Our real success lies in building a Society and the Nation according to the values and ideals of Babasaheb: President Kovind

President of India Kovind lays the Foundation stone of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial and Cultural center in Lucknow

Our real success lies in building a society and the nation according to the values and ideals of Babasaheb, said the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. He said that we did make progress in this direction but still needed to cover much ground. He was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial and Cultural Centre in Lucknow today (June 29, 2021).

President Kovind said that the multi-dimensional personality and invaluable contribution of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar to nation-building revealed his extraordinary capability and talent. He was not only an educationist, economist, jurist, politician, journalist, sociologist, and social reformer but also made an invaluable contribution in the fields of culture, religion, and spirituality.

President Kovind said that Morality, Equality, Self-respect, and Indianness are the four most important ideals of Babasaheb’s vision. Glimpses of these four ideals are found in his thoughts and actions. His cultural thinking was basically laid on harmony. Dr. Ambedkar spread the thoughts of Lord Buddha. The objective of his efforts was to take Indian values like compassion, fraternity, non-violence, equality, and mutual respect to the masses and to realize the ideal of social justice. Lord Buddha’s message of compassion and harmony was the basis of his life and politics. Babasaheb stressed the need for politics based on the cultural values of morality and harmony. He used to say that he is an Indian first, an Indian later, and an Indian at the last.

President Kovind said that Babasaheb always advocated for providing equal rights to women. Women have been given the same fundamental right to Equality as men in the Constitution drafted by him. Dr. Ambedkar wanted that the fundamental right to Equality should be given a clear legal base through a separate bill on issues related to the inheritance of property and marriage and other aspects of life. Today our legal system is progressing on the path suggested by him on many issues like property rights for women. This showed that Babasaheb’s visionary thinking was far ahead of his times, he said.

The President said that the initiative of the Uttar Pradesh government to build a cultural center in the form of a memorial to Babasaheb in Lucknow is commendable. He expressed confidence that on the completion of construction, this cultural center would play an effective role in educating all the citizens, especially the younger generation, with the ideals and objectives of Dr. Ambedkar.