B R Ambedkar: On Conversion

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist and leader of the untouchables (now Dalits), who headed the committee that drafted the Constitution of India from the consensus achieved in the Constituent Assembly debates. He served as Minister of Law & Justice in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru from 1947 to 1951. Ambedkar later renounced Hinduism and inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement.

Ambedkar graduated from Elphinstone College, University of Bombay and studied economics at Columbia University and the London School of Economics receiving doctorates in 1927 and 1923 respectively and was among a handful of Indian students to have done so at either institution in the 1920s. He also trained in the law at Gray's Inn, London. In his early career, he was an economist, professor, and lawyer. His later life was marked by his political activities; he became involved in campaigning and negotiations for India's independence, publishing journals, advocating political rights and social freedom for Dalits, and contributing significantly to the establishment of the state of India. In 1956, he converted to Buddhism, initiating mass conversions of Dalits.