383. What Would Dr. Ambedkar Have Made of the Republic of India Today?

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is remembered and admired for many things: for his heroic, lifelong, campaign to eradicate the evil of untouchability; for his scholarly contributions as an economist and social theorist; for the social movements he led and the political parties he founded; for the educational institutions he nurtured; for his critical role in overseeing and directing the framing of the Constitution; for the brilliant books, essays and pamphlets that he authored on a variety of subjects.

This lecture will focus on Ambedkar as a visionary and deeply insightful theorist of constitutional democracy. By juxtaposing what he said in his speeches in the Constituent Assembly to the social and political realities of contemporary India, I shall demonstrate how his ideas remain of compelling relevance to us today. While the core of the talk will be on Ambedkar the political theorist, it will end by briefly comparing his legacy with that of other remarkable Indians of his generation, such as Nehru, Gandhi, Tagore, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru (NLSIU) and the Ahmadi Foundation have entered into a MoU to set up the Justice Ahmadi Initiative on Rule of Law, Democracy, and Social Justice in honour of, and to preserve and promote the legacy of former Chief Justice of India, Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi. The Initiative will work to advance the ideas that Justice Ahmadi championed throughout his distinguished career, including but not restricted to human rights, education, inclusion and protection of vulnerable communities, judicial independence, alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, and strengthening of democratic institutions. An annual distinguished lecture series is one of the events planned under the Initiative.

Presented by: National law School of India University, bangalore

In this episode of BIC Talks, Ramchandra Guha will deliver a talk. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Jul 2025.

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