-Arun Kumar
(Samaj Weekly)- To commemorate the 132nd birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, a seminar ‘Ambedkar and his Relevance in Modern Times’ was held in the House of Lords on 19 April, 2023. It was organised by the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations, UK (FABO UK) and Lord Richard Harries of Pentregarth, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group for Dalits chaired this event. A number of academic, political figures, social activists and the followers of Dr Ambedkar participated in the meeting. Councillor, Mrs Mohinder Midha, Mayor of Ealing especially graced the occasion.
In his welcoming address, Lord Harries said that the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar has become an annual event at the House of Lords and is always well attended.
Updating on the Ambedkar related events in the UK, Ms Santosh Dass MBE, President of FABO UK and Chair Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA) said, “To me, Dr Ambedkar represents the spirit of optimism and the hope for better times. Both as equality and human rights campaigner and a Dalit woman, I reflect ever more on Dr Ambedkar’ s determination to create a more equal and a just society.” She further added, “Let’s be more than Ambedkarites. Let’s be Ambedkar-Like. And one way is to have Ambedkarite and Dalit voices in both houses of this wonderful parliament, not just as visitors, but as members.”
Arun Kumar, General Secretary, FABO UK talked about the recently published (Hurst Publishers, London) book ‘Ambedkar in London’. This book is co-edited and co-authored by FABO UK’s President, Ms Santosh Dass, along with Dr William Gould, Leeds University and Dr Christophe Jaffrelot, Kings College, London. The book explores lessor known facts about Dr Ambedkar’s time in London during his studies at London School of Economics and Gray’s Inn. It also explores his legacy in the UK in matters of anti-caste and Ambedkarite movement since 1950s. There is a detailed account of the mammoth task of lobbying in purchasing the property 10 King Henry’s Road and converting into Ambedkar Museum. Arun said he was honoured to co-author with Santosh a chapter on ‘The Ambedkarite movement in Britain’. Arun Kumar and Santosh Dass presented a signed copy of the book to Lord Harries with a thank you to him for all his support with raising the profile of Dr Ambedkar in the UK Parliament.
Ms Tanisha Bhalesain, an impressive 15 year old young Ambedkarite from a school in Milton Keynes spoke about how Dr Ambedkar achieved remarkable feats, from a young boy with a passion to learn, to a scholar contributing to national decisions. It was for this very reason; he is significant to her. She said, “He is ideal representation of the importance of education and passion for learning, and his journey through life is a sign that anyone from any background can achieve great things”. She ended with a message to the youth today would be “to empower yourself with knowledge and to fight for what you are passionate about”.
Mr Praveen Kolluguri, an Ambedkarite activist, Co-founder of the India Labour Solidarity (ILS) campaign, BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) officer for Kingston and Surbiton Labour Constituency stated, “Babasaheb recognised the inherent exploitation and oppression faced by workers, especially from marginalised communities, and advocated for their rights with unwavering commitment. Workers across the world are often subjected to precarious employment, unfair wages, unsafe working conditions, and denial of their fundamental rights. This is particularly true for workers from marginalised communities who face intersecting forms of discrimination based on caste, class gender, religion and race. As we discuss free trade deals between India and UK, it is essential that labour rights are given priority and considered as a part of the negotiations.”
Sacha Ismail also from ILS and a trade union activist suggested that it’s crucial to get unions involved to take up the fight to combat caste discrimination in the work places.
Arvind Kumar, visiting Tutor at the Department of Law and Criminology; And Doctoral Scholar at the Department of Politics, Royal Holloway, University of London reminded the conference that Babasaheb always argued that social democracy is prerequisite for the success of political democracy. He further added that the religious fundamentalism is the biggest threat to democracy which should be tackled at the grass root level.
Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha, Mayor of Ealing, stressed the need for education and gender equality. She asked all men to give respect to women and encouraged them to come in the public life. As a result of support from her family, in May 2022, Mrs Midhas became the first ever Dalit woman mayor in the UK for in the London Borough of Ealing. She looked forward to seeing MPs and Members of the Lords from Dalit community.
Dr Hardeep Singh Bhatoa, Advocate, High Court, Chandigarh said that with the recent government policy of privatisation, Dalits are adversely affected. Education has become expensive and job opportunities are being lost.
Mrs Sahdaish Pall, CEO at Sikh Women’s Aid, Director of GEM – Healthy relationship educator –developer of Domestic Abuse prevention board games and workbooks, Prospective Labour Councillor for Great Bridge in the Sandwell, West Midlands also attended the meeting. She said that since launching Sikh Women’s Aid nearly two years ago, she has had so many cases of caste based abuse in relationships reported to her organisation, that we had to add an additional category for this was added to the in our forms of abuse on to their our bespoke database to capture these cases. Sahdaish added that caste apartheid is happening here today in the UK. It is alive and kicking in school playgrounds and places of work.
Mrs Sudhesh Rani, Clinic Coordinator, National Health Service, Labour Link Officer, Unison and Labour candidate for Bedford Council talked about the caste discrimination prevalent in the UK. She said, “In India sometimes Dalits change their names to survive. But in the UK also people want to know about one’s caste by asking various questions”.
Dr Raj Chand, Practising GP and Deputy Chair, ACDA, shared information about the recent cases of caste-related hate speech in the UK. On 25 May, 2021, Gurvinder Singh Luthra from Hounslow got a 16 week prison sentenced (suspended for 5 years). In another case, on 4 April, 2023 Amrik Singh Bajwa from Slough was sent to prison for 18 weeks and fined £240. In both cases, all communities including Bhagwan Valmik, Guru Ravidass temples and Ambedkarite organisations got together and issued joint statements. . ACDA along along with other organisations was one of the key witnesses in these cases. Raj asked everyone to report such cases to the police or to the organisations campaigning against caste discrimination. That way the government wouldn’t be able to say that there is no caste discrimination and that would help to persuade to the government to implement the caste legislation.
Vote of thanks was proposed by Lord Harries of Pentregarth.
