'Babasaheb Ambedkar was a leader of humanity': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar stood for all of humanity, and was, in particular, a ray of hope for the marginalized and downtrodden sections of society.

"If Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was not there, where would Narendra Modi...I think about this often. It's due to Dr. Babsaheb Ambedkar that I reached here today. It pains me when I hear he was a Dalit leader. He was a leader of humanity," he said in his remarks at the foundation stone ceremony of Dr. Ambedkar International Centre here.

Prime Minister Modi said the country can do without both the social untouchability that Dr. Ambedkar faced during his lifetime and the political untouchability that he faced after death.

The Prime Minister paid tributes to Dr. Ambedkar, and said there was not even a trace or hint of malice in the Constitution of India, of which Babasaheb was the architect, despite the intense social abuse that he had faced at every step of his life.

He said Babasaheb had created great Constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission and Finance Commission, in which the entire nation had immense faith and confidence even today.

Prime Minister Modi said Babasaheb united society, and India must make sure that the whole world recognizes his immense contribution to mankind.

He said Babasaheb represented a combination of Samata (equality) and Mamata (motherly love), which brought about Samrasta (social harmony).

Noting that this project had been conceived in 1992 - more than 20 years ago - Prime Minister Modi said he was distressed at the delay in the initialization of this project and emphasized that his Government had resolved to complete the work within 20 months.

He urged the concerned departments to ensure a world-class quality of construction.