AGARTALA, December 6 (TIWN): Rich tributes were paid to the architect of Constitution, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his 58th death anniversary, observed as ‘Mahaparinirvan Din’ by hundreds of followers from all over the state who converged at Ujayanta Palace. Minister of Welfare of Scheduled Caste (SC) Ratan Bhowmik also paid floral tribute to the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Ujayanta Palace, here today.

Minister of Welfare of Scheduled Caste (SC) Ratan Bhowmik said that Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was the architect of India's Constitution, an erudite scholar of philosophy, economics and political science and one of India's leading crusaders for social justice. His inspirational life story has motivated millions of Indians, particularly from the dalit community to break the shackles of casteism in Indian society. His vision of a casteless society is shared by Pragoti, which publishes his important work, "Annihilation of Caste" along with this post.

Ambedkar was a prolific writer of political texts, a social democrat and a strict constitutionalist. His legacy is celebrated by millions of the underprivileged in the country today, who see Ambedkar's political contributions as the most important reason for their struggles in acheiving dignity and overcoming casteist prejudice. He is remembered for his various struggles against untouchability (the tank movement in Mahad for example). His role in building India's Constitution, where he envisaged sets of constitutional guarantees, rights and civil liberties, besides clauses aimed at establishing equality through affirmative action, is indeed seminal, the minister added.

Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Ramandra Chandra Nath and Deputy Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Pabitra Kar also paid floral tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.