Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Constitution of India, was born on April 14, 1891. The first minister of Law and Justice of India, Dr Ambedkar is also known as the Father of the Indian Constitution. An economist by profession, he established the Finance Commission of India and the Reserve Bank of India runs on the guidelines and ideas formed by Ambedkar.

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Dr Ambedkar, known for his powerful speeches, fought for the rights of the Dalits and other socially backward classes, unequivocally.

He died on December 6, 1956, and won the Bharat Ratna – India’s highest civilian honour – in 1990. On his 130th birth anniversary, let’s look at some of his powerful quotes.

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– “We must stand on our own feet and fight as best as we can for our rights. So carry on your agitation and organise your forces. Power and prestige will come to you through struggle.”

– “The history of India is nothing but a history of a mortal conflict between Buddhism and Brahminism.”

– “A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society.”

– “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.”

– “What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination, and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights.”

– “Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise, both will wither and die.”

– “Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.”