07
Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each
19. What were the influences Dr. Ambedkar had in his early days?
Answers
Answer:
Born in a socially backward caste, educated according to the western system, rational in outlook, to some
extent, rebellious in temperament, Ambedkar, the great architect of Indian Constitution, came to the
appropriate moment to assume the natural and appropriate leadership and participated in the social
struggles and constitutional matters in a strategic way in India. Ambedkar was schooled in the liberal
political tradition which he imbibed through his interaction with the Western culture as result of his British
moulded higher education in India and his training in Columbia University and London School of
Economics and Political Science. He was fortunate enough to receive education in the West where he came
under the influence of the liberal- minded professors like Dewey, Harold Laski, Seligman and others.
Against this background information, this article attempts to depict the influence of various eminent
personalities on the political thought of B.R.Ambedkar. Ambedkar’s birth in an untouchable community
and in a system based on graded inequality and injustice and deprivation of basic human rights to his
community was responsible for giving a purpose and a mission to his life.