On the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on April 14, India still finds itself unable to induct him into the pantheon of greats unquestioningly.

His statue, with its ubiquitous electric blue suit, may be a common sight at bus stands, bastis and universities, but it hardly brings out the fact that his life is one that was overshadowed by iconography and idolatry.

We forget that Ambedkar was one of modern India's first great economic thinkers, its constitutional draftsman and its first law minister who ensured the codification of Hindu law.

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Pic: President Pranab Mukherjee pays tribute to BR Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary.