to build a palace on a dung heap.” It is this passion for equality and social justice which was expressed in different but equally impassioned forms by Mahatma Gandhi