CHENNAI: Dr B R Ambedkar was a leader greater in stature than Karl Marx , said a judge of the Madras high court on Monday.

Both Ambedkar and Marx had studied in London School of Economics (LSE), which still displayed their photographs, Justice S Tamilvanan said, adding, "but Ambedkar went on to study law and bring about social reforms and revolution, whereas Marx specialised only in economics."

Speaking at Dr Ambedkar Memorial Lecture Programme in Chennai, Justice Tamilvanan urged people not to refer anyone as dalit or downtrodden. "There is no such term as dalits, please do not use it," he said.

Leaders like Bharathiyar, Kamaraj and Ambedkar have done a lot for the society, and hence they should not be confined to any particular caste, he said.

Not just for one particular community, Ambedkar struggled for the rights of women, labourers and reservation benefits, he said. “While equal property rights for women has still been facing hurdles in the Parliament, Ambedkar quit his minister post when the Parliament created obstructions in 1956,” he said.

Justice Tamilvanan was of the view that Hinduism is not a religion at all. Even the Constitution says that those who are all not Muslims, Jains, Buddhism and Christian are Hindus. This is akin to saying a human is someone who is not a chair or paper and pencil, he said.

He also released two books -- Judging Statutes and Independence of Judiciary: Myth or Reality -- authored by advocate A Sirajudeen on the occasion.

Responding to director of Legal Studies N S Santhosh Kumar's observation that Justice Tamilvanan's judgments reflected his concern for dalits and downtrodden, the judge said he wrote judgments for all and never for dalits or downtrodden alone.