Reading Ambedkar Isn’t Optional. It’s Survival.

By Shaleen Mahajan

As a law student, I sit in classrooms where the Constitution is discussed every day, yet the mind behind it is barely understood. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is remembered in fragments. His name is memorized, his photograph displayed, his birthday celebrated. But for many, Ambedkar exists only in social media posts, not in spirit or practice. His ideas are rarely read, and even more rarely felt. In a time when reels replace books and opinions are formed in seconds, Ambedkar is reduced to slogans. This is not just unfair—it is dangerous.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s relevance is not limited to history books; it lives in the moral questions he compelled society to face. Democracy, for him, was not merely casting votes—it was living together with liberty, equality, and fraternity. Without these values, constitutional promises remain hollow.

Central to his philosophy was his critique of caste. Caste is not just a label; it decides a person’s dignity, education, and opportunities from birth. Even today, a surname can reveal social standing, showing that caste is alive, not a chapter of . Ambedkar warned that merely declaring everyone equal before the law is not enough. When inequality is rooted in society itself, only structural change can truly break it.

Corrective measures like reservation are tools to counter systemic exclusion, not privileges. They are designed to ensure that identity does not predetermine destiny. Yet on social media, reservation is often dismissed as “unfair,” as if it takes opportunities away from the so-called “general category”. Generations of systemic oppression mean that achievements are rarely inherited,they are earned against immense odds. Reservation is not charity. It is a mechanism for representation, education, and participation, a way to make opportunity equitable rather than inherited.

Ambedkar’s commitment to justice extended to women. He saw women’s rights not as concessions but as a moral necessity. Through the Hindu Code Bill, he worked to secure equality in marriage, inheritance, and property—far ahead of his time. For him, equality could not be performative; it had to be built into institutions through laws, policies, and representation.

Yet today, Ambedkar is often celebrated in appearance, not essence. Statues are cleaned, photographs garlanded, birthdays trend online.But his ideas are rarely engaged with. People quote him while dismissing reservation, mocking constitutional values, or ignoring caste realities. True honor requires understanding and practicing what he stood for.

Ambedkar’s thought is not a religion to follow blindly; it is a call to think, to question, and to act with courage. In a country still struggling with caste, gender inequality, and misinformation, reading Ambedkar is not optional-it is necessary. He reminds us that equality is never automatic, justice is never symbolic, and democracy survives only when ordinary people refuse to look away. Today, when debates rage online over who deserves opportunity, when women and marginalized communities fight for spaces they have historically been denied, Ambedkar’s vision speaks louder than ever. fairness is not given, it is madeand it is our responsibility to make it real.