November 26 – Constitution Day

 

November 26 – Constitution Day

We observe November 26 as the Constitution Day, the day on which our Constitution was finally “adopted, enacted and given to ourselves’ by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The Constitution Day is an important milestone in the journey of India which “We the people of India” embarked on with Independence from the British colonial rule on 15 August, 1947 which is observed as the Independence Day. The new Constitution came into operation on January 26, 1950 which we observe as the Republic Day. Long seven

decades have passed ever since we had a robust constitutional frame work given to us by our founding fathers to redeem our pledge of ‘tryst with destiny’ as visualized by PM Jawaharlal Nehru in his Independence Day address to the nation on the midnight of August 14, 1947. The Objectives Resolution of the Constituent Assembly to make the constitution and above all the role and contribution of Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly could deliver in giving us one of the best constitutions of the world which met the challenges before the country like ‘India that is Bharat’ - a diversified and multi racial and multi-cultural society. It kept us on rails. It is a matter of great satisfaction that, with these constitutional arrangements, India has come a long way in its development and progress. One may say that It has arrived but still to reach. Still a long way to go in this interesting but challenging journey before we fully realize and redeem the solemn pledges which we voluntarily took on our Independence. It could be done ‘substantially’ in the words of PM Jawaharlal Nehru, if we could transform our ‘political democracy, stipulated in the constitution, into a social and economic democracy’ as rightly visualized by none other than the father of the Constitution of India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.  

As I said that because of the constitution, India is on rails. But we cannot afford the luxury of lowering our guard as yet. Of late, fissiparous elements with divisive agenda appear to be raising their head which is posing a real danger to the very edifice – ‘sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic’ of our polity could come under threat. It would be a serious threat against which Babasaheb Ambedkar spoke very candidly in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949 before the constitution was finally passed. He, referring to historical facts, said, “…not only India has once before lost her independence, but she lost it by the infidelity and treachery of some of her own people.”  In this context, he further said “Will history repeat itself? It is this thought which fills me with anxiety. This anxiety is deepened by the realization of the fact that in addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indian place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost forever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood.”  Dr. Ambedkar was a visionary. His warnings, given 70 years ago, are as true and relevant as these were then, if we

look at the Kisan Andolan, many movements opposing the duly formulated administration through violence and unconstitutional means resulting in ‘Grammar of Anarchy’ as cautioned by him, “If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.” I am not oblivious of the fact that I have succumbed to the temptation of quoting Dr. Ambedkar excessively to make my point. But it made my job easy as the utterances coming from the horse’s mouth are gems of wisdom which we would ignore at our own peril. The third thing he warned against was ‘hero worship’ in democracy and said, ““There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness, as has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel O’Connell, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero- worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.”

While we observe the Constitution Day, we must do self-introspection, keeping the above warnings of the chief architect of the constitution, if we intend to remain on track. My humble suggestion in this regard is that the epoch making November 25, 1949 speech of Babasaheb Ambedkar should be included in college curricula for students so that younger generation understands the constitution and challenges before the country. Our political parties and politicians should learn and understand the situation in its right perspective rather than pursuing narrow agendas for short term gains.

With this while I take this opportunity to greet my countrymen on the Constitution Day of India, I would recall the poetic warning of Allma Iqbal:

Chupa Kar Asteen Mein Bijliyan Rakhi Hain Gardoon Ne
Anadil Bagh Ke Ghafil Na Baithen Ashiyon Mein

(The sky has kept thunderbolts concealed up its sleeve
Garden’s nightingales should not slumber in their nests)

 

 

 

 

My pleasure to be at the Punjab Raj Bhawan at Chandigah

 

My pleasure to be at the Punjab Raj Bhawan at Chandigah

During the course of my functional duties in the IFS and Ministry of External Affairs, I have had several opportunities to be at the first

house of India – Rashtrapati Bhawan at New Delhi since 1974 till my retirement in 2010 and even thereafter with regard to some of my social and public activities. But I did not have an opportunity to see and visit Punjab Raj Bhawan at Chandigarh till November 17, 2021. The occasion was a solemn function to release the Punjabi edition of the book “Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar: Jiwan Te Chintan” – a collection of articles written by some prominent personalities and compiled by Hitesh Shanker for the RSS mouthpiece the Panchjanya and translated by Dr. Lakhvir Lezia and printed by Apna Sahatiya  of Jalandhar.  On approach and request by Scheduled Caste Ekta and Empowerment Forum (SCEEF) of which I happen to be the Chief Patron, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab Shri Banwarilal Purohit hosted the function and released the book in the presence of prominent members and office bearers and also the well wishers of the Forum namely; Dr. Varinder Garg, OSD to Hon’ble Minister of Health of India, Rajesh Bagha, a senior leader of the BJP, Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Punjab, Avinash Chander among others.

Prominent social and political activist Paramjit Kainth of National Scheduled Caste Alliance briefly explained the purpose and work of

Representatives of SCEEF honouring the Governor

SCEEF and welcomed the participants.  Prof. S.K. Deweshwer who supervised the translation work spoke and appreciated the initiative of Dr. Varinder Garg to get the book translated and released under the aegis of SCEEF and hoped that it would the wider audience in Punjab and beyond. Yet another eminent intellectual who also shared the dias, Padam Shri Dr. Digambar Behra, a distinguished professional in respiratory ailments also spoke and mentioned about the fact that Dr. Ambedkar was not only a constitutional expert or a jurist of caliber but also an economist and a social reformer of his own standing. He added that it will be wrong to consider him a dalit leader alone.  Hon’ble Governor Banwarilal Purohit, in his thoughtful remarks, was very candid in his assertions and termed Babasaheb Ambedkar as the ‘tallest man of the 20th century’ and referred the event of his

embracing Buddhism in October, 1956 at Diksha Bhoomi in Nagpur as a spiritual and cultural ‘Revolution’.  He also recalled Dr. Ambedkar’s warnings given in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949 and said that we were to ward off the dangers of losing our independence once again, as feared by the visionary leader, Babasaheb Ambedkar, if we gave preference to our political creed over the national interests. I and I think the discerning audience too was much impressed by the sagacity and vision of the Hon’ble Governor Banwarilal Purohit. As the Chief Patron of SCEEF, the honour of giving the Vote of Thanks fell on me. While thanking the Hon’ble Governor for hosting the function at the Raj

Bhawan and encouraging SCEEF and making a thought provoking speech at the occasion and also the dedicated participants and stake holders, I said that India was India, in the face of challenging times, only because of the Constitution of India so laboriously framed by our forefathers under the stewardship Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar. It was a matter of great satisfaction that we could make good strides in the development and progress of India under the constitutional arrangements.  I further said that the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar was so potent that it had the potential of taking India to further heights in the years to come and added that, to my mind, there were three things which we must do. One, there was a greater need to ‘Recognize’ Ambedkar. It was a pity that the much needed recognition of the icon came late and that too half-heatedly. In this regard, I mentioned about the proposal to declare April 14, birthday of Babasaheb Ambedkar as International Day which was resting with the Government of India since June, 2015 and solicited support of Hon'ble Governor Banwarilal Purohit.  Second, it was time to ‘Reconcile’ the thinking of the mainstream of the society with that of the lofty vision of one of the greatest sons of India. There was an immediate and greater need to do that to bring about ‘Samrasta’ in the country and the society at large. Third, it would be good to ‘Appropriate” the legacy of Babasaheb by recognizing and reconciling and not by ‘Twisting’ for short term gains. It was all the more needed to meet the challenges of the future which could only be done with the cohesiveness in the society by pragmatic approaches and recited an Urdu couplet to make my point:

Zara Dekh Uss Ko Jo Kuch Ho Raha Hai, Hone Wala Hai
Dhara Kya Hai Bhala Ehd-e-Kuhan Ki Dastnon Mein

(Pay attention to what is happening and what is going to happen
What good there is in repeating the tales of the old glories?)

I concluded my brief remarks with Nazam of Allama Iqbal and wished to create an ideal society with the mantra of ‘Fraternity’:

Aa ġhairiyat ke parde ik baar phir uThā deñ

BichhḌoñ ko phir milā deñ naqsh-e-duī miTā deñ

Suunī paḌī huī hai muddat se dil kī bastī

Aa ik nayā shivāla is des meñ banā deñ

I also presented a copy of my book ‘The Bits and Pieces – Reminiscences and Reflections of a Novice’ to the Hon’ble Governor. A senior functionary of SCEEF, Advocate Mohit

Bhardwaj conducted the proceedings of the function ably as ‘Master of Ceremonies’. The function was concluded with the generous hospitality of the Raj Bhawan with hot snacks – Gulab Jamuns, Cocktail Smosas, Veg Cutlets served by the appropriately uniformed service staff of the ‘first house of the State of Punjab, the Raj Bhawan.

The Bits and Pieces – As I Please

 

The Bits and Pieces – As I Please

Mala Ke Teen Moti – I heard of a pamphlet issued by Pritam Ramdaspuri, a staunch Ambedkarite and a poet of standing and also one of my fellow BootanMandians but could not lay my hand to read it. Now my friend and a fellow BootanMandian, Ram Lal Dass has reissued - Mala Ke Teen Moti with his commentary as a critique and he thoughtfully sent me a copy of it. Mala Ke Teen Moti was first issued by Ambedkar Study Circle in December, 1980. Ram Lal Dass who has edited the piece  informed that Pritam Ramdasspuri was a

scholar of Urdu and Persian and knew the English language fairly as well. One of his Persian laced Nazam on Babasaheb Ambedkar which he had the honour to recite in front of the icon at a public rally on October 27, 1951 at Bootan Mandi in Jalandhar, as given and explained by Ram Lal Dass, was Pritam Ramdasspuri’s excellent recital in reverence to the leader – Hindostan Ko Hasti-e-Ambedkar Pe Naaz Hai. It is a sample to assess the acumen of Pritam Ramdasspuri Sahib as a literary person. I considered Ram Lal a hardcore zeolot, if not irrational, Buddhist (no offence is intended as Ram Lal is one of my close friends) but his assertions in the commentary made on the Mala Ke Teen Moti have set the position in its perspective. Pritam Ramdasspuri was an intellectual with a wide open approach to address the community matters. His thesis in Mala Ke Teen Moti is appreciable as he tended to reconcile the differing views of dalits on Babasaheb’s conversation to Buddhism. Some of the self seekers, with a view to save their own positions on both the sides (both followers of Guru Ravidass and neo-Buddhists), adopted rigid positions which are detrimental to the much needed unity not only among dalits but also societal fraternity visualized in the constitution of India. Mala Ke Teen Moti was an attempt to bridge the gap and provide cohesion and also momentum to the caravan of Babaseb Ambedkar by bringing Tathagat Budh, Satguru Ravidass and Babsaheb Dr. Ambedkar on one page, keeping with the crux of their thought and philosophy of bring about Equality, Liberty, Justice and Fraternity in the society. Ram Lal Dass has rightly concluded his analytical commentary by saying; Babasaheb revived Buddhism with a view to reform the society of the ills of the main-stream Hinduism and ‘One of the branches of Boddhism (Bodhibriksh) flourished in India as ‘Sant Sampardhya’ (Bhakti Movement) in which Guru Ravidass shined like the Sun. The crux of the teaching and path of all the three great personalities – Gautama Buddha, Guru Ravidass and Babasaheb Ambedkar was service of the humanity particularly of the depressed and oppressed segments of the society’. Let us hope the message of Pritam Ramdasspuri is understood in its right perspective and the oppressed and depressed that is dalits get united, sooner the better, to realize the lofty ideals of establishing a casteless society and equitable world order at large. By following Mala Ke Teen Moti, we can get and realize true freedom in the year of 75^th anniversary of India’s independence. Guru Ravidass rightly said in his Vani:

पराधीन का दीन क्या ? पराधीन बेदीन;

रविदास पराधीन को; सब ही समझे हीन।

 

Dalits of Punjab - a Divided House – Much has been written and more remains in the pipeline about the role, weight-age and importance of dalits in the politics, particularly electoral politics, of India. The position has come full circle of the affect and efficacy of the salient feature of populous and functional democracy – ‘One vote - one value’ as enshrined in the constitution of India. But the intended and desired dividend of this cardinal principle has been negated both by the vested machinations to keep dalits subjugated

and also by the gullibility of dalits themselves to fall prey to these machinations. It is true not only for Punjab alone but for the entire, caste ridden, country and the society at large in spite of the ‘empowering’ provisions of ‘reservations’ etc. But I will focus on Punjab alone in view of the forthcoming assembly elections likely to be held early next year, 2022.

Punjab has about 35% share in the Punjab demographic count of total population of about 3 crorers. It may be surprising to note that in the last 7 decades after the first general election held in 1952, no Scheduled Caste could become the Chief Minister of Punjab till recently in September, 2021 when Charanjit Singh Channi was cosmetically made the first CM that too by fluke to make some

CM Charanjit Singh at Dera Sachkhand BNallan

brownie points by the Congress Party in the wake of internal feuds to occupy the hot seat of power in Chandigarh by the Upper caste Hindus or Sikhs. Ambedkar’s vision to gain access to the corridors of power for dalits by constitutional and democratic means and Kanshi Ram’s pragmatic approach to demand a due share in the power structures under the doctrine of ‘Jis Ki Jitni Sankhya Bhari; Untni Uski Hissedari’ are getting roots, it seems, and ground situation is changing accordingly, slowly but steadily. All political parties are falling on each other to encash the cheques of power on the dalit vote bank – Congress Party has shown the way by appointing  Charanjit Singh Channi as CM though for a limited period in the run up to elections early in a few months time, SAD and BSP have joined hands with the promise to have a dalit as the Deputy CM, AAP too which already has a dalit,  Harpal Singh Cheema as Leader of the Opposition, will appoint a dalit as a Deputy CM, BJP has already announced that, if they come to power, they will have a dalit as CM. Let us watch what stance the newly floated party, Punjab Lok Congress of Captain Amrinder Singh, takes on the issue.  The scenario is changing and it must change as visualized by our leaders. Ghalib said, “Rang Layegi Hamari Fakamasti Ek Din”.

The disturbing factor is disunity and blurred vision of the current dalit leadership and political players. The opponents, let us be candid,  the proponent of status quo are exploiting the situation by practicing the Kautilya Neeti – Sham, Daam, Dand, Bhed -  to negate the dictum of ‘One Vote : One Value’ and engage dalits in the structures of power as equal partners. But the dictates of ‘real-politic’ may not permit it to happen. Dalits ought to do it themselves by getting united and standing up for their due presence in the corridors of power. We should not be oblivious of the fact that it is easier said than done. Punjab has 34 reserved seats in the 117 strong Assembly but they don’t have any voice as they are fragmented on party lines. No clear answer to address this question appears to be in sight as long as the political reservation is in place. It is a knotty issue. Political reservation has lost its purpose, to my mind. It may be abolished. The country, both the upper castes and dalits, would know as to where do they stand and where have we reached in bringing about social, economic and political cohesion in the society as stipulated in the constitution. Accordingly, political strategies would be made to meet the challenges of the future. The situation has come to such a pass that BSP, a party said to be of dalits with 35% share in the population, is playing a second fiddle to Akali Dal in Punjab. New political outfits claiming to be the flag bearers of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Manyawar Kanshi Ram, like Azad Samaj Party of Chandra Shekhar Azad among others, are further compounding the confusion. Dalits are a divided lot as Ad-dharmis, Buddhists, Mahazabis, Kabirpanthis, Balmikis even on spiritual and religious front. The situation has further resulted in more divisive tendencies by the influence of Ravidassia/Ad-dharmi/Chamar (this terminology has been used to explain the point and not for any other reason or motivation) spiritual Deras, Satsang Beas, Nirankaris, Insaan - Ram-Rahim-Singh, to name a few, where the core of their following comes from dalit communities.  It suits the main stream parties like Congress, Akalis and BJP to keep dalits divided. Obviously, these political parties and established social and cultural organizations, like RSS and SGPC, are under no pressure to re-visit the issue. Unfortunately, in-spite of much needed awakening, dalit leadership and the general masses are still blissfully silent. It is a real problem which is required to be addressed head-on to meet the challenges of the future. In this regard, the dalit civil society, intellectuals, academicians, community activists, students and the spiritual Deras, to my mind, need to come forward, act and deliver to unite dalits under one umbrella, the umbrella of Babasaheb Ambedkar, seek and solicit the cooperation of liberal elements in the main stream of the society to snatch reins of power from the vested interests in a true democratic spirit – One Vote: One Value. I am reminded of a poetic expression which I heard as a young student in 1960s:

 ਮੇਰੀ ਗੱਲ  ਸੁਣ  ਅਛੂਤ ਭਰਾਬਾ ਬੇ; ਇਕ ਦਰ  ਦਾ ਹੋਕੇ ਬਹਿਜਾ।

 

Mera Jiwan Safar – Ambedkar Mission Ki Rah Per – Book Review

 

Mera  Jiwan Safar – Ambedkar Mission Ki Rah Per – Book Review

Mera Jiwan Safar – Ambedkar Mission Ki Rah Per - is the Hindi version of Kartar Chand Sulekh’s (July, 1927) autobiographical account  pertaining to author’s association and interaction with Babasaheb Ambedkar and his Mission originally published in 2019-20 in Punjabi. On my recent visit to Ambedkar Bhawan in Jalandhar on the October 14, the day on which Babasaheb embraced Buddhism

in 1956 at Nagpur, from one of the book stalls; I could get the book of Sulekh Sahib, and that too gratis that is without any cost along with some other books which I purchased. I was told that the author had given them the book for free distribution to interested readers. The boy at the counter requested me it will be good if I could telephone Sulekh Sahib and inform him about this. I did not do so instead read the book and decided to write about it as a humble admirer of K.C. Sulekh Sahib. I heard quite a lot about him and bumped into him once some years before at a function at Ambedkar Bhawan at Jalandhar.  We sat together but could not interact with each other as the function was in progress. It was a missed opportunity to know Sulekh Sahib, a man of sterling worth for the community, a bit more closely.

On reading the book, I could relate myself with the author – more and more from within. The book has been dedicated to father Biru Ram for ‘enlightening the lamp of learning’ in his son, the author. I felt the same for my father and incidentally dedicated my book to my parents ‘The Bits and Pieces – Reminiscences and Reflections of a Novice” released two years ago. Sulekh Sahib wrote that it appeared that he acquired much needed maturity quite early and climbed the ladder of life in the formative years of youth as – a poet of sorts, orator, student activist, community activist and a political leader as General Secretary of the Punjab Chapter of All India Scheduled Caste Federation (AISCF) under the wings of Seth Kishan Dass and an aide and associate of Babasaheb Ambedkar in the process. I felt like sharing here that it remained the case with me too – I could get a good grounding in General Knowledge and contemporary political history even during my high school years, straight from college to the corridors of power in the Ministry of External Affairs – climbed the ladder of life through various examinations of UPSC and reached the coveted position of an Ambassador of India in the IFS. I cannot match the involvement and dedication of Sulekh Sahib – Ambedkar Mission Ki Rah Per – but nevertheless one thing is certain that Babasaheb Ambedkar had been my motivator and icon like that of legendary Sulekh Sahib. It is yet another co-incident that, as repeatedly revealed in the book under review, Sulekh Sahib started his journey from the famous ‘Chubara’ of Seth Kishan Dass at Bootan Mandi in Jalandhar, my native place first as a student and graduating to be leader by his own right as the General Secretary of AISCF and Chief Editor of Ujala, an Urdu periodical - mouth-piece of the under privileged. Sulekh Sahib impressed Babasaheb Ambedkar, one can make out from the happenings mentioned in the book, a great deal – his steering the stage of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s public function at Bootan Mandi in October, 1951, his role in planning and executing the entire visit of the great leader to Punjab in the run up to the first general elections in 1952, his apt and candid head-on take on matters of concern and interest in the Ujala. I felt by reading the book that I am in one way or the other is related to the whole exercise in which a number of my fellow BootanMandians were engaged – Kartara Ram Madhas’s untiring but unsung role and support to the mission particularly to run and sustain for some time, the Ujala, Pritam Ramdaspuri’s poetry and total dedication to Babasaheb and his mission, association of K.C. Leel and Adhyatma Ram among others with the caravan – found a mention in the book and rightly so. Sulekh Sahib’s book gave much needed information on hitherto unknown facts like IAS Kartar Singh’s, whom I have had seen as Health Secretary in my formative years in 1974-77 in PMO, closeness to Babasaheb Ambedkar, Pakhar Ram Ahir’s whom I had known in Delhi as a senior of village Bathan near Nakodar, very supportive role in sustaining and saving the reputation of the Ujala.  Sulekh Sahib was a brilliant student in his school days and later graduated from Jalandhar Doaba College in 1949. One can easily make out the intellect and dedication of Sulekh Sahib that he could achieve all this at an early age of mid 20s as he joined Punjab Government service in 1952 and an inspiring political career of Sulekh Sahib was cut short. Perhaps it was not destined like that as wrote in the book that Babasaheb wanted him to contest elections in 1952 but could not do so because of some technical reason. One of his close associates, K.C. Leel, as mentioned in the book, rightly lamented, ‘He should not have got the job’ as with his joining the government job, the community lost a talented and dedicated leader in Sulekh Sahib. Even after joining service, Sulekh Sahib did not detach him from his intellectual pursuits and wrote extensively under one ‘pen-name’ or the other on matters of interest and concern.

Sulekh Sahib frankly admits that his initial up-bringing pertained to traditional orthodoxy and rituals in the rural set-upof that time. Later with influence of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and also other intellectual stalwarts like Gurbax Singh Preetladi. Gopal Singh Khalsa, Sohan Lal Shasti among others, Sulekh Sahib became rational to follow his emerged icon Babasaheb Ambedkar and remained so till now at the ripe age of 94. The chapter ‘Babasaheb Ko Samprit Yadden’ is one of most interesting chapters of the book. Many of the anecdotes and narratives are not only informative but also reveal hitherto unknown small facts about a number of personalities and developments in the struggle in which Sulekh Sahib was fully involved – selfish and unbecoming role of some of the leaders who ultimately sided with the Congress party just to oppose and stand against Babasaheb Ambedkar like Master Sadhu Ram, Master Gurbanta Singh, Prithvi Singh Azad, Yashwant Rai among others, on the other hand, some leaders like Seth Kishan Dass, Charan Dass Nidhadak, Bhag Mal Pagal, Pandit Bakshi Ram, Chanan Gobindpuri, inter alia, steadfastly sided with and stood by their leader Ambedkar – Dadasaheb B.K. Gaikwad’s role and contribution, on the behest of Babasaheb, in settling the dalit refugees in the wake of partition in 1947 and Sulekh Sahib’s help in the process -  Babasaheb got angry with the Punjab delegation headed by Mota Singh on hearing from him as to how the respect and dignity of dalit women was at stake (page 48-49) in the emerging situation in wake of partition. Babasaheb was so furious that he said, “Why you could not die while saving and guarding the respect and dignity of your womenfolk before coming to me with this kind of complaint” – More details of Ambedkar’s take on Hindu Code Bill in the face of opposition of orthodox Hindus and Jawaharlal Nehru’s inability to stand by Ambedkar and also Babasaheb’s resignation are informative and educative for the students of contemporary political history. I envy Sulekh Sahib on the fact that he was sitting in the visitor’s gallery, along with Seth Kishan Dass, of the Constituent Assembly when Babasaheb was delivering his historical and epoch making speech on November 25, 1949 before “We the people of India” finally enacted and gave to ourselves the Constitution of India – the anecdote when Sulekh Sahib and Pritam Ramdaspuri were turned off from the residence of Ambedkar at Alipur Road in Delhi by the wife, Maisaheb Savita Ambedkar and told them to come later and Ambedkar’s reaction and sensitivities when he came to know of this unacceptable behaviors of the lady, is really touching and speaks laud of the character of the leader – Information regarding Shanta Bai Dani, an associate of Babasaheb, and the proposal of her marriage with Babasaheb which he declined on grounds of functional morality and pragmatism – Pritam Ramdasspuri’s poetic honour in Persian laced composition at the public rally on October 27, 1951 at Bootan Mandi and Ambedkar’s desire to listen to it again is interesting. Babasaheb

Extract from Mala Ke Teen Moti edited Ram Lal Dass

knew a bit of Persian language.  – Media people asked Babasaheb, at the rally at Bootan Mandi, to say something on the Kashmir issue but Babasaheb like a statesman refused to distract and tactfully said, I am here today to talk to my people on matters of interest and concern to us, If someone intends to question me on some other issues, I would be available separately.” – Ambedkar was very much impressed by Sant Braham Dass of Ludhiana when Santji said, “Babasaheb you have the pen in your hands; kindly cut the chains of misery and slavery of poor people with this pen.” Contrary to the general belief that Babasaheb was against spiritual deras, commenting on Sant Braham Dass’s assertion, he said, “By doing their job in rightly guiding the dalits, they could play a big role in raising the standards.” Our Deras must take a cue from this and act. On reading the book, one can know more such details of oral history from the horse’s mouth, Sulekh Sahib.

The author has raised a very valid question s to who should hold and own the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar? - A relevant but difficult question indeed. Even at his 94 long years, Sulekh Sahib is totally drunk with the ‘intoxicating’ experience to know, interact and work with the great leader, Babasaheb Ambedkar. He writes with pride, “Yeh who Nasha Nahin Jise Turshi Uttar De.” As I said earlier that by reading the book, I could revive my memories pertaining to most of the personalities engaged in the process who have been mentioned already in the preceding narration but still some more; Vimal Chandra, Piara Ram Dhanowali, Lahori Ram Balley, Prabhati Ram, RC Paul, Chaudhary Sunder Singh, Dr. Surinder Ajnat, Gindha brothers, Yoga Ram, Sucha Ram Bagha of Glasgow whom I met during my tenure as Consul General of India in Edinburgh

Yoga Ram with other friends at Glasgow (Scotland)

(Scotland). In fact, I vividly recall once Yoga Ram, a close relation of Sulekh Sahib, telling me that when I go to India, I must meet his uncle, K.C. Sulekh, a legendary figure and a son of the soil. The author after his retirement from government service in 1985 engaged himself in various community activities such as Ambedkar Mission Society, Ambedkar Bhawan Trust, Samta Sainik Dal, Bhartiya Soshit Samaj, Paigam among others with a view to carry forward the caravan of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Sulekh Sahib has been proactive in taking on some of the ‘mischief makers’ for Babasaheb and his mission. He wrote in the Ujala “Khuda Ganje Ko Nakhun Na De” to expose the then Minister Yashwant Rai, replied to Arun Shourie’s infamous book ‘Worshipping False Gods” on Babasaheb Ambedkar in articles “Mischievous and Preposterous” and ‘Shourie Benakab”, issued a pamphlet “Why Ambedkar Embraced Buddhism and Not Sikhism” to set the matter in perspective, replied to IAS Karam Singh Raju’s various assertions on Guru Ravidass, Maharishi Valmik, Sikh Gurus and Babasaheb Ambedkar in an article ‘Whither our Writers”, replied to Balbir Madhopuri’s  book on Babu Manguram Mugowalia in which he allegedly tried to create a new narrative about Dr. Ambedkar by writing a book “Ad-dharam, Mangu Ram Aur Dr. Ambedkar – Sach Kya Hai”. From these details one can easily make out that Sulekh Sahib always remained ‘ill at ease’ with self-appointed and self-seekers pretending to be the ‘flag bearers’ of Ambedkar and his Mission and exposed them in a pamphlet “Dalit Samaj Aur Uske Marg-darshak Lekhak” with reference to author’s friend and Chief Editor of the Bheem Patrika (author did not specify the name of his friend but one can easily make out) and quoted an Urdu couplet “Kya Kia Khizar Ne Sikander Se; Ab Kise Rehnuma Kare Koi”. In the concluding chapters, Sulekh Sahib recommends the ‘Budh Marg” as the only potent way to establish an equal and egalitarian society for peace and harmony all around and quotes Allma Iqbal, “Ashkara Usne Kya Jo Zindgi Ka Raj Tha; Hind Ko Lekin Khiyali Falsfe Pe Naaz Tha” The Last Chapter “Yeh Bhi Janna Zaroori Hai” is a must read which gives the crux of author’s thoughts on Ambedkar and his legacy.

With Chief Editor Prem Chumber aand Ram Lal Dass

It would not be fair to conclude this without referring to Prof Ronki Ram’s scholarly introduction of the auto-biographical narration of K.C. Sulekh and also the indulgence of Prem Chumber of the
Ambedkar Times and the Desh Doaba of California of USA for publishing the book of Sulekh Sahib for making it reach the wider audiences which has been duly acknowledged by the author.

With this, I wish K.C. Sulekh Sahib many more years of life for the advantage and benefit of the Ambedkarites and the society at large.