By Zile Singh
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
( April 14-1891 to Dec. 6, 1956 )
“Find the Present and the Future will be Perfect”
We are struggling to find the Present. On April 15, 2019, I, coincidentally, happened to be in the Consulate General of India, Vancouver in connection with my Indian passport. To be in the premises of the Consulate, to me, is like bathing in my own sensuality at each step and in each room. I informed the Consul General that without soliciting I got my new passport within five working days. From August 2004 to July 2007, dealing with the Indian Diaspora, in addition to my other duties, gave me immense insight into the affairs of the Indian community in the lower mainland. My official designation apart, I worked as a ‘Link’ between the Government of India and the Indian community. That was an era when the community was the closest ever to the Consulate. The concerned officials could be contacted 24-hours in case of an emergency. The community, of course, has a division on the basis of language, religion, caste and the part of India one belongs to.
On that day, the Chetna Association, in coordination with the Consulate General, had organized the celebration of the 128th Birth of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, popularly known as ´Babasaheb”. Dr. Ambedkar is a recipient of “Bharat Rattan”, the highest Civilian Award conferred by the Government of India posthumously in 1990. Father of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was voted as the ‘Greatest Indian’ in a poll spearheaded by History TV18 and CNN IBN in 2012.
As the main speaker at the function, Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi, Consul General dwelt upon the life of Dr. Ambedkar as an economist, jurist, political thinker, social reformer and above all a visionary who can take India to its past glory of affluence through industrialization and agrarian reforms. She quoted Dr. Ambedkar, “Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.” Another speaker was Ms. Sasha Suberwal, a student from Yale University, USA, visiting Vancouver in connection with gathering people- to- people contact information on the Caste System in India for her Ph.D. thesis. She highlighted the incidents of caste affiliations in Vancouver in the form of ‘poot jatan de’ and also ‘poot chamaran de’ in the music industry and the matrimonial columns highlighting the caste in the ethnic print media. Mrs. Manjeet Bains spoke about the caste discrimination Dr. Ambedkar bore throughout his life. She quoted Dr. Ambedkar “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved” and “Firstly and lastly, we are Indians.” I feel that Dr. Ambedkar would have been happy to see that “the women seized the stage.” in the celebration.
At a sad note, despite the fact that Dr. Ambedkar was a Bharat Rattan, true nationalist, the greatest Indian, the father of the Indian Constitution, a stubborn fighter for the rights of the minorities and downtrodden, the audience at the function was not only minimal but surprisingly limited to a particular caste. On condition of anonymity, one of the founders of the Ambedkar Association in B.C. in the late seventies said, “These five families gathered today do not represent the whole Ambedkarite community.” Are people, across the religious and caste lines, not interested to remember the highest educated personality of his time who was endowed with other numerous qualifications? Has such an ardent champion of Human Rights who fought for a class and casteless society, been reduced as the legacy of only a particular caste which itself is divided on sub-caste lines? Instead of bridging a smaller gap at hand between the lower castes, they are trying to jump a much wider gap. In fact, the Ambedkar Mission is not a blind ally. It is a two-way street. “ Look Outwards and also Look Inwards”. For personal interest and ego, the organizer(s) sometimes even do not give chance to their seniors who know a lot better about Dr. Ambedkar to come forward and speak. .
The institutions like gurdwaras, temples, mosques and other social organizations need to introspect and come forward to participate and contribute by way of their strength. It is for certain that there is no dearth of knowledge about Dr. Ambedkar in the large and vibrant communities of Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains here. On December 5, 1956, a day before his prenirvan, Dr. Ambedkar received a Jain delegation at 8 o’clock at his residence who had come to invite him for a function. Few hours before his death Dr. Ambedkar recited ‘Buddham Sarnam Gacchami’ with full concentration. Also, for some time he hummed a song by Kabir ‘Chal Kabir tera bhav sagar dera’. That night, he worked on the preface of ‘The Buddha and His Dhamma’ and fell asleep forever by keeping his hand over the book. All know that he wished to be converted as a ‘Sikh’. His attempt failed and he, along with lakhs of his followers converted to Buddhism.
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PS: These are my personal views. I am not a member of any Sabha, Society or Association.
Mr. Zile Singh is much respected Link Columnist, writer, a Vipassana Meditator and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights. He can be reached at [email protected]
