Paris: In a moment that reverberated from Pune’s chaitya Bhoomi to the banks of the Seine, a bronze bust of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, architect of India’s Constitution, was solemnly unveiled at the UNESCO Headquarters on Constitution Day – the first Indian icon after Mahatma Gandhi to be thus immortalised at the world body’s Paris seat.

The ceremony, attended by India’s Ambassador to UNESCO Vishal V. Sharma, Director-General Audrey Azoulay, and diplomats from across the globe, coincided with the 76th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution. Azoulay hailed Ambedkar as “a towering champion of equality, dignity and justice whose ideas continue to inspire the fight against discrimination worldwide.”

“Today, the author of the world’s longest written constitution takes his rightful place among the universal defenders of human rights,” she declared, as the tricolour fluttered alongside the UNESCO flag.

Speaking from Paris, Ambassador Sharma called it “a proud homecoming of ideas”. 

“Dr. Ambedkar drafted a Constitution in Delhi that promised liberty, equality and fraternity to every Indian. Today, UNESCO – guardian of the world’s moral conscience – embraces those very values by honouring their author.”

The life-size bust, crafted by renowned sculptor Ram Sutar (creator of the Statue of Unity), now stands permanently in UNESCO’s Garden of Peace alongside Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.

Back home, the news triggered celebrations. President Droupadi Murmu termed it “global recognition of Babasaheb’s unmatched contribution to humanity”, while Opposition leaders praised the gesture as “the Constitution walking out of India to teach the world”.

From Dalit hamlets lighting diyas to Parliament’s Central Hall echoing with “Jai Bhim”, India marked November 26 with twin pride: defending the Constitution within, and watching its architect conquer the world without.

As one Parisian delegate whispered while gazing at the bust: “He wrote equality into law; today the world has written him into history.