An Appraisal of Influence of Eminent Personalities on Ambedkar's Political Thought during Early Twentieth Century

Abstract

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.