Rajratna Ashok Ambedkar is a well known personality in India, who is an active socio-political and Buddhist activist. He is the great grand nephew of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He is the President of the Buddhist Society of India (BSI) and through this he is spreading the thoughts of Bodhisattva Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha to the people of India.
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Rajratna Ambedkar biography
Rajratna Ambedkar
Born
December 8, 1982
Education
BCom, DBM, ADM, MBA
Relgion
Buddhism (Navayana)
Professions
Socio-political and Buddhist activist
Positions
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President of the Buddhist Society of India (BSI)
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Standing Committee Secretary at The World Fellowship of Buddhist, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Parents
Ashwini and Ashok Mukundrao Ambedkar
Spouse
Amita Ambedkar
Children
a daughter (Prisha) and a son
Other relatives
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Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (cousin great-grandfather)
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Yashwant Ambedkar (cousin grandfather)
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Prakash Ambedkar (cousin uncle)
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Sujat Ambedkar (cousin brother)
Family background
Rajratna Ambedkar relation with Babasaheb Ambedkar –
Rajratna Ambedkar was born on December 8, 1982. His father’s name is Ashok Ambedkar and his mother’s name is Ashwini Ambedkar. In fact, He is great-grandson of Anandrao Ambedkar, an elder brother of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
As such, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was Rajratna’s cousin great-grandfather. Anandrao’s son Mukundrao Ambedkar (Babasaheb’s nephew) is his grandfather. That is, Rajratna is the great grand nephew of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Rajratna Ambedkar family tree
Mukundrao (1913 – 1958) and his wife Shaileja had four children – Ashok, Dilip, Vidya and Sujata. His frist child, Ashok Ambedkar (1950-2017) was married to Ashwini and the couple gave birth to Rajratna. Thus, He seems to be a member of the fourth generation of Ambedkar. Later, Rajratna is married to Amita and they have a daughter (Prisha) and a son.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Ramabai had five children – Yashwant, Gangadhar, Ramesh, Indu (daughter) and Rajratna. Yashwant alone survived as his descendant. Apart from Yashwant (1912–1977), the other four died in their childhood.
One of his four children who died in infancy was named ‘Rajratna’ and this child was very dear to Babasaheb. On July 19, 1926, Dr. Ambedkar’s youngest son Rajratna died. Today’s Rajratna Ashok Ambedkar is named after this Rajratna Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Prakash Ambedkar is the grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and son of Yashwant Ambedkar. He has a big name in Maharashtra as well as Dalit politics and he is the uncle of Rajrhat. Sujat Ambedkar is Rajratna’s cousin. Sujat is the only one son of Prakash Ambedkar.
The Buddhist Society of India was founded by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for the propagation of Buddhism, but today there are several groups of this organization, and there are two major groups.
While Rajratna is known as the President of the Buddhist Society of India, Prakash Ambedkar’s mother and Babasaheb’s daughter-in-law Meera Ambedkar also claim to be the President of the Buddhist Society of India. Mira Ambedkar’s son Bhimrao Yashwant Ambedkar is the acting president of this organization.
Educational background
Rajratna Ambedkar education – Rajratna Ambedkar is highly educated. He got B.Com degree from Mumbai University in 2003. In 2008, he got DBM degree from the Institute of Chartered and Financial Accountants of India – Dehradun University. He got ADM degree in 2008 and MBA degree in 2010 from ICFAI University.
Rajratna Ambedkar qualification – He has an Advanced Diploma in Management, up to MBA. He has held a senior position in a company as a secretary. He was not happy while on the job. Eventually he decided to Propagation of Buddhism.
Socio-Religious career as a preacher of Buddhism
The Buddhist Society of India is an organization founded by Boddhisattva Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on May 4, 1955. It is a nationally recognized Buddhist organization in India. Its Headquartered in Mumbai, and Rajratna Ambedkar is currently the National President of the organization. It is a member of The World Fellowship of Buddhists, an international Buddhist organization. He is the Standing Committee Secretary at The World Fellowship of Buddhist, in Bangkok, Thailand.
On September 23, 2015, he was initiated as a shāmaṇerak by Bhadant Arya Nagarjuna Surai Sasai at Indora Buddha Vihara in Nagpur. He was later renamed as ‘Dhamma Ambedkar’. Rajratna had chosen 23rd September as the day on which Babasaheb had to suffer for untouchability in Gujarat at Sankalp Bhoomi.
The dream of making India Buddhist Dr Ambedkar had seen. To accomplish this, he decided to propagate Buddhism. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar initiated Buddhism as a ‘Buddhist’ and brought the society out of the swamp of castes. Therefore, Rajratna is of the opinion that Buddhists should not use words like ‘Dalit’ and ‘Neo-Buddhist’ for themselves again. Earlier, Dr. Ambedkar’s son and the 2nd President of the Buddhist Society of India, Yashwant Ambedkar had also expressed such an opinion.
- 50+ Quotes of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on Lord Buddha and Buddhism
- 5 Great Buddhists of the Twentieth Century (in Marathi)
Conversion Program in Delhi, 2022
Rajratna Ambedkar initiated about 10,000 people into Buddhism on the occasion of “Dhammachakra Pravartan Day” on 5 October 2022 in Delhi.
In this conversion program, Rajratna Ambedkar also gave 22 vows prescribed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar to the people, and then Delhi AAP Government Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam also participated in this program. This conversion program was also in news.
However, the public pronouncement of these 22 vows has hurt the sentiments of Hindus, such statements have been made by BJP leaders and they have targeted minister Rajendra Pal Gautam.
But these BJP leaders need to understand that 22 vows are “compulsorily” accepted while adopting Buddhism. Through these vows, millions of people break ties with their old religion and join Buddhism.
Let us tell you that, on the same day, a grand program of Buddhist conversion was also held at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, Maharashtra in which more than 50,000 people embraced Buddhism. RSS-BJP leaders like Nitin Gadkari (central minister) and Devendra fadnavis (Maharashtra deputy CM) also participated in this program.
Political career
Rajratna Ambedkar has contested Lok Sabha elections three times, but lost three times. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he contested as the Bahujan Mukti Party candidate in the Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, but he got the third highest number of votes, and the first place winner Ashok Chavan won.
Contact number
Mob. No. 7666761358 / 9082578478 (rajratna ambedkar whatsapp number)
Email Id – ambedkarraj@gmail.com
On social media
Rajratna Ambedkar is also active on social media, and there he shares information related to Dr. Ambedkar, the Ambedkarite movement and Buddhism.
The number of his fans is as follows (as of July 2023) :
- Over 684k followers on Facebook
- Over 110k followers on Twitter
- Over 72k followers on Instagram
- Over 52k subscribers on YouTube
Summary
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Also read
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- List of Marathi Buddhist celebs from Maharashtra
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