Congressman Ro Khanna Introduces Resolution to Honor B.R. Ambedkar on His 130th Birth Anniversary
The late Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who served as India’s Minister of Law and Justice during the Nehru Administration, married Dr. Sharda Kabir in New Delhi April 15, 1948. “Ambedkar stood for an India and America where we respect the dignity of all,” Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna tweeted after reintroducing a resolution honoring Ambedkar. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
India-West Staff Reporter
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, introduced a resolution in the House for a second consecutive year, to honor Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the Indian patriot who championed the rights of women and Dalits and the architect of India’s constitution, on his 130th birth anniversary April 14.
“Ambedkar stood for an India and America where we respect the dignity of all,” the Indian American congressman wrote in a tweet. “Today, I’m reintroducing my resolution to honor BR Ambedkar, in the hopes that young leaders around the world will read his work and be inspired by his vision for equality.”
In a press release issued in 2020, when Khanna introduced a resolution to honor the 129th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, he wrote: “Overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds imposed on him as a Dalit living under India’s rigid caste system, Ambedkar went on to succeed in his quest to champion the rights of the most marginalized people in Indian society.”
Khanna acknowledged the “profound impact” of America’s own discriminatory practices on Ambedkar, specifically pointing to the “systematic discrimination of African Americans and women in the United States as influential in his pursuit to guarantee equal rights for every human being in the Indian constitution.”
Additionally, the resolution celebrates Ambedkar’s historic labor reforms, codification of gender equality, and the successful inclusion of Article 17 in the Constitution of India, which abolished untouchability and its practice in any form.
Calling Ambedkar a “pioneer” in the movement to make India a free, fair, and just society for everyone in it, Khanna said he “mobilized a generation to push back against discrimination and to instead celebrate equality, human rights, and universal tolerance.”