Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 – 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, and social reformer who fought economic and social discrimination against the untouchables (now dalits) in India's Hindu society, and who later renounced Hinduism and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement. He is also referred to by the honorific Babasaheb.
In 1990, the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, was posthumously conferred on Ambedkar.
Ambedkar served as chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution of India, and Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru from 1947 to 1951.
Ambedkar's ancestors had long worked for the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the British Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment (now officially known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar).
Ambedkar's first wife Ramabai died in 1935 after a long illness. After completing the draft of India's constitution in the late 1940s, he suffered from lack of sleep, had neuropathic pain in his legs, and was taking insulin and homoeopathic medicines. Sharada Kabir, a Brahmin doctor treated him and they married in 1948. She adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and cared for him the rest of his life. She was also called 'Mai'.
He viewed Hinduism as an "oppressive religion" and Christianity to be incapable of fighting injustices. Ambedkar criticized distinctions within Islam and described the religion as "a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction". Initially, Ambedkar planned to convert to Sikhism but he rejected this idea after he discovered that British government would not guarantee the privileges accorded to the untouchables in reserved parliamentary seats. He converted to Buddhism just weeks before his death.
Dr. Ambedkar was for a casteless and classless society. He was against reservation in perpetuity.
Jai Bhim ("Victory for Bhim", "Long live Bhim" or "Hail Bhim") is a slogan and greeting used by followers of B. R. Ambedkar.
Waiting for a Visa is a 20-page autobiographical life story of B. R. Ambedkar written in the period of 1935–36. It consists of reminiscences drawn by Ambedkar, related to his experiences with untouchability.