Ramesh Chander a retired diplomat
(Samaj Weekly)- A book of a great historical value, Ambedkar in London, was officially released in London some weeks ago. One of the authors, Ms. Santosh Dass, MBE a social and human rights activists and President of Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO) of UK, one of my ‘acquaintances of understanding and respect’ sent me the book in advance of the formal release through one of her associates in the FABO, Harbans Virdee. I wished to read the book and offer my comments before the release of the book as a ’curtain raiser’ but could not do so because of my pre-occupation on one side and the ‘heavy content’ of the book which required ‘digestion’ on the other. Meanwhile, I have seen some well written reviews of the book in the social media and that have made my job (pastime) of blogging easy. I take the liberty of offering my humble comments on the book, Ambedkar in London, written and compiled by renowned intellectuals and academics; William Gould, Professor of Indian History at the University of Leeds, Santosh Dass and Christophe Jaffrelot, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s India Institute.
Ambedkar in London, published by Hurst and Company of London, is “An exploration of the international context for Ambedkar’s ideas around caste, law, religion, democracy and race, as developed while studying in the imperial capital”, as stated at the inner page of the jacket of the book. It further adds, “This book explores his lesser known period of London based study and publication during the early 1920s, presenting that experience as a lens for thinking about Ambedkar’s intellectual significance. “ I tend to agree with these assertions that Ambedkar’s multifaceted intellectual and academic inputs came to fore during his time as a law student at the Gray’s Inn and doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics.
Coming to the contents of the book, the Foreword has been written by a renowned young scholar and Ambedkarite activist and, Suraj Milind Yengde (I met him briefly at Ambedkar Bhawan at Jalandhar a couple of years ago), really a thought provoking piece on Ambedkar’s ‘International presence’ and his ‘International relativity’. He has rightly said, “Ambedkar’s presence was vast and the shadow he cast was even longer.” Suraj Yengde has stated in the Foreword, which put the things in perspective with regard to the title of the book, and I quote, “Unlike New York, where Ambedkar only nourished himself in intellectual activities and academic growth, London was where he began to put his ideas into action.” It is satisfying to note that Suraj Yengde has done full justice to the book and one of the greatest sons of India by candidly saying, “In all of this book, Ambedkar’s conduct was feisty. He held himself high. He certainly did not as any lesser think of himself, nor did he treat his opponents as devilish. Ambedkar elevated statesmanship to a level which required Britain’s bureaucrats and aristocratic political classes to sit up and pay attention. A longish Introduction has been done by the two out of three authors of the book, Santosh Dass and William Gould. They wrote that as to how the idea of this book came up during the struggle to get 10 King Henry’s Road, where Ambedkar stayed as a student in London, declared a museum. The book, Ambedkar in London, has been divided into two parts. Part One contains 5 essays on important aspects of Ambedkar’s stay and interaction in London right from the student and research scholar days and his important work and contribution in the Round Table Conferences written by prominent historians and scholars like; William Gould, Sue
Donnelly and Daniel Payne, Steven Gasztowtez, Jesus F. Chairez Garza and Christophe Jaffrelot. In his piece – Ambedkar The Activist Research Scholar in 1920 London, William Gould has given some interesting information on the personal life of Ambedkar referring to some “F” (pages 22-23) whom later Ambedkar dedicated his one of the important books, What Gandhi and the Congress has done to the Untouchables with the dedication “In Thy Presence is the Fullness of Joy”. In the second essay of Sue Donnelly and Daniel Pyne, A Student in London, the authors confirmed that Ambedkar did not have much of personal life and was interested only his studies while at the London School of Economics. They write (page 52), “It is possible that Ambedkar did not greatly engage with the social side of school life as completing his studies in three years would have required him to spend most of his time studying. He is not pictured in any of the photographs or mentioned in ‘The Clare Market Review’. This in contrast to Krishna Menon,” his contemporary at the LSE. One can imagine how much sacrifice Ambedkar did with regard to his mission and vision? The authors have rightly noted (page 62), “He was neither the first nor the last Indian student to study at the LSE but he was among those who have made the greatest impact on the world.” The third write up is, Ambedkar As Lawyer, done by Steven Gasztowicz, a lawyer to steer the legal aspects of Ambedkar Museum at 10KHR. He candidly writes (page 64), out of sheer reverence to Ambedkar, that how much he was impressed by the icon and made him determined to win the legal battle, ‘Having learnt about him, I was also determined to win the case for him, if humanly possible, whatever the difficulties. Looking at the legal training and experiences of Ambedkar should provide not on reassurances but great inspiration not only for lawyers but for people in the whole array of other occupations and way life.” It is a wholesome tribute to Ambedkar. The fourth article, Ambedkar, London and the First Round Table Conference written by Jesus Chairez Garza presents an in-depth analysis of Ambedkar’s early attempts to internationalise the problem of untouchability in India. Towards the conclusion of the article the author tends to support the views of some of the followers of Ambedkar that by signing the Poona Pact in 1932 with Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar lost the political edge in abandoning the ‘Separate Electorates’ for the depressed classes. He writes (page 106), “…Ambedkar’s political achievements in London were not to last. On his return to the subcontinent, Ambedkar found that the caste boundaries he was able to defy in Britain were reinstated into the political debate about dalit representation.” The next chapter is Christophe Jeffrelot’s Dr. Ambedkar in 1920s – The Transitional Decade. It is a thought provoking piece on the ‘changing thought process and action’ of Ambedkar. One thing becomes clear that to begin with Ambedkar was not a revolutionary of the left orientation but was a reformist of the right orientation. I quote from the article to further elaborate this, “Ambedkar’s reservations about separate electorates stem also here from his fears that such a reform would divide the Indian nation; I do contemplate and I do desire, the time when India shall be one and I do believe that a time will come when, for instance, all these things will not be necessary, but all that would depend upon the attitude of the majority towards the minority.” May be this thinking of Ambedkar need further debate and deliberations. The Part two of the book as stated by Santosh Dass and Willian Gould in a brief introduction, said (page 130), “The book, therefore, juxtaposes the historical Ambedkar with the contemporary Ambedkar. In this sense, building on Part One’s narrative, Part Two further develops the symbolic, emotional but material and institutional impact of Ambedkar in Britain’s Dalit Diaspora.” The chapter, The Ambedkarite Movement in Britain, written by two leading lights of the Dalit Diaspora in Britain, Santosh Dass and Arun Kumar both functionaries of FABO have given a fair and lengthy account of Ambedkar and Dalits in Britain from historical perspective and also some of the current activities and issues concerning the community like; Ambedkar Museum at 10KHR, Ambedkar Room at the Gary’s Inn, Bust of Ambedkar at the India House (HC of India), financing and establishing of various Buddha Vihara’s and Ambedkar outfits not only in Britain but also in India, Ambedkar’s birthday, April 14 as the International Day of Equality under the aegis of the UN as mentioned at page 155 referring me (Ambassador Ramesh Chander) as an initiator of the proposal among others. With regard to the proposal on International Day of Equality, I would like to take this opportunity to thank FABO; particularly Arun Kumar and Santosh Dass for supporting the proposal right
from its inception in 2015 by writing to PM Narendra Modi and urging the GOI to make an official and diplomatic demarche to the UN in this regard. A heartwarming reference (page 157) to Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, with whom I had the opportunities to meet and interact in New Delhi sometime in 1990 as Under Secretary in the East Europe Division of the MEA and later in Prague sometimes in 2005-06 as Minister of the Embassy of India, with regard to inclusion of Ambedkar in the school curriculum is really praiseworthy particularly with the resolve of the dalit communities as indicated in the essay under reference which reads, “It may be only a matter of time before the movement will see that the British school children learn about Ambedkar in the same way they do about Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.” The next chapter gives details of the initiative and struggle to turn 10KHR, where Ambedkar lived as a student into Ambedkar Museum. It was a difficult job to begin with but Dalit Diasopora in the UK, led by Santosh Dass. Gautam Chakravarti, Arun Kumar among others under the aegis of FABO and other Ambedkarite, Buddhist and Ravidassia outfits engaged the local authorities, High Commission of India, Government of Maharastra and other stake holders to get the proposal accepted. The proposal took six years to become a reality and was formally handed over and declared open by PM Narendra Modi on November 14, 2015. It was gratifying to note that many of my diplomatic colleagues from the IFS fraternity namely; Ranjan Mithai, Dr. Varinder Paul, Dinesh Patnaik, Ajay Gondane among others, were fully involved in the process, The Ambedkar Museum is a befitting tribute to one of greatest sons of India in the contemporary times. I will be failing in my earnestness, if I don’t mention here that even after it formal inauguration by PM of India, there were many procedural and legal formalities to be completed. Santosh Dass with her dedicated associates did their best finally made the memorial fully functional. Thanks to all of them. The next essay, The Campaign to Outlaw Caste Discrimination in Britain written by Santosh Dass, a crusader to fight the caste menace, is her pioneering work taken under the umbrella of CasteWatchUK and Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance. It is not charitable to note caste has travelled with the Hindu Diaspora as feared and visualized by Babasaheb Ambedkar and to reiterate this fact, I quote from the book (page 202), “ Ambedkar warned that if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become world problem.” It happened so particularly in the UK, the USA, Canada and other destination of mass migration. Though personally, I don’t think we should try to make it an issue and try to bring in social reform yet it is time for the Hindu hierarchy to sit and think to take on the Caste based discrimination head on by invoking the legacy of Ambedkar internationally. The proposal to declare April 14, birthday of Bbasaheb Ambedkar, as International Day of Equality under the UN comes to my mind could be one such initiative. I hope somebody listens in the GOI. The campaign of Santosh Dass and others is not without purpose. The last chapter of the book is, Ambedkar in London and the African American community done by Cavin Brown, a Fulbright Scholar in India in late 1990s. Many details on the subject are available in the piece. My personal thinking is that though Ambedkar’s legacy is fully potent to carry itself and as such President Barack Obama called him as ‘Symbol of Knowledge’ yet the question raised by Cavin Brown is relevant and needs answer; ‘Why don’t African-American intellectuals know more about Dr. Ambedkar.” William Gould has thoughtfully concluded the thought provoking narration of Ambedkar in London, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is celebrated or memorialised today n multiple ways in India and elsewhere and arguably as a single historical figure, his wider political significance is unmatched.”
Ambedkar in London is a fully researched and well documented work by intellectuals and professional with Reference Notes and Select Bibliography at the end, List of Illustration (photos inserted inside the book) and List of Ambedkar Organisations in Britain since 1960 in the beginning of the book makes it a highly commendable and readable work.
With this I close this so called review with one or two observations not to find faults but to register that I tried my best to do justice to the book in my own humble way – one, it would have been good, had the writers thought of giving some personal anecdotes of Ambedkar’s stay, work and interaction in London for the benefit of readers and Second, It is with regard to Babasaheb Ambedkar’s historic and epoch making visit to Jalandhar in October, 1951 in which my blog on the subject has been mentioned (page 134), there are some factual errors, obviously inadvertent but not of substance – Lahori Ram Balley who is said to have met Ambedkar Sahib at Jalandhar in October, 1951 and the second – the name of Sulekh Sahib, who was the Master of Ceremonies at the public meeting at Bootan Mandi, is Kartar Chand and not Kishan Chand as mentioned in the book. I may add a bit to elaborate further, the car in which Babasaheb and his wife Savita Ambedkar travelled was driven by not a professional or hired driver but by a young scion of Seth Kishan Dass’s family (nephew of Seth ji), Sant Ram alias Pritam Ramdasspuri, a poet of standing writing in Urdu, Persian and Punjabi languages, my fellow BootanMandian.
