Original version

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: BR Ambedkar

Documentaries

News

BR Ambedkar

21/12/2017 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, BR Ambedkar

The Indian independence leader and campaigner for Dalit rights died in December 1956.

When Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a schoolboy, he was not allowed to drink from the same tap as his fellow students because he was a member of what was then known as an "untouchable" caste. But he went on to become a prominent leader in the campaign for Indian independence and oversaw the writing of the Indian constitution - which made the idea of "untouchability" illegal. A hero to many, he died in December 1956.

Lucy Burns hears recordings of BR Ambedkar from the BBC archives and speaks to biographer Ananya Vajpeyi.

Picture: A member of the Indian Congress Party places flowers on a statue of BR Ambedkar to mark the 122nd anniversary of his birth in Amritsar on April 14, 2013 (NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

BR Ambedkar

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service