976 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
LOK SABHA
Thursday, 6th December, 1956
The Lok Sabha met at Eleven of the Clock
12-00 hrs.
DEATH OF DR. AMBEDKAR
*The Prime Minister and Leader of the House (Shri Jawaharlal Nehru): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have to convey to the House the sad news of the death of Dr. Ambedkar. Only two days ago, I believe, the day before yesterday, he was present in the other House of which he was a Member. The news, therefore, of his death today came as a shock to all of us who had no inkling of such a thing happening so soon.
Dr. Ambedkar, as every Member of this House knows, played a very important part in the making of the Constitution of India, subsequently in the Legislative Part of the Constituent Assembly and later in the Provisional Parliament. After that, he was not a Member of Parliament for some time. Then, he came back to the Rajya Sabha of which he was a sitting Member.
He is often spoken of as one of the architects of our Constitution. There is no doubt that no one took greater care and trouble over Constitution making than Dr. Ambedkar. He will be remembered also for the great interest he took and the trouble he took over the question of Hindu Law reform. I am happy that he saw that reform in a very large measure carried out, perhaps not in the form of that monumental tome that he had himself drafted, but in separate bits. But, I imagine that the way he will be remembered most
- P. D., Vol. 10, Part II, 6th December 1956, pp. 2059-68.