SOME CONTEMPORARY DALIT HEROES – 5 – My FRIEND MALKIAT SINGH

Sometime before I started writing in this blog about the contemporary dalit heroes. I could not carry forward the project owing to lack of contact and information. I was living abroad at that time. Nevertheless, I had been referring to the dalit talent and up-coming youngsters in my blog entries under various other heads and in the process wrote about Pawan Tinu, Hardev Kaur Shant, Madan Jalandhari, Sushil &Jaswinder Sheemar, Babita and Anupam Kler and more recently Sunil who has been selected in PCS recently.

My friend Malkiat Singh of Balan (famous for Sachkhand Dera Balan) provided me an inspiration to undertake the subject again by inviting me to the anniversary of his father on July 2 at Mai Bhaggo Gurudwara at Balan. The function was organized by the family trust – Munshi Ram Charitable Trust, started some years before by the family of Malkiat Singh. The purpose of the trust is to encourage and facilitate the students of the village and around by providing monetary assistance and also help to the needy poor for medical etc. It is an appreciable activity. The trust and its Chairman Malkiat Singh were kind enough to associate me with the function. I was asked to distribute the prizes and awards which was an honor for me. I am also grateful for an honor ( Saropa) conferred on me by the esteemed Mai Bhaggo Gurudwara on the occasion

Coming to the subject of contemporary heroes, Let me start with Malkiat Singh himself. In fact he is the hero and the subject of my blog. Rising from an ordinary background in the village Balan, Malkiat scaled the heights of success and position in the establishment and society at large. After post graduating in political science from the DAV College in Jalandhar, Malkiat was selected to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1977 and allotted UP cadre. It was a great success for an ordinary village boy. He deserved it fully. My recent interaction with his college day friends like Ram Lal, Sharat Sabharwal (currently High Commissioner of India to Pakistan) and also his alma mater Dr. K.C. Mahindru and Prof. K.K. Ghai indicated that Malkiat was not only a brilliant and dedicated student but also a fine man. Obviously, Malkiat rose in the hierarchy of the service he joined and adorned the coveted position of the Director General of Police in UP, the highest position in the IPS career. During his long career in the IPS, Malkiat held challenging positions and handled difficult situations. In the process, Malkiat earned due reputation and appreciation and also recognition in the social and governmental circles. The political establishment headed by Ms. Mayawati as the Chief Minister of UP rewarded, rightly so, Malkiat Singh with a coveted and constitutional position as the Chairman of the UP Public Service Commission, on his retirement from the IPS early in the year 2012. Malkiat Singh is heading the constitution body of the largest state of India, UP with distinction and élan.

I am proud of my friend Malkiat and wish him all success and further prosperity in the years to come. Malkiat is one of contemporary heroes of the community.

THE GREATEST INDIAN OPINION POLL & Ambedkar

I wrote about the greatest Indian in this blog some days before. The voting in the CNN-IBN poll (second phase) started yesterday evening for the 10 short listed Indians out of 50. The first 10, in terms of the vote in the first round, were: 1 Dr. B R Ambedkar 2812494, 2 A P J Abdul Kalam 2391374, 3 Vallabbhai Patel 1091479, 4 Kanshi Ram 252728, 5 A B Vajpayee 67794, 6 Sachin Tendulkar 43627, J R D Tata 29484, 8 Mother Teresa 29456, 9 Rajinikanth 25383, 10 Rajagopalachari 25290, I was under the impression that these 10 personalities would be considered for the second run and the final tally but it is not the case. I don’t know the details of the consideration and the methodology Adopted by the Jury. The ten short listed for the second round of voting are: Lata Mangheskar, B.R. Ambedkar, Vallabbhai Patel, Mother Teresa, APJ Abdul Kalam, RED Tata, A.B. Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sachin Tendulkar. It may be observed that Kanshi Ram, Rajnikanth and Rajagopalachari have been taken off from the list and three names who did not figure in the first 10 on the basis of the voting have been included in the short list. It is strange. It means the Jury has over ridding powers to do or undo as they like. In the circumstances, it is yet to be seen as to how fair the poll would be in the caste ridden society and inherit prejudices. Kanshi Ram stood at number 4 in the voted list but his name has been dropped. The announcement made by the organizers of the poll says “The people have spoken and the verdict is out. These are the 10 shortlisted Greats who have been chosen from the list of 50. Cast your vote now for that one Great Indian who you believe is the most iconic, inspirational and impactful of these”. Let us wait and see till the final results are made known on August 15.

I have voted for Ambedkar as the greatest Indian. He secured the highest votes (with considerable margin) as compared to the second in the run APJ Abdul Kalam. I am confident that Ambedkar would still remain in the run and in all probability would make to the top – The Greatest Indian. I think the book “Makers of the Universe “published by the Oxford University has already raised the curtain by listing 100 personalities who influenced the world over 10,000 years. The first name of the list is that of Gautama Buddha and the fourth name is that of B.R. Ambedkar.