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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Saeed Kamali Dehghan

From ‘untouchable’ to architect of India’s constitution: film tells story of Ambedkar

A still from Chaityabhumi shows a crowd gathered at a rally with a backdrop of Bhimrao Ambedkar.
A still from Chaityabhumi shows a crowd gathered at a rally with a backdrop of Bhimrao Ambedkar. Photograph: Courtesy of Somnath Waghmare

There may only be a few people outside the subcontinent who have heard of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. But as one of the founders of modern India, he was a revered scholar who championed the rights of Dalits, while his work as a civil rights leader has been likened to that of Martin Luther King Jr in the US.

A new film aims to revive the memory and the message of Ambedkar, affectionately known as “Babasaheb”, who was born a Dalit – the lowest rank of India’s caste system – but became an activist who helped draft the post-independence constitution, worked as an economist and a politician, and is now revered as a Buddhist saint.

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