Buddhist Voice Issue No. 8 by Buddhist Voice

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Content Editor‘s Voice

Columns

World‟s First International Buddhist E-Magazine From The Land of Buddha April 2020

Issue - 8

Chief Editor Dr Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad Editorial Committee Dr. Bhadant Khemdhammo Dr. Bhikkhu M Satyapal Ms. Anita Bharati Dr. Goldy George Vidya Bhushan Rawat Manas Jena Pushpa Achanta Advisor Dr. Prakash H Karmadkar Technical Advisor Vijay Nag Layout Design & Presentation Kamlesh Wahane Proof Reading Ms. Mitali Gaikwad Public Relations Praful Dhepe Circulation & Distribution Babasaheb Satpute Nitin Awachar Address for Correspondence

Buddhist Voice

D-307, Shanti Shopping Centre Opp. Railway Station, Mira Road (East) District Thane, Maharashtra State, India, Pin 401107 Contact +91-9821141819 Email : indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

For Private Circulation only.

www.buddhistvoice.com

Critical Quest

Dr Goldy George

Conscience Speaks

Vivek Sakpal

Articles – Buddhism Buddhism Paved Way For Democracy and Socialistic Pattern of Society Why Anagarika Dharmapala is important to the Indian Buddhists Articles - Social Issues Relevance of Dr. Ambedkar Today Dr. Ambedkar and Nationalism Dr. Ambedkar‘s Vision Lokayat Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as Management Guru Tributes M C Raj Rajni Tilak T N Urkude Jemini Kadu Eleanor Zelliot Dr Gangdhar Pantwane Sadanand Fulzele Prof. Avinash Dolas Raja Dhale Suhas Sonawane News

Dr B R Ambedkar

Chanaka Bandarage

Dr Girish P Jakhotiya

Irfan Engineer Vidya Bhushan Rawat Vidya Bhushan Rawat Dr Prakash H Karmadkar

41 46 50 54 58 61 66 74 77 78 79 80 81 85

Second Dalit Literature Festival at Delhi Burnaby proclaims April 14 as Dr Ambedkar Day of Equality Global Buddhist Congregation at Aurangabad

Indo-Thai Festival in Mumbai

Buddhism is India‘s Greatest Gift to the World Congressional Resolution Introduced to Celebrate Birth Anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar Awards Dr Ambedkar International Award Samaj Seva Award Excellence Award for Medical Service Matoshree Bhimai Ambedkar Award The Hindu Literary Prize in non-fiction Book Reviews Rise and Role of Marginalised Communities in Indian Freedom Struggle Contesting Marginalisation Caste Matters Ambedkar Gandhi and Patel Corporate Buddha Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and 21st Century Acknowledgments of Marathi Books Readers Voice

89 90

96 98 99 99 100 101 103 106 108 109 110 111 112 116

The views & opinions expressed by authors are their individual opinions & do not represent the views of the Editorial Team. ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Editor’s Voice Greetings on the 129th Birth Anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and on 183rd Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule! The entire team at Buddhist Voice pays homage to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule on this occasion.

The whole world is passing through an unprecedented situation and there appears to be a pause taken by the world from routine activities. In India, the whole country is under lockdown from 24th March 2020 and at present, the lockdown is announced up to 3rd May 2020. Some of the major States like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh are having a higher spread of the COVID-19. Metros like Mumbai and Delhi are having the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases. The majority of the population in the world has not experienced a world war-like situation since World War-II, (from 1 Sep 1939 – 2 Sep 1945) and a period of 75 years has passed since then. However, looking at the situation, there is no doubt that almost the whole world is suffering from the effect of Corona Virus.

Presently, there are 18.45 Lakhs1 confirmed cases and total deaths are 1.17 Lakhs (as on 14th April 2020). The Corona Virus pandemic is set to rob the global economy by more than $5 trillion of growth over the next two years, greater than the annual output of Japan2. As a part of lockdown, most of the countries have announced social distancing and physical distancing. It appears that the Corona Virus is more dangerous than a nuclear war. The world perhaps was predicting a nuclear war, but not many have anticipated biological attacks on human beings of such a magnitude. Without a bullet being fired, more than one lakh people are already dead in the world. What will be the final figure is only a wild imagination. Social distancing is not a new concept for India. Derived from Chatur Varna System, the Social Distancing and Physical Distancing is a part of historical injustice done to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (known as Dalits) in the country. Some of the Hindu Religious Books (Shatras) are insisting on observing the Chatur Varna System which is at the basis of Social Distancing the Dominant section of the Indian society observes it in the form of Untouchability. The origin of the hierarchical Hindu Social Order can be 1

WHO (2020), ―Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Situation Report – 85‖. Accessed from https://www.who.int/docs/defaultsource/coronaviruse/situationreports/20200414-sitrep-85-covid19.pdf?sfvrsn=7b8629bb_4

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) (2020), "World Economy Faces $5 Trillion Hit", Accessed from https://www.garp.org/#!/riskintelligence/all/all/a1Z1W000005C8RXUA0?ut m_content=April_9_2020&utm_source=audience &utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynews &utm_term=article1

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

traced to Rig Veda.3 It is considered to be one of the oldest Hindu Dharma Texts written in 1500 BCE. The Tenth Chapter, 90th Stanza, Verse Number 11 and 12, known as Purusk Sukta, in Rig Veda explains the Chatur Varna System and how four Varna were born. The Chatur Varna System was again confirmed by Bhagavat Gita wherein Krishna in Sloka No. 13, Chapter 4, says that the fourfold Varna System has been created by Krishna (the God) himself according to the differentiation of Guna and Karma.4 Bhagavat Gita was written between 400 BCE and 200 CE. The Hindu Law Book, ‗Manu Smirti‘, also stipulates the observance of Chatur Varna System. The Chhandogya Upanishad5, Part V, Chapter 10, Sloka 7, also mentions about the hierarchy of the Varna System. The writers of these Dharma books have projected that Chatur Varna System was devised by God. They have created the image in the minds of the people in such a way, under the name of God, that everybody accepts the Chatur Varna System without any resistance. This conspiracy, in the name of God, by the dominant section of the society helped them to maintain their dominance and superior position in the Hindu Social Order for thousands of years.6 In support

of Chatur Varna System some of the scholars of these Dharma Texts argue that system was developed to divide the work based on once physical and mental ability and it was not based on the birth. Historically, the Chatur Varna system has further divided society into caste. Caste is the brutal reality of India‘s social and political life even in 2020. As a conventional religious norm, caste doesn‘t allow formal equality between human beings; instead, it regulates familial and civil relations in permanently segregated and hierarchical compartments. The pride and social status of each caste is designated not through talent, professional skill or economic mobility, but is fixed at birth7. After the announcement of the lockdown, the more privileged groups in Indian society have quickly established a greater social distance between themselves and others around them. It simply required a widening of existing hierarchical power structures in society, which are often based on class and caste8. Even before the lockdown, one of the earliest measures adopted by Indian elites was to ban entry of part-time hired domestic help into their residential complexes. Even in a non-crisis situation, the poorer sections in India have limited access to the basic means of survival and are at a much higher health risk, often living in densely populated slums in urban India

Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896), "The Hymns of the Rigveda (Translated)" Page 469 Hymn [10-090] HYMN XC. Purusa, 2nd edition, Kotagiri (Nilgiri). Accessed from http://www.sanskritweb.net/rigveda/griffith.pdf

Sri Swami Sivananda (2000), "Bhagavad Gita", Page 59, A Divine Life Society Publication, The Divine Life Society, P. O. Shivanandanagar—249 192, Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, Himalayas, India. Accessed from http://www.dlshq.org/download/bgita.pdf

Harish S. Wankhede (April 2020), The Wire, "While Celebrating Ambedkar as a 'National Hero', We Must Not Forget His Central Thesis" Accessed from https://thewire.in/caste/ambedkar-jayantiuntouchability

Swami Nikhilananda, ―Chhandogya Upanishad (Translated)‖. Accessed from http://www.consciouslivingfoundation.org/eboo ks/13/CLF-chhandogya_upanishad.pdf

B. T. Gopalakrishna (2013), ―Chatur Varna – Unified Theory of Hindu Caste‖, B T Gopalakrishna- Lulu Author, Bangalore 560072.

Priyasha Kaul (2020), Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ambedkar University Delhi, The Conversation (2020), " India‘s stark inequalities make social distancing much easier for some than others". Accessed from https://theconversation.com/indias-starkinequalities-make-social-distancing-mucheasier-for-some-than-others-134864

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

or areas in rural India which are segregated by caste. Sadanand Menon made a remark that a new global untouchability is on its way to getting institutionalised, taking its basic template from an over 2,000 years old Indian model. Manusmriti might yet become the revered treatise on the body and social hygiene, on the pretext of the necessity to exercise epidemiological prudence9.

This being the background, entire India is now experiencing what is social distancing and hopefully, those who were imposing it prior to 1950 must have understood the pain of social distancing or untouchability by now. Though untouchability has been abolished by law since 1950 in India, the caste system is still prevailing and discrimination based on the caste being experienced by the Dalits till the date.

Prof. Kancha Ilaiah suggests that we must use the term ‗Disease Distancing‘ and not ‗Social Distancing‘ because India has been a country of Social Untouchability and Caste Distancing for millennia10. If this goes into the national psyche, it will make Untouchability and casteism worse in the future. India is not like Europe, America and China. This is a country of the millennial practice of social distancing.

Caste discrimination and untouchability are illegal in India but unfortunately, the practices still exist. As per one of the recent reports, a man in Corona Virus precautionary quarantine was booked by the police after a First Information Report (FIR) was file against him last week for allegedly refusing to eat food cooked by a Dalit. Instead, he went home, breaking the quarantine protocol12.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Greatest Social Freedom Fighter of India, has played a pivotal role in diagnosing the ills of caste society. He struggled all his life to liberate Dalits from social discrimination, economic alienation and political exclusion. He was a great champion of modernity and hoped that the upcoming industrial development, democratic institutions and republican values would form the superstructures on which the liberation of untouchables will be assured11. 9

Sadanand Menon( 2020), Asiavillenews, "Reverse Swing: The new global untouchability virus" https://www.asiavillenews.com/article/reverseswing-the-new-global-untouchability-virus35447

Prof. Kancha Ilaiah (2020), Sabrang, " Disease distancing, not social distancing during Covid19". Accessed from https://sabrangindia.in/article/diseasedistancing-not-social-distancing-during-covid-19

Harish S. Wankhede (April 2020), The Wire, "While Celebrating Ambedkar as a 'National Hero', We Must Not Forget His Central Thesis"

As per the UN report, about 400 million13 people working in the informal economy in India are likely to fall deeper into poverty due to the Corona Virus crisis which is having ―catastrophic consequences‖, and is expected to wipe out 195 million full-time jobs or 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of this year. It is not only an attack on the health of the people but also an economical attack on the people. Accessed from https://thewire.in/caste/ambedkar-jayantiuntouchability 12

Gulf News Asia India (April 2020), "Coronavirus: Indian man in precautionary quarantine refused to eat food prepared by a Dalit, booked by police". Accessed from https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/coronav irus-indian-man-in-precautionary-quarantinerefused-to-eat-food-prepared-by-a-dalit-bookedby-police-1.1586859626981

The Hindu (8-04-2020), "Coronavirus | About 400 million workers in India may sink into poverty: UN report", Accessed from online source at https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/abo ut-400-million-workers-in-india-may-sink-intopoverty-un-report/article31286609.ece

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

The International Labour Organization (ILO) in its report describes Corona Virus Pandemic as “the worst global crisis since World War II”. In India, about 90% of the workforce is working in the unorganised or informal economy. The majority of the casual labours in informal work are daily wage earners and also majorly belonging to the Dalits, Adivasis or Muslims. The Dalits and Adivasis form the major part of poor people mainly because of historical reasons as they were untouchables prior to 1950 and had no right to accumulate any material wealth. Most of the land, prior to the British Raj period, was with the dominant section of the society. Millions of people, about 25% of India's population of 1.30 billion people, are grouped under the Scheduled Castes (Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) in India. Adivasis are indigenous Indians who have been socially and economically marginalized for centuries14. Both groups have long endured social isolation, but it's feared that the rapid spread of the Corona Virus and measures to stop it have worsened their segregation. Jobs that Dalits and Adivasis have been forced to take up for centuries - cleaners, manual scavengers and waste pickers - expose them to a greater risk of catching the virus. Of the estimated 395 million intra-state migrant workers in India, 62 million are estimated to be Dalits and 31 million Adivasis. Such workers had moved to cities from their homes precisely on account of caste violence, atrocities, poverty or loss of ownership over forests and land. Post-COVID-19, they have been left again at their mercy of violence 14

Priyali Sur, CNN (2020), "Under India's caste system, Dalits are considered untouchable. The coronavirus is intensifying that slur". Accessed from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/15/asia/indi a-coronavirus-lower-castes-hnk-intl/index.html

and exploitation15. During the pandemic, their jobs are considered essential services by the government. If they get sick, there is no social safety net available to them to ensure that they don't fall even deeper into poverty. The total lack of empathy of the middle class towards migrant workers is seated in their place in the labour hierarchy16, which is right at the bottom, with them engaged in low-paying jobs as masons, helpers or cleaners; the women who work at construction sites or as labours in farms, or as domestic help. This becomes a matter of great concern. While commenting on social policies world-over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated very aptly that after the coronavirus outbreak the world cannot afford to take social cohesion for granted, underscoring the need for countries to calibrate their social policies to reduce inequality, protect vulnerable sections, and promote fairness in access to opportunities17. What Will India Pandemic?

Socially

Post-

Corona Virus has proved to everyone in the world that no one can help you in case of a Virus attack by nature on Human beings. Every superstition, faith in God, Murti Pooja or idol worshiping is of no help. No Baba, Maharaj, Guru, 15

Suraj Yengde (2020), Indian Express 5th April 2020, "―Dalitality: The caste factor in social distancing‖. Accessed from https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/colu mns/dalitality-the-caste-factor-in-socialdistancing-coronavirus-6347623/

ibid

The Economics Times (2020), "Post COVID-19 world simply cannot take social cohesion for granted, says IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva". Accessed from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/int ernational/world-news/post-covid-19-worldsimply-cannot-take-social-cohesion-for-grantedsays-imf-md/articleshow/75255962.cms

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Father, Monk, Sadhu, Bapu or Priest can come to your rescue. They have no supernatural powers. Some of them pretend to have such power to extract money from people. The concept of God has been created and used to exploit the people by the dominant people who are using it wisely everywhere. Under the pretext of God, the Dalits are being exploited. Most of the festivals are considered to be an opportunity by a section of the society to make money in the name of imposed religious activites. Today, due to lockdown, the temples and shrines are closed-down. Money wasted on religious acitivies has stopped. Dr. Ambedkar was very right in giving 22 Vows18 to his followers. It resulted in huge savings for his followers under the name of Dharma at each festival. Today all intelligent and rational thinkers in India are coming to the conclusion that India needs more hospitals and not more temples. Perhaps people‘s outlook towards spirituality will undergo a complete change. Now while fighting the virus, Indians should show more social solidarity and empathy for oppressed castes and groups. Disease distancing is a short-time measure. But if we push into every person‘s psyche that social distancing should be as systemically practiced as caste-driven human untouchability, then India will never be able to develop and successfully fight future virus wars. In this situation, where we are struggling to fight climate change, we do not know what kind of viruses will attack us in the future. Religious dogmas do not save us in such scenarios, but science will definitely come to our rescue every time19. 18

22 Vows, Jaibheem.com. Accessed from http://www.jaibheem.com/22%20Vows.htm

Prof. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (2020), The Print "Practice disease distancing — how India can use corona crisis to kill its caste virus", Accessed

The Author of ―Caste Matters‖, Suraj Yengade, said that COVID-19 reaffirmed India‘s Caste, Class Inequalities20. He further says that, in India people do not have the habit of saying thank you to someone who has done a service for them especially if the person belongs to ‗lower jobs‘. It has to change if India wants to progress towards being a powerful nation. Today two-thirds of people in India live in poverty21 i.e. about 68.80% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have income less than $1.25 per day. The women and children, the weakest members of Indian society, suffer most. India is a highly contradictory country. It has enjoyed growth rates close to 10% over many years and today it is one of the largest economies in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 2800 Billion US Dollars22 in 2019. But only a small percentage of the Indian population has benefited from this impressive economic boom so far, as the majority of people in India are still living in abject poverty. If this has to change, India may have to modify its economic model from Capitalist Country to Socio-Capitalism. Social Capitalism is classic capitalism with a focus on improved social outcomes or at least economic social from https://theprint.in/opinion/practicedisease-distancing-india-corona-crisis-kill-castevirus/394162/ 20

Padmaja Venkataraman, News18.com (April 14, 2020), "Covid-19 Reaffirmed India‘s Caste, Class Inequalities", Accessed from https://www.news18.com/news/india/coronavir us-reaffirmed-indias-caste-class-inequalitiesauthor-suraj-yengde-on-inclusion-amid-apandemic-2577035.html

SOS Children‘s Villages, Canada (2020), "POVERTY IN INDIA: FACTS AND FIGURES ON THE DAILY STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL", Accessed from https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/pove rty-in-india-602

Trading Economics (2020), "India GDP". Accessed from https://tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

responsibility by the Government. One can consider this as egalitarian economic practices that aim to ameliorate the social problems caused by capitalism, primarily inequity23. It is considered that 23

Tristan Claridge (2017), Social Capital Research and Training, "Social Capitalism, Capitalism, and Social Capital". Accessed from

Social Capitalism is the third economic model which combines the humanisation of capitalism, democratic capitalism, and social democracy. This would describe a practical mid-way point between Capitalism and Socialism. https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/socialcapitalism/

Our Tribute

Mrs. Leela Prakash Kakade 1st June 1959 – 17th May 2017

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Columns

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Critical Quest

Dr. Ambedkar’s 100 years of Journalism -

Dr Goldy M George

Indians today are governed by two different ideologies. Their political ideal set in the preamble of the Constitution affirms a life of liberty, equality and fraternity. Their social ideal embodied in their religion denies them. - Dr B R Ambedkar Exactly 100 years ago Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar launched his first newspaper named Mooknayak on 31 January 1920. Once Dr. Ambedkar entered into the world of newspapers as a journalist in 1920, it continued over the period of the next 36 years with some breaks in between. Mooknayak ceased publication in April 1923 due to a financial crisis and a dispute between Dr. Ambedkar and Mr. Gholap.

Closure of Mooknayak didn‘t prevent Dr. Ambedkar from pursuing his journalistic fervour. He went on to establish three more newspapers –Bahishkrut Bharat (1927-1929), Samta which was later renamed as Janata (1928-56), and Prabuddha Bharat (1956). Both Bahishkrut Bharat and Janata were fortnightly, while Prabuddha Bharat was a weekly.

Through journalism, Dr. Ambedkar stood up to uphold the basics of humanist

principles based on Justice, Equality, Liberty, Justice and Fraternity. These principles need a close study to understand the ideological battle he fought through his journalistic pursuit not just against the Brahminical republic that existed but also in carrying forward these principles to a logical conclusion. In India the caste system as an order came into existence by abhorrently subverting two critical components of human life. The first is the material component while the second is the ideological-cultural-spiritual one. Before the advent of Varnashram Dharma, the material base had a strong principle of egalitarian among the communities. This egalitarian base was toppled by the caste system due to which four key shifts happened. These are (a)systematically taking away the control over property (the entire resource base); (b)operationalised division of labour and labourers, (c) income distribution and (d) surplus appropriation. The second part is a combination of three things. Indigenous groups across the world and more specifically in India hold their spirituality very high, which is an expression of their cultural way of life. In a more philosophical format, this cultural life is the ideology that they hold and follow. In the ideological-culturalspiritual part the geo-centric culture, history, ideology and spirituality was replaced with an alien one consisting of slavery, subjugation, dehumanisation, forcing the indigenous communities to accept that their indigenous culture is

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

substandard and they should follow the doctrines of Hindu codes. Thus the indigenous masses became subjects of inhuman oppression. Their birth in any particular jati (caste) destined and determined as the social space and status. Therefore, everything was centred on ‗birth‘. Thus, the indigenous communities were culturally, ideologically and spiritually forced to apply all energy and efforts on the revival of their ‗birth‘ from the present lower caste background to a higher ladder. This elevation of status – as per the ‗Shastras‘ – was only possible through tireless service of the upper caste lords in the present birth thereby avoiding the traumas in the next birth (George, 2011). This order was not merely an ideological construct but an economic and political structure too. It articulated and encapsulated an entire system of production that later existed over centuries with only minor alterations within its confines. The economic and political realities of inequalities were justified, defined and glorified through divine religious pronouncements based on the purity-pollution divide. Traditionally, ritualistic compulsion and coercive oppression ensured their compliance in providing virtually free labour for the dominant upper caste landowners. The fact that they had been denied right over land or territory only compounded the matter by making them completely dependent upon their caste owners, who had complete control over knowledge, power, production and livelihood (George, 2011). These two historical components have been continued throughout the history of the Indian psyche that has come down to the present along with its venomous fangs, mechanism, operations, strategies and coalition with similar forces.

Historically, this has led and will continue to lead the society to a state of social oppression, political exploitation, economic deprivation, cultural domination, gender discrimination, class isolation, and deliberate exclusion. Therefore, as responsible citizens and human being, one is bound to work towards the creation of a casteless, classless, patriarchy-free, just and peaceful society, beyond the strings of caste, class, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. is indeed the first step towards just, egalitarian, and harmonious society. Such a process would not just be the struggle of one‘s individual identity, rather it is the struggle for the complete liberation of mankind. A society of equals, neither unequal nor more-equals!

This is where today it is a historical compulsion that we go back to Dr. Ambedkar‘s battle against Brahminism. In the current historical juncture, Ambedkar and his ideology have an indefatigable and unmalleable prominence, particularly for those who come from the oppressed, suppressed, marginalised and exploited humanities of the world. While involving with the current problems and reflecting back on Ambedkar‘s times, it is essential to address the present context in its complexities and crises that has and is crippling India and what adverse impact it has on people at the lowest rung. How Dr. Ambedkar responded to some of these aspects during his own time through journalism. Without this it would be strategically problematic to discuss or debate the relevance of Dr. Ambedkar‘s journalism and writing, it challenges, how did he cope up with the situation, identified friends and foes, and what strategies did he adopt.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Ideological confrontation with Caste and Hindutva An ideological upsurge of caste consolidation and strengthening of Hindutva has got a definite periodicity and it could be easily figured out from the nineteenth century. It arouses as a system to put a brake on the increasing reforms within the Hindu religion of advocating freedom to women like the abolition of Sati, child marriage, opening the arena of education to women and to certain extend abolition of restriction in education to untouchables. Until now the world had only known of the debate between Dr. Ambedkar and Gandhi on the questions of caste, Hinduism, untouchability and related matters. However, the phase that Dr. Ambedkar lived and responded was not limited to Gandhi‘s contradictory affection for Varna and ashram, rather it was a much stronger upsurge of Hindutva as an ideology that has never been there in the history. It is to be noted that there are clear differences with both the usages such as Hindutva and Brahmanism. While Brahmanism refers to the religious views and ideology of Hinduism historically promoted by the priestly class of Brahmins in India, Hindutva (meaning Hinduness) is one step ahead of where it is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism – an ideology that seeks the establishment of Hindu nationalism over others through cultural homogenization and hegemony of those in the higher ladder of social order. The ideological formulation in the Indian context could be seen much before the advent of Dr. Ambedkar in three different phases − first is the sowing of seeds, second the consolidation of ideological ―Hindutva‖ and third is the delving and devising of programmatic part of it. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay sowed

the seed of communalism first in that era with his novel ‗Anand Math‘. This novel is popularly known as the foundational text of Indian Nationalism, which in fact was Hindu Nationalism. Yet! Hindutva was not established as a political ideology neither in theory nor in practice until the early 20th century. Mr. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar carried strings from Bankim Chandra. The interpretation that India is the land of the Hindus is the underlying assumption of the Hindu religious texts was first instigated in the writings of Savarkar. Hindutva became an ideology through his writings when his book viz. ―Hindutva‖ had come into the public in 1924. V D Savarkar, writing in the 1920s, stated that an Indian could be only that person who could claim that the land of his fathers, pitribhumi, and the land of his religion, punyabhumi, both lie within the territorial boundaries of British India. Furthermore, there had to be a commitment to a common Indian culture, inevitably defined by Hindutva. Thapar (2004) criticizes it ―these qualifications automatically led to Muslims and Christians, being regarded as foreigners. Subsequently, Communists were added to this list! Issues of race and language that dominated contemporary European fascist movements were introduced as further qualifiers. And, as we know, in periods of confusing change, the preference is for a theory that simplifies the social world into ëusí and ëthemí.‖ It is with this intention that the Hindu Mahasabha was also formed. Further, Savarkar was the inspiration behind the formation of Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh (RSS). Dr. Hedgewar, an Andhra Brahmin settled in Maharashtra, a disciple of Balkrishna Shivram Moonje and a close friend of Savarkar,

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

established the RSS in 1925 in Nagpur. Hedgewar was sent to Kolkata by Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies and also to become a member of Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar in Bengal. He became a part of the inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti to which very few had access. In 1915 after returning to Nagpur he joined the Indian National Congress and engaged in antiBritish activities through the Kranti Dal. He was also a member of the Hindu Mahasabha until 1929 (Ramaswami, 2003).

Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, etc., by not insisting upon belief in the sanctity of the Vedas as an element in the qualifications. Such is the scheme of Mr. Savarkar and the Hindu Maha Sabha. As must have been noticed, the scheme has some disturbing features. One is the categorical assertion that the Hindus are a nation by themselves. This, of course, means that the Muslims are a separate nation by themselves. That this is his view, Mr. Savarkar does not leave to be inferred. He insists upon it in no uncertain terms and with the most absolute emphasis he is capable of” (Ambedkar, 1990A: 141-42). Dr. Ambedkar strongly dismissed any scope of India being converted into a Hindustan or land of Hindutva. He says:

Discussions in the form of Question-Answer Session the held at Ambedkar Bhavan, Mumbai on 1st February 2020 where Bhimrao Ambedkar, J V Pawar, Arjun Dhangle and other participated on the occation of 100 years of Mooknayak.

In his book Pakistan or the Partition of India, Ambedkar lambasted Savarkar in strong words saying he (Savarkar) wants his Swaraj to bear the stamp of being a Hindu Raj. Savarkar wanted that India should have the appellation of Hindustan, which was rejected by Dr. Ambedkar. Babasaheb went on to say: ‗This definition of the term Hindu has been framed with great care and caution. It is designed to serve two purposes which Mr. Savarkar has in view. First, to exclude from it Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews by prescribing the recognition of India as a Holy Land as a qualification for being a Hindu. Secondly, to include

―If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for this country. No matter what the Hindus say, Hinduism is a menace to liberty, equality, and fraternity. On that account, it is incompatible with democracy. Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost‖ (Ambedkar, 1990A: 358). He found clear parallels between the Hindu Raj of Savarkar and Ramraj of Gandhi. In his book and had strongly criticized both being the by-product of Brahminical Hindutva. He strongly advocated for an alliance of all nonBrahminical forces, which included depressed classes, non-Brahmins and Muslims. ―Once this consummation, which we so devoutly wish, takes place nothing can stand in the way of a party realignment, of the Congress and the Maha Sabha breaking up and of Hindus and Musalmans forming mixed political parties based on an agreed programme of social and economic regeneration, and thereby avoid the danger of both Hindu Raj or Muslim Raj becoming a fact. Nor

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

should the formation of a mixed party of Hindus and Muslims be difficult in India. There are many lower orders in the Hindu society whose economic, political and social needs are the same as those of the majority of the Muslims and they would be far more ready to make a common cause with the Muslims for achieving common ends than they would with the high caste of Hindus who have denied and deprived them of ordinary human rights for centuries. To pursue such a course cannot be called an adventure. The path along that line is a well-trodden path. Is it not a fact that under the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms in most Provinces, if not in all, the Muslims, the Non-Brahmins and the Depressed Classes united together and worked the reforms as members of one team from 1920 to 1937?‖ (Ambedkar, 1990A: 359). One could also understand why Ambedkar wanted to prevent the formation of a Hindu Rashtra. Through his critical thinking and writings, he proved that Hindu Rashtra is not just a Hindutva paraphrase but it stands on the clearly irrational and unethical edifice. He takes a case of anyone from other religion would wish to covert what would happen to him or her. ―Hinduism perforce ceased to be a missionary religion after the time when the Hindu society developed its system of castes. For, caste is incompatible with a conversion. To be able to convert a stranger to its religion, it is not enough for a community to offer its creed. It must be in a position to admit the convert to its social life and to absorb and assimilate him among its kindred. It is not possible for the Hindu society to satisfy this prerequisite of effective conversion. There is nothing to prevent a Hindu, with a missionary zeal, to proceed

to convert an alien to the Hindu faith. But before he converts the alien, he is bound to be confronted with the question: What is to be the caste of the convert? According to the Hindus, for a person to belong to a caste he must be born in it. A convert is not born in a caste, therefore he belongs to no caste. This is also an important question. More than political or religious, man is a social animal. He may not have, need not have, religion; he may not have, need not have, politics. He must have society; he cannot do without society. For a Hindu to be without caste is to be without society. Where there is no society for the convert, how can there be any conversion? So long as Hindu society is fragmented in autonomous and autogenic castes, Hindu religion cannot be a missionary religion‖ (Ambedkar, 1990A: 130). Dr. Ambedkar was well aware of the dangers of disintegration under the pretext of the independence movement and the upsurge of Hindutva. He considered both as a big threat to the anti-caste movement that would further fragment the growing unity between the untouchables, backward classes and religious minorities and the scope for a better India. As he said Hindu society being moulded in the cast of the Chaturvarna, wealth has, from very ancient times, been most unevenly distributed. It is only the Baniya who is the heir to wealth and property among the Hindus. Dr. Ambedkar was of the firm opinion that Hindutva was nothing but a ploy by upper-caste Hindus to maintain control over society and its resources, while caste was the operation mechanics. He wrote: ―They have a trait of character which often leads the Hindus to disaster. This trait is formed by their acquisitive instinct and aversion to share with

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

others the good things of life. They have a monopoly of education and wealth, and with wealth and education, they have captured the State. To keep this monopoly to themselves has been the ambition and goal of their life. Charged with this selfish idea of class domination, they take every move to exclude the lower classes of Hindus from wealth, education and power. This attitude of keeping education, wealth and power as a close preserve for themselves and refusing to share it, which the high caste Hindus have developed in their relationship with the lower classes of Hindus, is sought to be extended by them to the Muslims. They want to exclude the Muslims from place and power, as they have done to the lower class Hindus. This trait of the high caste Hindus is the key to the understanding of their politics‖ (Ambedkar, 1990A: 123). Ideological Journalism Hindutva’s Brahminism

Against

In the journalistic world, Ambedkar has been one of the most complicated persons, ever in the history of India and perhaps the world, in terms of critically bringing in his ideological perspective in journalism. In all his journalistic endeavours, he at one end proposed a broader principle for the liberation of humankind from various forms of slavery particularly the caste while at the other end as a pragmatist. Dr. Ambedkar worked hard on building a practical formula for its materialisation. For him, journalism itself was a huge struggle and part of his mission to emancipate India from all clutches of bondage. The life long struggle of Ambedkar for justice is to be understood in relation with his struggle towards equality and liberation, which could be understood in his expression that no forms of human slavery and discrimination could be justified under

any code – such as social, religious, cultural, economic or political. His journalistic efforts were not just to write his mind and propagate his political ideology, but it was one of the most sincere endeavour to liberate the Indian media itself from the clutches of casteism and Hindutva politics. The ideology of casteism along with the institution of caste attains absoluteness in the fulfilment of Hindutva. That is why Golwalkar, who succeeded Hedgewar as the chief of RSS, praised Manu as the greatest lawgiver. Dr. Ambedkar led the burning of the same lawgiver‘s law-book Manusmruti on 25 December 1927 in Mahad. Irrespective of all the pressure from the Brahminical sectors, it was only due to Dr. Ambedkar‘s effort that independent India was framed into a secular-democratic India. This new India though constitutionally rejected the ideology it was kept alive through the ideological indoctrination in multiple ways and forms. In all his journalistic writings Ambedkar categorically and critically decoded all forms of discrimination and disparity based on any of these codes. He primarily started with the so-called ancient scriptures on the foundation that these texts emphasized Brahmanical hegemony as the governing force of human interaction and exchange in a hierarchical order. Secondarily, he went on the challenging his contemporary proponents of casteism and Hindutva. Such decoding exercise led to a new awakening among the untouchable masses, who in turn had strongly opposed many political moves by the upper caste sections. This awakening he notes in the editorial of the first issues of Mooknayak: “The untouchable communities have also realized that now the upper caste Hindus

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

taking advantage of their easy access to the British Government in India misrepresent the case of the untouchables to the Government. The untouchable communities have demanded that since casteism and caste hatred prevail in this country in the highest degree in practice, for the realization of genuine Swarajya (self-rule) the untouchables must have a share in country‟s political power through their independently (separately) chosen representatives. Therefore, the untouchables have complained to the Government over the stand taken by the upper caste Hindus who in their stand have opposed the demand made by the untouchable communities. The untouchable have now understood the tactics of caste Hindus who by gaining political power, it is likely, would use that power to perpetuate the social inequality. This agitation of the untouchables against the design of the caste Hindus is a sign of growing awakening among the untouchables.” (RTI, 2015). His conclusion on Hindutva Brahminism was not just based on certain superficial propositions rather it was based on a concrete study of the Hindu texts, literature and scriptures. He establishes the fact that the Hindu scriptures were not only developed to control the dormant social groups – particularly the Shudras and untouchables – but at large to construct the notion of ‗being worthless‘ in their minds. This worthlessness has entered into every sphere of life to the extent that one has stopped thinking of anything other than what the Shastras propound. Dr. Ambedkar scientifically broke down this spiritually impermeable spell of scriptures through his crystal clear thoughts and principles. Thus he dispels the historical perspective of citizenship based on Brahminism and the documents that upheld it. He writes:

“Right or wrong these Shastras have made an enormous impact on the minds of the innocent masses. That the masses are worshipping their enemies as gods on earth, who will accept this? It is easy to understand why the masses have clung to the harmful slavish religious practices worshipping their enemies as their benefactors. The Brahmins, thinking that if the masses are kept ignorant they can be driven out to any directions, have kept the knowledge confined to them alone making it their sole monopoly, and the masses thinking that this is their own real religion are following it. There are enough examples of Brahmins during their rule punishing those non-brahmins who in spite of the Brahmins' warning that acquiring the scriptural knowledge is not their profession, tried to acquire that knowledge either openly or secretly. The stigma of untouchability has restricted their freedom of profession and therefore, their efforts to remove their poverty are not fructifying. In professions like trade and commerce, they are very rarely found. As they can find no place to try for their fortune they are constrained to remain as manual labourers. Seeing these untouchables, nay the out-castes, who are living in wretched conditions, the 33 Crores of gods but again these are Hindu gods, at least Allah many be taking pity of them” (RTI, 2015). Thus his ideas and principles of human emancipation laid the foundation stone of the development of a new social, economic and political structure of India that culminated in the encapsulation of the Indian Constitution. Ambedkar invoked the notion of self-respect against the clouds of slavery and oppression. This we could find from the Mahad Satyagrah that it was not just a fight to access water; rather it was a means to

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

establish the human rights of Dalits. Similarly, the Kalaram Temple entry movement in Nasik was not based on faith in the Hindu religion and its philosophy rather it was an attempt to establish one‘s right to enter the temple as a human. Most of Dr Ambedkar‘s valuable works are published in the form of research articles and books are found both in India and abroad specifically in the countries and universities where he studied – particularly in England and the United States of America. As a journalist, he wrote his mind in journals like Mooknayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, Samata, Janata, and Prabudha Bharat, which challenged all parameters of caste-based Hindutva journalistic ethics.

Dr. Ambedkar‘s fight against untouchability was only one of the many symbols he fought against to expose the inequality inherent in the caste system which he called ―graded inequality‖ in its right perceptive manner (Ambedkar, 1989: 101-2). In Untouchable or the Children of India‘s Ghetto, he contrasts it with other varieties of inequality, which were not so difficult to abolish or correct (Jaffrelot, 2009: 1). Dr. Ambedkar‘s fight against the caste system was at large an epistemological and methodological way in order to help the untouchables acquire an alternative identity to regain their self-respect and overcome their divisions. In his book The Untouchables, who were they and why they became Untouchables? Dr. Ambedkar (1990B) critically examines the existing theories of untouchability

based on racial difference and occupational origin. He completely refutes these theories of the hierarchy of caste. His interpretation is strikingly complicated. He explains that all primitive societies have been one day or the other conquered by invaders who raised themselves above the native tribes. In breaking up, these tribes as a matter of rule gave birth to a peripheral group that he calls the Broken Men (Jaffrelot, 2009: 2). Therefore, beyond the question of invasion in its literal sense, the continued legitimisation of invasion led to the construct of the permanent institution of domination leading to perpetual slavery. Against this backdrop, Dr. Ambedkar brings in a new identity based on a different argument with a revolutionary transformation in the entire setting. This in particular for the oppressed untouchables and other downtrodden engaged with the paramount question of upward mobility through affirmative action has turned out to be the key to the transformation. Thus Babasaheb‘s ideological journalism could be understood only in a process. He is already metamorphosed into a symbol – a symbol for expressing the collective aspiration, an icon of human emancipation and a vision of a new India and world. He played a major role in reforming the vertical hierarchical Brahminical social order and establishing humanitarian social order based on the principles of equality, liberty and fraternity. References Ambedkar, B. R. (1979). Caste in India. In Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol. 1. Bombay: Government of Maharashtra. Ambedkar, B. R. (1989). Untouchables or The Children of India‘s Ghetto. In Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol. 5. Bombay: Government of Maharashtra.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Ambedkar, B. R. (1990A). Pakistan or The Partition of India. In Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol. 8. Bombay: Government of Maharashtra. Ambedkar, B. R. (1990B). The Untouchables: Who were they and why they became Untouchable? In Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol. 7. Bombay: Government George, G.M. (2011). Caste Discrimination and Dalit Rights over Natural Resources. Theme Paper of the National Convention on caste Discrimination and Dalit Rights over Natural Resources organised by Dalit Mukti Morcha on 17-18 September 2011 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Retrieved on January 5, 2020, from https://www.countercurrents.org/goldy310811.pdf George, G.M. (2019). The turning point in Ambedkar‘s quest for emancipation. Forward Press, December 25. Retrieved on January 5, 2020, from https://www.forwardpress.in/2019/12/the-turningpoint-in-ambedkars-quest-for-emancipation/ Jaffrelot, C. (2009). Dr. Ambedkar‘s Strategies against Untouchability and the Caste System. Working Paper Series, Vol. III, No. 04. New Delhi: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. Kadam, K. N. (1991). Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. Keer, D. (1954). Dr. Ambedkar Life and Mission. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan.

Ramaswami, S. (2003). Hedgewar and RSS – Revising History in the light of BJP Perception. The Statesman, 26 June. Round Table India [RTI] (2015). From the Pages of Mooknayak. 14 April. Retrieved on 10 January 2020 from https://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=8158:from-the-pages-ofmook-nayak&catid=116&Itemid=128 Sarkar, B. (2013). Dr. B.R. Ambedkar‘s theory of State Socialism.International Research Journal of Social Sciences.Vol. 2(8), 38-41. Sharma, K. (1992). Ambedkar Constitution.Ashish Publishing: New Delhi.

Indian

Thaper, R. (2004). The Future of the Indian Past. Seventh D. T. Lakdawala Memorial Lecture delivered at FICCI Auditorium, New Delhi on 21 February 2004. organised by the Institute of Social Sciences. Zelliot, E. (2004). Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Untouchable Movement. New Delhi: Blumoon Books, 2004. This article is being published with consent from Dr. Goldy M George. Earlier it was published on Countercurrent. Link https://countercurrents.org/2020/01/ambedkarsideological-journalism-in-a-brahminical-republic-100years-of-ambedkars-journalism

Sampatrao Shamrao Bankar Baba A Ambedkarite and Staunch Buddhist ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Tribute

Yadavrao Sadaram Gaikwad 3rd September 1934 – 15th April, 1993

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Conscience Speaks To Eat or Not To Eat…. -

Vivek Sakpal

Logic and reasoning are relative to a person‘s beliefs and views, especially when ideology is translated into blind rituals and later it gets overshadowed, forgotten in the light of the ritual and then the whole architecture behind the ideology becomes virtually non-existent.

compassion, between all living creatures, not just humans but also animals and all surroundings of the person. Buddhists speak of compassion mainly.

The same is the case in the consumption of meat or flesh or in simple Indian dietary terms called Non-Veg.

Different sects of Buddhism have their own practice and enforced their logic on eating Non-Veg. For instance, the Theravada countries of South East Asia, monks are obliged by the Vinaya to accept almost any food that is offered to them, including meat unless they suspect the meat was slaughtered specifically for them In Tibet, where vegetables have been historically very scared, its question of survival, so consumption of Non-Veg is vital to survive, though they promote adoption of vegetarianism. Buddha allowed the monks to choose their diet. However, there are some meats which are specifically prohibited for monks to eat: human meat, for obvious reasons; meat from elephant, dog, snakes, lions, tigers, panthers, bears, leopard, slug flesh and hyenas25. Buddha did not prohibit any kind of meat-eating for his lay followers.

The first precept of Buddhism (Panatipata Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami) speaks of ―I undertake the precept to abstain / refrain from harming / killing / destroying living creatures24. Quite self-explanatory but contradictory when it comes to ―Eating‖. I won't kill but what about eating the killed. What about it is killed by someone for me to eat. A series of contradictions arise in the mind which find answers to satisfy one's will. The will to eat or not to eat shows the path to the answers and its logic. Ahimsa in its simplistic meaning means ―not to injure/kill‖ and also to a deeper extent ―the absence of the desire to injure/kill‖ It is usually used in reference to Animals. It is one of the representative symbols for Brahmanism, (not Hinduism). It has been promoted and forcefully associated with adjective ―Pure‖, thereby sublimating the thought of a Vegetarian (Brahmin) is Pure, and the rest as impure. Surprisingly, the idea of Ahimsa doesn‘t speak of ―Desire to be being gentle, being compassionate‖ Ahimsa in its strict religious meaning is devoid of any compassion. Buddhism speaks more of 24

The Five Precepts (The Pancha Shila) Accessed From Online Source At Http://Www.Jaibheem.Com/B-Page-41.Htm.

A religion based on pure rational hence leave it open to its followers to choose to eat or not to eat ―Non-Veg‖

Today, many Indian converted Buddhist, refrain and also discourage the consumption of certain meat items, namely beef and pork. They are comfortable with the idea of consumption of chicken, meat and fish. It can be a matter of personal choice, but they, at times sound as if they are discriminating against the people who consume these 25 Ajahn Brahmavamso, "What The Buddha Said About Eating Meat", Accessed From Online Source At Https://Www.Urbandharma.Org/Udharma3/ Meat.Html.

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

items, which is not a rational Buddhist outlook. They are just trying to be ―Hindu‖. Some even go to the extent of competing with the Brahmins on being a strict vegetarian. Buddha has kept it to the logic and choice of the person to eat, as to what to eat. He was well aware that food habits are mainly geographical and not religious. They are sometimes forced by society but people will surely make a way to break such rules. The imposition of any restriction is the curtailment of freedom to choose. Restrictions may not always be direct but are also in the form of discrimination and segregation. Religions should not play a role in food habits. Buddhism has done, in principle, the right way to leave it to the person who eats. But the missionaries of Buddhism, and other religions too, fail to understand this and go on promoting and imposing their views on such personal subjects. Globally, scarcity of land shall be a major issue soon, technology has helped yield rise but nutrition is questionable. Also, the rise of the so-called ―Organic Farming‖ though a good sign is more of a class matter than need. Masses have limited access to organic foods, whereas the elite can afford them cost-wise. A report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that eating insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution26. It says Insect farming is one of the many ways to address food and feed security. Reports say that ―It is widely accepted that by 2050 the world will host 9 billion people. To 26

Arnold van Huis, Joost Van Itterbeeck, Harmke Klunder, Esther Mertens, Afton Halloran, Giulia Muir and Paul Vantomme (2013), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Report (2013), " Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security", Accessed from online source at http://www.fao.org/3/i3253e/i3253e.pdf

accommodate this number, current food production will need to almost double. The land is scarce and expanding the area devoted to farming is rarely a viable or sustainable option. Oceans are overfished and climate change and related water shortages could have profound implications for food production. To meet the food and nutrition challenges of today – there are nearly 1 billion chronically hungry people worldwide – and tomorrow, what we eat and how we produce it needs to be reevaluated. Inefficiencies need to be rectified and food waste reduced. We need to find new ways of growing food‖. Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Now the question arises, to be religious or survive the times that shall come. All religions when placed in their times are right. Their doctrines towards consumption and non-consumption of specific food items can be justified. But they were centuries ago. Today with rapidly changing times, they also need to be revisited and adapted to the current scenario. On being adamant as to what the books were written/spoken a thousand years ago, being right, would be half correct. When one visits their logic and reasoning, and keeps it intact rather than the actions one may adept with times, which is need of the hour. Some of the political parties play their game on certain food items and are condemnable. They deconstruct history and religion to suit their needs. But, one will eat to suit their own needs of nutrition and health, and not eat for

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

religion or missionaries, or for political affiliations. One should choose their own choice of food, irrespective of religion, so as to be healthy, but be compassionate to all, both humans and animals. Humans are

social but they are also animals. Lifecycle continues and the world tends to equilibrium, no matter how much we distort it. ▲▲▲

Note to Contributors We welcome your research articles / essays / intimation for the events / news / book reviews / photos / cartoons / paintings relevant to our subject matter related to Buddhism and Buddhist people in the world. Contributors are requested to send their articles / essays in word format. The publishers reserve the right to publish the article within six months from the receipt of your articles / essays etc. Writers are requested to provide full details for correspondence and postal address, day-time phone numbers and email address. Our email address for correspondence is indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com. All the material published in this e-magazine will be posted on http://www.buddhistvoice.com and will form the part of archives for future reference. We encourage you to send original research material with list of references used for preparation of the material for publication. We prefer the articles / essays / news within 2000 words. Discussions and Letters We encourage you to comment on the articles published in Buddhist Voice. Your comments / letters should be restricted to 500 words. If found suitable, we will publish your comments / letters in our next issue of e-magazine.

Our Tribute

Vijit Indrajit Thorat 1st

June 1983 – 29th February 2020 Young Ambedkarite who left us too early ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Buddhism

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Buddhism Paved Way For Democracy and Socialistic Pattern of Society -

The conference of the world fellowship of Buddhists was held in Ceylon from 25th May to 6th June 1950. Dr. B R Ambedkar attended the conference. Addressing an international gathering at Colombo, on June 6th, 1950, Dr. Ambedkar Said, ―Most people who have studied raise and fall of Buddhism in India would admit that this subject had not been adequately dealt with as it should have been. I have not been able to find any authentic material explaining why Buddhism rose to the height it achieved and why it disappeared in India. To know a subject thoroughly, one must know its relevant traditions exactly and precisely. Similarly, the significance of Buddhism would not be understood unless exact circumstances which gave birth to it are understood. I disagree with the view that Hinduism has all along been the religion of India. Hinduism is the latest development of social thought in India.

The religion of India has undergone three changes. Vedic religion which was practiced first gave way, in course of time, to Brahmanism and this in term to

Dr B R Ambedkar

Hinduism. It was during Brahminic period that Buddhism was born. This was because Buddhism opposed inequality, authority and division of society into various classes which Brahminism had introduced in India. It is easy to practise the Vedic religion. In it performance of yagya (yajnas) is the main puja. The Vedic Aryans used to worship innumerable Gods. They used to please them by performing yagyas. The puja to be performed for these Gods should necessarily be sacred and superb. In those Agrarian times, cows were the chief wealth of the Aryans. Therefore, they used to sacrifice cows to honour their deities. In this way, Vedic Dharma encouraged violence. Brahmins succeeded in organising the society only by adopting Vedic yagyas. The Brahmins also divided the society into four sections (Varnas) – Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The division of society into four varnas (Castes) created great inequalities. They said that the Brahmins were born of the Brahma‟s mouth and Shudras from his feet. Can anybody believe that the basic principle of any religion could be to divide the society? Yet, this is what Brahminism has perpetuated. On the other hand, equality is the main feature of Buddhism. The religion of the Buddha gives freedom of thought and freedom of self- development to all. To abjure violence is another essential teaching of Buddhism. It has never taught to achieve salvation by sacrificing animals or any living being to propitiate Gods. I would say that the rise of Buddhism in India was as significant as the French Revolution. Prior to advent of Buddhism, it was impossible to even think that a Shudra would get throne. History of India revels that after the

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

emergence of Buddhism, Shudras are seen getting thrones. Verily, Buddhism paved way for establishment of democracy and socialistic pattern of society in India. It is perplexing problem how Buddhism, which had acquired a highest place, disappeared from India. There is very little material to tell us about the conditions of Buddhism upto 274 B.C. It is, however, seen that Buddhism was at its climax of popularity in the reign of Asoka. How such a great and popular religion lost ground in India is a painful phenomena. Buddhism appears to have met strong opposition in 185 B.C. when the last Mauryan King was assassinated by his Chief Commander. This was one of the lawful actions of Brahmins to save their religion. But it is a pity that the historians have not given sufficient importance to this incident. While going through the Buddhist literature, I find that 90% followers of the Buddha were Brahmins. Brahmins used to come to the Buddha for discussion and argumentation, and when defeated, used to become faithful to the Buddha and ultimately accepted Buddhism. The Buddhist literature is full of such incidents. Therefore, how is it that Buddhism that had flourished amongst the majority of Brahmins was later on destroyed by the Brahmins themselves. In my opinion the main reason for this was the family deity‘s (kula deva) worship. In India, like the village deity and national deity, there were family deities also who were worshipped through the Brahmins. The priests who used to go for worshipping these deities started influencing the affairs of the State through the queens. Asoka, after embracing Buddhism discontinued this practice and removed the idols of such deities. Asoka said ―As I venerate the

Buddha, the Enlightened One, there is no need to worship any other deity.‖ The action of Asoka disturbed the Brahmins very much as it ended their unfair means of livelihood and exploitation. They pledged to take revenge for this loss. The Brahmins were of the view that after death, kings go to hell because of their errors and omissions. Therefore, they did not agree to the rulers but preferred to be Chief Advisers to the Kings. In order to take revenge for the loss they suffered on account of stoppage of Kulapuja (family deity‘s worship), Brahmins gave up the approved motto of being advisers only and tried to grab power. With the help of their well-wisher Kshatriyas, they also organised an united Brahmin-Kshatriya axis against Buddhism. The ascendency of Brahmanism again in Indian society, is one of the reasons for the downfall of Buddhism. The foreign invasions are also responsible for the decline of Buddhism in India. The Greeks did no harms to Buddhism. There are positive proofs available that the Greeks gave liberal financial assistance for Buddhist activities. The Huns invaded India, and after being defeated by the Guptas, they settled in India. Prior to this, the Huns tried to destroy Buddhism. The religion of Buddha got the severest blow from Muslim invasion. They destroyed the Buddhist Idols and killed the Bhikkus. They mistook the Great Nalanda University as the fort of Buddhist and killed a large number of monks thinking that they were soldiers. The few Bhikkus who escaped an onslaught fled away to the neighbouring countries like Nepal, Tibet, and China.

Some of my Hindu friends often ask why Hinduism, which has also idol-worship, survived in India and Buddhism died. My answer is that whatsoever the religion may be, it requires the priest community ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 25

to preserve it. Due to the shortage of Buddhist monks, Buddhism declined. Efforts were subsequently made by some Buddhists to raise another priest-hood in order to revive Buddhism but their efforts failed. Such is not case with Hinduism. A Brahmin‘s son is priest by birth. Therefore, no separate priest community is required to protect their religion. This is why Hinduism survived Muslim onslaught. Moreover, Buddhism as a religion is difficult to practise while Hinduism is not. Besides, the political climate in India had also been inhospitable to its advancement. I do not agree with the suggestion made by many people in India that Buddhism was destroyed by the dialectics of Shankaracharya. This is contrary to the facts as Buddhism existed for many centuries after his death. In my opinion, Shankaracharya himself was a Buddhist. His Guru too was Buddhist. Of course, Buddhism declined in India because of the rise of Vaishnavism and Savism, the two cults which adopted and absorbed many good points of Buddhism. Today, Hinduism is in a very much changed form. Hinduism which taught and practised violence earlier has started teaching non-violence. This has been copied from Buddhism. Buddhism may have disappeared, in material form but

as a spiritual force it still exists in India.‖27 Reproduced from: “Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches”, Volume 17, Part 3, Page 406 to Page 409. Titled “Buddhism Paved Way for Democracy and Socialistic Pattern of Society” ▲▲▲

Bauddha Dharam hi Manav Dharam (Hindi) – Speech in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 6-6-1950. 27

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

An Appeal This E-Magazine is for free distribution. You are encouraged to forward it to all your Friends, aquenteances, whatsapp groups and known people in the world. There is no commercial interest by the editorial team. However, still we have some office expesnes to meet. If you wish to support this publication kindly send your donations. You can send Cheque or use netbanking to transfer money to our account. The account details are as follows : Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad. SB Account No. 09580110008486 IFSC: KKBK0001379 / MICR No. : 400485092 Kotak Mahendra Bank, Sheth Gokuldas Tejpal Charities, 164, D N Road Fort, Mumbai – 400001, Maharashtra State, India

Our Tribute

Prof. Sudhakar Arjun Pawar 1939-2016 A True Ambedkarite and Our Writer

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Why Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) is important to the Indian Buddhists - Chanaka Bandarage Sri Lanka is a country where its base (foundation) is Sinhala Buddhist. The nation was founded soon after the demise of Lord Buddha (2498 years ago), where Vijaya, a Prince from northern India (Sinhapura Village in Wanga Land of Lara Nation, located in the present-day northern Bengal) landed in Sri Lanka (Thambapanni). Anagarika Dharmapala spoke largely for the Sinhalese Buddhists and also. But, like Gandhi, Dharmapala too fought fiercely against the British imperialists. Thus, he fought for all Sri Lankans.

Sinhalese are able to trace a lineage to Lord Buddha. In his writings, Anagarika Dharmapala stressed that his fellow countrymen (Sinhalese) should work hard like the ethnic minorities of the country of the time (largely of Indian descent). He questioned his fellow Sinhalese that if the minority races could do so well in trade and commerce, why couldn‘t they. Anagarika Dharmapala wanted to motivate the Sinhalese to work hard and prosper just like their Muslim, Tamil, Burgher, Bhora, Sindh, and Parsi counterparts. But, Dharmapala never addressed those minority races in derogatory terms. For example, he never used the somewhat offensive adjective, ‗para‘ (bloody), to describe ethnic minorities of the country; he used the term to describe the British. True, language such as ‗para‘ is inappropriate for contemporary Sri Lanka, but, more than 100 years ago, it was one of his ways of getting through the message to the masses. And his method was effective. People accepted his counsel without a protest. Anagarika Dharmapala never used filthy language against any people. Anagarika Dharmapala was fiercely antiBritish. He vehemently opposed the unlawful British occupation in Sri Lanka.

Anagarika Dharmapala reminded his fellow Sri Lankans why India, a very close neighbour, is so important to Sri Lanka. In his writings he highlighted that Sri Lanka‘s second king, Panduvasudeva (Prince Vijaya‘s nephew), married a relative of Lord Buddha (Baddha-Kacchayana of the Buddha‘s Shakya Wangsha of Kapilavastu); the

Anagarika Dharmapala never preached that only Sinhala Buddhists should live in Sri Lanka or that other races must leave Sri Lanka. He basically wanted the Sinhalese to come out of their closets and be successful like the ethnic minorities. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, he was totally against idleness. At the same time, Anagarika Dharmapala was always a fierce protector of Sinhala, Buddhist values, culture, and traditions. As a true Buddhist, Anagarika Dharmapala launched massive campaigns against meat and liquor

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

consumption – ills that were introduced by the western imperialists (first, by the Portuguese in the 1500s). He travelled the whole island in a placards fixed car, displaying the vices of meat and alcohol consumption. Anagarika Dharmapala spoke to his fellow countrymen, sometimes in harsh language; people listened to him intently, acknowledged his views and refrained from consuming meat and alcohol. Anagarika Dharmapala also asked his fellow countrymen to refrain from killing living beings; he asked people, including children, to follow the five Buddhist precepts – the Buddha‘s preaching to the Buddhist layman. Again, people largely followed Dharmapala‘s advice. Anagarika Dharmapala asked people to change their Portuguese and English names to Sinhala names. He also advised them not to give western names to their offspring. A fine example was how he instantaneously changed the name of young Pedris Silva (then 14 years old) to Piyadasa Sirisena, who became one of Sri Lanka‘s of literary giants. Owing to Anagarika Dharmapala‘s action, hundreds and thousands of Sri Lankans started to have Sinhala names. Another very successful campaign launched by Anagarika Dharmapala was asking the Sinhalese (both men and women) to renounce western attire and wear the traditional Sinhala Buddhist dresses. When working with his mentor, Henry Steel Olcott (a US citizen), Anagarika Dharmapala assisted Olcott‘s campaign to establish many Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka (numbering about 300). This includes Ananda College, Sri Lanka‘s topmost Buddhist school for boys. A prolific writer, Anagarika Dharmapala wrote to his fellow countrymen regularly through his then very popular newspapers, ‗The Buddhist‘ (English) and ‗Sinhala Bauddhaya‘ (Sinhala). He gave good counselling to people to lead a pious and meritorious life.

children must attend Sunday Buddhist Schools (‗Daham Pasal‘) held in Buddhist Vihars throughout the country to study Buddhism, and other things like good manners (e.g. respecting elders). Parents and teachers positively responded to Anagarika Dharmapala‘s request, there was a massive revival of the Sunday ‗Daham Pasal‘ in Sri Lanka. The trend continues to this day. Anagarika Dharmapala was instrumental in translating Tripitaka from Pali to Sinhala. He entrusted this work to his own brother, a lawyer. The biggest and the most notable contribution to Buddhism by Anagarika Dharmapala was the saving of Buddhagaya for Buddhists from Hindu fundamentalists. Buddhagaya is the place where Buddha attained enlightenment. Anagarika Dharmapala restored the stupas there. This was an achievement of unprecedented proportions. This is one reason why the Buddhists in India pay so much respect to Anagarika Dharmapala. Thanks to Anagarika Dharmapala, thousands of Buddhists from all over the world visit Buddhagaya today, one of the most sacred places for the world‘s Buddhists. If not for Anagarika Dharmapala, Buddhagaya today would have become a place of Hindu worship. He initiated legal proceedings against Mahantaya who had unlawfully occupied Buddhagaya and systematically tried to convert it to a place of Hindu worship. The legal proceedings in New Delhi ran for several years and that drained Anagarika Dharmapala physically, mentally and monetarily. But, Anagarika Dharmapala never gave up. It was an alone fight by him against a very powerful cabal led by Mahantaya. But, finally, Dharmapala won.

Anagarika Dharmapala did not rest from Buddhagaya. He saved Mulagandha Kuti in Saranath for Buddhists. He built stupas there (inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1930). Mulagandha Kuti is the Being a Buddhist leader, Anagarika place where Lord Buddha made his first Dharmapala stressed that Buddhist sermon, to the five disciples. It is ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 29

situated in close proximity to Isipathanaramaya in the city of Benares (Benares Nuwara or present-day Varanasi). Dharmapala restored many important Buddhist sites in India. He built a massive temple in Calcutta (Calcutta city has been officially renamed as 'Kolkata' in January 2001) known as Dharmaraajika temple, then, pilgrims rest in major Indian cities including in Chennai and Calcutta. One of Anagarika Dharmapala‘s main ambitions was to educate Indians about Buddhism and Lord Buddha. He wanted to do this without disturbing other religions and without antagonizing nonBuddhists. Anagarika Dharmapala laid the foundation to revive Buddhism in India and Dr. Ambedkar very successfully carried forward the task. Anagarika Dharmapala was sorry to see the destruction and desecration of the ancient Buddhist places of worship in India. The Mahabodhi Society that he established worked on restoring the ancient Indian Buddhist sites. This work continues to this day. Anagarika Dharmapala achieved tremendous successes in India, wholesomely then a Hindu country, without causing any commotion. This is a remarkable achievement; in effect, a silent revolution. It is a good example to present-day politicians of both countries on how to resolve issues in a friendly and amicable manner, avoiding conflict. Especially, when people of the two close neighbourhoods are also distantly related to each other. Rather than despising him, the Indians liked Anagarika Dharmapala. Even today, there is admiration for him in India. India honoured Anagarika Dharmapala by issuing a postage stamp to commemorate his 150th Birth Anniversary in 2014. This is a very rare

thing to happen in India –issuing a postage stamp to honour a foreign national. It is stated that even today one of the main streets of Calcutta – presumably, the street where the Mahabodhi Society in Calcutta was then located, is named after Anagarika Dharmapala. It has been stated that the famous US Golfer, Tiger Woods, is an admirer of Dharmapala, he had kept a portrait of Anagarika Dharmapala in his room (Tiger‘s mother is a Buddhist from Thailand). His Holiness Dalai Lama, a resident of India, has praised the work of Anagarika Dharmapala; he has high respect for him. Anagarika Dharmapala propagated Buddhism in many parts of India and the West. He did this in a peaceful, nonviolent manner. This also shows that Anagarika Dharmapala is a man of truly international significance. The British wrongfully alleged that Anagarika Dharmapala instigated Buddhists to riot during the 1915 Sinhala-Muslim riots. There was no documented evidence to prove the charges against Anagarika Dharmapala, he was totally innocent. When the riots happened, Anagarika Dharmapala was in Calcutta, India. This alone shows his innocence. Being a good Buddhist, Anagarika Dharmapala never instigated violence against anyone. Basically, he had absolutely nothing to do with the Sinhala – Muslim riots. Yet, the British incarcerated him for a long period of time (6 years). National leaders like D S Senanayake, F R Senanayake, and several others were also incarcerated over the same incident (the Sinhala Muslim riots). William Pedris, a brave young man, was brutally executed at Welikada prison. E W Perera took a letter to the King of England (George VI) concealed in his shoe sole to obtain the release of D S Senanayake and F R Senanayake and few others. He was successful, but the British kept Anagarika Dharmapala imprisoned (under house arrest in India). Fortunately, like Pedris, they did not hang Anagarika Dharmapala, but, restrained him badly. Anagarika

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Dharmapala was in his early 50s during that time. Anagarika Dharmapala never recovered from the mental agony he suffered as a result of the unlawful imprisonment. He suffered because he did nothing wrong; it is alleged he was punished solely because of the British‘s hatred towards him. It is alleged, it was a case where the British took revenge from Anagarika Dharmapala who spoke harshly against the British rule in Sri Lanka. It is often said that there were some Sinhala leaders, loyal to the British, who worked against Anagarika Dharmapala. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Sri Lankans were subjected to harsh, imperialistic rule and their morale was low. Anagarika Dharmapala did everything to improve the self-confidence of his fellow countrymen. Anagarika Dharmapala, who came from a ‗high society family‘, possessed a pleasing personality – a dark man of almost six feet tall, Anagarika Dharmapala wore a yellow coloured Sinhala garment. His presence caught the eye of everyone. He was a great communicator. Anagarika Dharmapala spoke fluent English and his English writing skills were exceptionally good. He was well educated (an old boy of St Benedict‘s College) civil servant before starting the Buddhist propagation work. At St Benedict‘s, he had an altercation with the school hierarchy when he saw a Catholic Priest mercilessly shooting down a bird. Anagarika Dharmapala was mentored by the American Buddhist, H R Olcott. Anagarika Dharmapala watched ‗Panadura Vaadaya‘, where the Buddhist priests won the debate over their Christian counterparts (Olcott became a Buddhist owing to the outcome of this debate). Oozing with confidence, Anagarika Dharmapala was fearless; he never hesitated to fight against discrimination and injustice. He always fought for the downtrodden; he aspired equality and justice. The following incidents illustrate his fearlessness and bravery: Robert Chalmers (the then Ceylon Governor) allowed Anagarika Dharmapala to attend

his office, but, Anagarika Dharmapala was purposely kept waiting in the office for a long time – for nearly 2 hours. Anagarika Dharmapala became angry; during the meeting, he complained to Chalmers that he too was busy and that Chalmers should have stuck to the appointment. Anagarika Dharmapala remonstrated that Chalmers deliberately wasted his valuable time; he had no confidence in Chalmers. Despite Chalmers‘ request to stay, Anagarika Dharmapala left the office early without completing the meeting. This was like a slap on Chalmers‘ face, his staff witnessed what happened. Chalmers never expected that type of ‗bravery‘ from a Sinhalese; at that time the whites sometimes considered the locals as a species of sub-human. Note: When Anagarika Dharmapala was imprisoned, Chalmers was still the Governor of Ceylon. It was Governor Stubbs who released Anagarika Dharmapala. a)

In the late 1920s, Mahatma Gandhi attended the function to open the Calcutta Mahabodhi Society. In his address, Gandhi stated he understood the Greatness of Lord Buddha after reading Sir Edwin Arnold‘s ‗Light of Asia‘. Anagarika Dharmapala was the last speaker of the event (listed to give the ‗Thank You‘ address). Anagarika Dharmapala said that Lord Buddha was born closer to 2,400 years ago in India (Dambadiva), he questioned why Mahatma Gandhi had to wait to read the Englishman‘s book to realise the Greatness of Lord Buddha. Anagarika Dharmapala said that Lord Buddha was not just the Greatest person ever produced by India, he was the Greatest Person ever produced by the world. Gandhi was somewhat taken back by Anagarika Dharmapala‘s ‗rebuke‘; he nodded and smilingly listened to Anagarika Dharmapala. Gandhi was prepared to learn from his friend Dharmapala. Gandhi had a strong liking to Anagarika Dharmapala. After the speech, Rabindranath

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Tagore, a close friend of both Gandhi and Anagarika Dharmapala, congratulated Anagarika Dharmapala for his oratory skills. At that time no one would dare criticise Gandhi, who was the undisputed leader of India‘s independence struggle, but brave Dharmapala did not hesitate to say what he had to say about his friend, Gandhi, inside Gandhi‘s own India. The remarkable thing is that Anagarika Dharmapala did this without antagonizing Gandhi. Anagarika Dharmapala had great respect and admiration for Gandhi; but on that occasion, he believed he had to make the utterance. This is due to his love for Lord Buddha and Buddhism which preceded everything else for him. It is stated that Gandhi was saddened to hear the death of Anagarika Dharmapala in 1933. b)

When travelling by train in India and Sri Lanka on two separate occasions, Anagarika Dharmapala was confronted by unruly white British men (in Sri Lanka, by a white planter), who demanded that Anagarika Dharmapala leave the 1st class compartment that they were in. They could not tolerate travelling in the same compartment with Anagarika Dharmapala - a Buddhist preacher, who wore ‗strange‘ yellow robes and demanded that they stop consuming alcohol (whiskey) on the train. Anagarika Dharmapala, a brave man, did not bow down to his white opponents; he directly confronted them. Anagarika Dharmapala had a stronger personality than his white opponents, the whites ‗lost the battle‘ - they fled the compartment allowing Anagarika Dharmapala to travel freely.

Conference on Religion (Parliament of the World's Religions) in 1893 was exceptionally powerful and of a very high standard. Anagarika Dharmapala became the ‗key person‘ at the Chicago conference; most of the representatives were Christian. The thousands of delegates flocked around Anagarika Dharmapala as if he was a movie star. Anagarika Dharmapala gave a mesmerising speech to the audience about Lord Buddha and Buddhism, even Swami Vivekananda who represented the Hindu faith of India had openly embraced him. Chicago was a major watershed event in Anagarika Dharmapala‘s life. Anagarika Dharmapala supported Buddhist countries, for example, Japan at a time when most countries despised it. He was clever to collect monetary donations from Japan. He had leading Japanese business friends in Japan. When he visited Burma, sometimes he was invited to the king‘s palace where he had audiences with the Crown Prince. The Burmese Crown Prince made small financial contributions towards Anagarika Dharmapala‘s legal battles in India to save Buddhagaya. Anagarika Dharmapala had deep gratitude towards Burma for their help establishing in the Siam Nikaya in Sri Lanka. Anagarika Dharmapala maintained a good relationship with the Thai Royalty. Anagarika Dharmapala visited Shanghai in China a few times; he also visited several other Asian and European countries.

Anagarika Dharmapala had a remarkable knowledge of international affairs and world religions. Anagarika Dharmapala had a great ‗entrepreneurial mind‘ he raised hundreds and thousands of dollars for his noble tasks. Anagarika Dharmapala needed money for his many projects – the ‗Save Buddhagaya‘ project itself needed Anagarika Dharmapala was an avid lots of money – the litigation in India was traveller. Those days the voyages were protracted and lots of money was made by ship. A lot of Anagarika required for legal fees, pay compensation Dharmapala‘s time was spent on etc. As stated before, expelling the illegal travelling to various countries to promote Hindu squatter (Mahantaya) from Buddhism. His speech at the Chicago Buddhagaya, who had patronage from ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 32

the Indian state, was a herculean task; only Anagarika Dharmapala could do it and so he did. Dharmapala not only started Buddhist philanthropy projects in Sri Lanka (there were many), he also embarked on noble Buddhist projects in many countries, mainly in India, and the West – notably in the UK and US. He raised money well. It is Anagarika Dharmapala who founded the London Buddhist Vihara (Saddhatissa Centre of North London – the main Theravada Buddhist centre in the UK today). He established Buddhist presences in San Francisco, Boston and New York. Dharmapala was clever in persuading his family to financially support his Buddhist ventures. The main donor for his projects was Mary Foster Robinson, the US philanthropist. Mrs. Foster Robinson was impressed with Anagarika Dharmapala after his historic speech in Chicago. She donated many thousands of dollars for Dharmapala‘s various causes. Anagarika Dharmapala ran a large farm type project in Hiniduma in southern Sri Lanka. He established Sri Lanka‘s first handloom weaving school (Hewawitharana Weaving School). He started a Free Hospital in Colombo in memory of Mrs. Foster Robinson. Anagarika Dharmapala‘s diary notes show that though he dealt with lots of money, he spent them thriftily and very carefully. Anagarika Dharmapala was 100% honest in financial affairs. Anagarika Dharmapala valued the financial donations he received and accounted for every cent. This is why people like Mrs. Foster Robinson continued to fund him. Obviously, his opponents, who were jealous of his money-raising and contact-making ability and the enormous standing he had in the community; attacked him from left, right and centre. Above all, Anagarika Dharmapala was a Great Practising Buddhist. He tried to follow the Buddha‘s teachings to the letter. Anagarika Dharmapala dedicated his life to Lord Buddha. Buddha was in his mind and thoughts always. That is the reason why he became ‗Anagarika‘. Most devotedly, Anagarika Dharmapala tried his best to worship Buddha every

day, each of his speeches and writings were moulded with Buddha‘s teachings. Being a follower of Buddha, Dharmapala became a monk in the last stages of his life (Ven Siri Devamitta Dhammapala). He wished that he be reborn in India. This is due to his eternal love for Lord Buddha – an Indian,-and also of his affinity with Buddhagaya, the place that he rescued for the world‘s Buddhists. He also loved the Indian people. Ven Dhammapala passed away staring at the Mulagandha Kuti Stupas that he built, his fellow monks moved his bed outside of the building he was living; as it was the desire of Ven Dhammapala to view the Stupas upon his demise (when a portion of Dharmapala‘s ashes were brought to Sri Lanka (Colombo) by a specially decorated ‗Buddhist train‘ from India, hundreds and thousands of Sri Lankans lined along the railway track yelling ‗Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu‘. They threw fragrant flowers on the train. It is stated that more than 50,000 people flocked inside Colombo‘s Fort Railway Station to receive the train. There were more people outside the station. A massive Buddhist memorial service was held in Colombo where condolences were read from Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and leaders from many nations, including from the Governor of Ceylon. The biggest gratitude we Buddhists can show to Anagarika Dharmapala is to follow his footsteps and follow the five Buddhist precepts preached by Lord Buddha that Dharmapala so vehemently asked us to follow. It is our solemn duty to protect and safeguard the Buddhist sites both in Sri Lanka and outside, especially the ones in India that Anagarika Dharmapala rescued/built. We are duty-bound to preserve and protect the Anagarika Dharmapala Legacy – the Greatest Sri Lankan to live in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Sri Lanka. The co-operative and friendly relationship that exists between the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and India is very useful to achieve this noble task.

Dharmapala venerated his mother, he predeceased her.▲▲▲ ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 33

Our Tribute

Mrs. Kausalyatai Shankarrao Dhage 4th May 1949 – 20th February 2020

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

With Best Compliments from

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Social Issues

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

The Relevance of Dr. Ambedkar Today! – Dr Girish P Jakhotiya

The politicisation of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar‘s virtues and ventures has reached a new low today. Ideologically, socially, culturally and politically different parties are claiming the ownership of Dr. Ambedkar‘s legacies. Overall, it is a political race to hijack the eternal impact of Dr. Ambedkar‘s hardship and talent in preparing our ‗constitution‘. This is ironic that this great scholar lost his election twice but didn‘t dilute his virtues. He gave his legacy of ‗self-respect‘ to his followers. He expected that his followers would together work on ‗Manushya Bal, Mano Bal & Dravya Bal’ i.e. the power of people, mind and material advancement. To an extent, around 20% of his followers attained ‗material advancement‘ through various reservations. But where are the other 80%? When I look at these ―80%‖ poor fighting for their everyday bread, I reconcile to myself and reinforce my thoughts about Dr. Ambedkar‘s relevance today. A man of his stature, maturity, and vision rightly prescribed the ‗path of all-round development‘ for the Indian poor. While doing so, he thought of all Indians irrespective of their caste and creed. His relevance is felt much more today when our governments have been escaping from every possible duty to be performed for the poor. In the so-called definition of the economic model propagated by the WTO (and adopted by our politicians & bureaucrats), there is no pragmatic definition of ‗poverty‘. The statistical description of poverty will never empower the real poor in this country. During the last seven decades, the various Government minimised the relevance of public institutions, which Dr. Ambedkar thought as pillars of

democratic design. The Congress (which also was responsible for Dr. Ambedkar‘s two election defeats) never promoted the virtues of true freedom, equality, brotherhood etc. for which this great champion of ‗true liberty‘ struggled adventurously. The present Government‘s economic agenda should have been based on the capability development of the Indian poor, based on the rational definition of poverty. Only tokenism and the announcement of a few schemes will not establish the ‗equity of opportunity‘ and the ‗freedom to excel‘. Dr. Ambedkar insisted on the economics of public welfare. Such welfare would be possible if the public systems work for the poor. All ruling parties in the past have not been successful in their ‗mission public welfare‘ because they used the obsolete theories of economies that tumbled the western economies. The present government propagates the theory of ‗consumption-based economics‘ which has terribly failed in the US and Europe. Dr. Ambedkar rightly advocated the doctrine of public ownership of natural resources. This doctrine empowers the poor because he enjoys true access to natural resources. Systemic corruption must have swallowed at least 50% of our collective resources. Instead of eradicating the corruption, our politicians kept on attempting to reduce the deficit in a so-called document viz. ‗public budget‘. This deficit reduction was more of a compulsion to improve India‘s rating so that our stock markets would jump upward and the elite Indians would benefit. Political parties like the Republican, the BJP, and the Samajwadi do not possess

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

socio-economic wisdom. The communists have lost their relevance, especially in India as they never agreed to look at the ground reality. As a result, the Naxalites are openly using the vacuum to fill-up with their destructive ways to cause degeneration. Dr. Ambedkar advocated the approach of peaceful and collective progress based on the ‗Dhamma‘ prescribed by Gautam Buddha. Buddha believed in and practiced the doctrine of ‗Pradnya‘ i.e. intelligence clubbed with social care. We have many intelligent leaders seen today in the corridor of power. But where is the real ‗Pradnyawan‘? Dr. Ambedkar argued for the real, sustainable power of the ‗rupee‘. Such power ultimately would depend upon the earning power of the people at the bottom of the pyramid. India boasting of attaining the status of ‗world economic engine‘ should not be a theoretical exercise. Babasaheb, therefore, advocated the design of the collective and transparent process of wealth creation based on equity and sustainability. Babasaheb was a visionary. Therefore he insisted that agriculture should be supported by practical entrepreneurship. He advised his followers to get into the arrangement of every public institution to execute the principle of ‗public welfare‘. His philosophy was a well-balanced mix of Chhatrapati Shivaji‘s concept of power to people, Buddha‘s Pradnya and Mahatma Phule‘s doctrine of true liberty and true progress. Therefore his relevance is felt much more today.

Today‘s Indian youth, fortunately, engages him with an economic agenda. Especially in the urban areas, the relevance of the nonsense caste system is not felt so much but it is still working in the villages and small towns. Caste-less society was Dr. Ambedkar‘s dream. Hence his interpretation of the ‗Dhamma‘ was a mature collective behaviour based on the virtues of humanity. He was not against the Brahmins who believed in true equality and rational thinking. He was against the cultural, social & spiritual ‗hypocrisy‘ practiced by the socalled champions of Hinduism. Initially, he attempted to throw this dirt out but he realised that the dominant section of the society was not willing to change as giving up the dominance and accepting the equality was not acceptable to them. His adoption of Buddhism shows his generosity towards the Hindus. Dr. Ambedkar‘s relevance is to be felt on all the possible fronts today, especially when our present system of governance is inclined to work on the new designs of capitalism. capital with compassion, economics with equity, wealth with wisdom and progress with Pradnya is to be practiced today. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened to an alarming scale during the about three decades of globalisation. We, without any hesitation and limitation, need to revisit Dr. Ambedkar‘s writings and find a very useful relevance for today!

▲▲▲

“Do not dwell in the past, Do not dream of the future, Concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Buddha ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

We Can Make You A Crorepati! Contact us for Free Investment Advise & Personal Financial Planning.

Mitali Finance & Investments Contact

D-307, Shanti Shopping Centre Opp. Mira Road Station, Mira Road(East), Mumbai – 401107, India Email aygaikwad@gmail.com / Phone Nos. +91-9820141819

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Dr. Ambedkar and Nationalism -

Even those political parties that have systematically tried to undermine Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar‘s agenda – of equality, social justice, fraternity, and liberty – are, for political gains, celebrated his 125th birth anniversary. They are invoking Babasaheb only to appropriate him and enlist him as a supporter of their political objectives which he was in fact opposed to! Scholarship of the Hindu nationalists was never the best, but that it would be so abysmal is surprising to many. Or, is it that they are deliberately trying to use Babasaheb to say exactly what the Hindu nationalists want knowing well that Babasaheb was in fact opposed to the agenda of the Hindu nationalists?

Babasaheb was a liberal democrat who stood for the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity along with social justice. In his book ―Pakistan or the Partition of India‖ (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990), Babasaheb examines the issue of Partition dispassionately and rationally,

Irfan Engineer

and not from the nationalist perspective. In the said book, Babasaheb interrogates the Muslim case for Pakistan and the Hindu case against Pakistan. In the 1946 edition of the book, Babasaheb added Part V giving his views on the subject in Chapter XIII and XIV. He examines the case of Canada, South Africa, Ireland and Switzerland, analyzes the religio-racialethnic-linguistic conflicts in these countries and the ways in which they were managing these conflicts with appropriate systems and governance structures. He then arrives at the conclusion that the interests of the minorities would be better served if they do not demand a separate state but safeguards within the governance structure of the country. Note that Babasaheb is concerned with the ―interest of the minorities‖ and not the interest of the ―nation‖. In his address delivered at the Session of the All India Scheduled Castes Federation held in Bombay (as it was then called) on May 6, 1945 (Dr. Ambedkar, 1989) Babasaheb supports the principle of selfdetermination of and wrote, ―I am not against Pakistan, I believe it is founded on the principle of self-determination, which it is now too late to question. I am prepared to give them the benefit of the principle…‖. However, Babasaheb was for united India as he felt that his proposals would be accepted by the Muslims in preference to Pakistan as it would provide them with better security. A nationalist‘s position would be rejecting any proposal for partition of the country and the principle of self-determination would amount to sacrilege and an ―antinational‖ act! The mere utterance of the word ―self-determination‖ invites lynching from the Hindu nationalist mobs!

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Babasaheb‘s proposals were in brief, weightage in the representation of minorities in legislatures as well as in the executive. He writes, ―Majority rule is untenable in theory and unjustifiable in practice. A majority community may be conceded a relative majority of representation but it can never claim an absolute majority‖. Babasaheb did not want the representation of the majority community in the legislature to be so large as the enable the majority to establish its rule with the help of the small minorities. For, according to Babasaheb, the legislative majority in India was the communal majority, unlike in the U.K. where, by and large, the people followed a common religion and spoke a common language. Forget the principle of weightage, any affirmative action to ensure that minorities do not fall behind and are not discriminated would invite opprobrium and charge of ―minority appeasement‖ from the Hindu nationalists. If there is no weightage in representation and separate electorates for minorities in the Constitution of India, it is not because Babasaheb was in principle against it, but because Sardar Patel, chair of the Advisory Committee on Minorities and Fundamental Rights of the Constituent Assembly, successfully persuaded the minorities to give up the demand of separate electorates (and rightly so). Minorities that were left behind after the partition felt that they should invoke the goodwill of the majority community (Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. V (14-8-1947 to 30-8-1947), 2003, Pp 198-200). Babasaheb’s views on Nationalism and Hindu Raj: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat has claimed that Babasaheb believed in the ideology of the Sangh and had called his work as a symbol of social unity and integrity. He

also said Ambedkar wanted to adopt the saffron flag of the RSS as the national flag of India. This is far from the truth. Babasaheb was strongly opposed to the Hindu religion, untouchability and castebased hierarchies in the Hindu religion. That is why he administered vow to 5 lakh followers who converted with him from Hinduism to Buddhism in October 1956 in which they repeated along with Babasaheb that they would not have any faith in Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Rama, Krishna and that they renounced Hinduism. Babasaheb denounces not only the Muslim nationalism of Jinnah, but he also writes that the whole world was decrying against the evils of nationalism and seeking refuge in international organizations (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990, pp. 352-53). According to Babasaheb, Indians were only a people, not a nation and further opines that there was nothing to be ashamed of if they were not and would not become a nation (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990, p. 353). The RSS, on the other hand, believes that the Hindu nation is ancient and its origin went as far back as 2000 years and even more. How could Hindu Raj or Hindu Rashtra be a nation? Hindu society, according to Babasaheb, was undemocratic and that millions of Shudras and non-Brahmins and millions of untouchables were suffering the worst consequences of the undemocratic character of Hindu society (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990, p. 356). Whereas RSS wants to establish a Hindu Rashtra, Babasaheb thought it would be the greatest calamity for this country as it was a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity and it should be prevented at any cost (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990, p. 358). The lower orders in the Hindu society shared the plight of the majority of Muslims as far as social, economic and political needs were concerned and

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Babasaheb felt that they should all come together in a common cause to defend the human rights which the high caste had denied them for centuries (Dr. Ambedkar, 1990, p. 359). Lip service to Babasaheb: Pushing the undemocratic agenda of Hindu Rashtra aggressively, the ruling dispensation is still trying to appropriate Babasaheb and their strategy in doing so is to build grand monuments and claim that they had built more monuments than the Congress. Grand monuments of Babasaheb appease a section of Dalit politicians representing the aspirational neo-Dalit elite on one hand and mesmerize the oppressed, deprived and discriminated Dalit masses but cannot address their real issues. Monuments of brick and mortar cannot speak the mind of Babasaheb and cannot conscientize the Dalits to carry on the struggle for equality, social justice and dignity. The statues, busts and brick and mortar monuments blunt the conscience of Dalits and rob their icons. They build grand monuments and undermine the principle of liberty, equality, fraternity and social justice which is ingrained in the Constitution of India which Babasaheb so painstakingly drafted and then steered through the Constituent Assembly. Those who are building Grand monuments of Babasaheb are also lynching those whose views they do not approve of even in court premises under the watch of police and no action is taken against anyone. Against the principles of liberty, they are forcing certain slogans down the throat of unwilling. They are creating new hierarchies in the name of nationalism and forcing the country to accept the

privileges of neo-nationalists who during freedom were with the colonial power, and excluding others from equal citizenship creating neo-untouchables. The neo-untouchables are erstwhile unco-opted sections of Dalits, Adivasis, sections of the OBCs, minorities, women, farmers and workers of the country. Extra-judicial and extra-legal networks of violence are deployed to undermine the rule of law and spout hate speeches coupled with a liberal dose of violence against the neo-untouchables. Congress too paid only lip service to Babasaheb during their rule. Dalits were as oppressed, discriminated and faced violence in their daily lives, be it Tsundur carnage in AP, Belchi in Bihar, Bhagalpur blindings, denial of access to Dalits to drinking water wells and access to government infrastructures. Congress too co-opted a section of Dalit leaders with crumbs of welfare schemes even while discriminating against Dalits. We all the democratic-minded citizens of India will have to come together in the struggle to democratize our culture carry on Babasaheb‘s mission of defending democracy and march towards equality and social justice. References Dr. Ambedkar, B. R. (1989). Communal Deadlock and a Way to Solve it. In V. Moon, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches Vol. 1 (pp. 355-380). Bombay: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra. Dr. Ambedkar, B. R. (1990). Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches Vol. 8 Reprint of Pakistan or The Partition of India (Vol. VIII). (V. Moon, Ed.) Bombay: The Education Department, Government of Maharashtra.

If you find no one to support you on the Spiritual Path, walk alone. ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Our Tribute

Mrs. Vimaltai Chandrakant Kharat 15th May 1940- 3rd February 2017

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Dr. Ambedkar’s Vision of Secular Socialist India - Vidya Bhushan Rawat This is Dr. Ambedkar‘s era of the capitalist world in which identity matters more than ideology and in capitalist democracies, you mobilise people more on symbolic issues so that they do not rebel against the ills of these imported democracies which are hurting people more as democracy today is the legitimization of corporate greed and grabbing of the people‘s resources. Today, Dr. Ambedkar overtakes any other political leader in post-independent India who matter most for the purpose of politics if not for ideology. He has written enormously over a period of nearly 40 years of public life. In the business of politics people who are diametrically opposed to Dr. Ambedkar‘s vision of a ‗Prabudhha Bharat‘ or ‗Enlightened India‘ which we cannot accomplish without an inclusive vision with the participation of religious and linguistic minorities and socially and economically marginalized communities including their women, are trying to appropriate Ambedkar for their own purposes. Dr. Ambedkar is a liberator for millions of marginalized people all over the world. The liberation comes through his core belief in the principle of state socialism which he was instrumental in placing in the preamble of the Constitution of India and most importantly through the ‗Directive Principles of State Policies‘ as a ‗direction‘ to the state since he knew that most of the segments that he was speaking for, did not have the capacity to raise their own issues and fight for it. There is no doubt that Dr. Ambedkar was a staunch democrat and believer in freedom of individuals despite having faced obstacles and insinuations from the upper caste leadership of the different parties including those of the Communist Parties who could not fight against Brahmanical hierarchy and termed everyone fighting against caste system as casteist. Castigating the Brahmanical leadership within parties does not mean

that Dr. Ambedkar was a votary of capitalism as many of his ‗so-called‘ ‗followers‘ are trying to portray. Yes, Ambedkar went to Columbia University in the United States and later did his doctorate and post-doctorate from the London School of Economics. He felt liberated in America as none asked his caste and other details about his life, which was a routine feature in India. He could enter anywhere from libraries to hotels without being asked about his caste and antecedents. Those were the times when Dr. Ambedkar could not get a house to live in India even after becoming the Defence Adviser of the Maharaja of Baroda just because he was born an untouchable. The office assistants or peons in the college would refuse to give him water and pass on the files for the fear of getting touched. Moreover, a debate with Gandhi on the annihilation of caste further made Dr. Ambedkar aggressive when Gandhi emphasized the importance of ‗Shastras‘ and ‗birth‘ in ‗Jaati‘ terming that you cannot change your ‗Jaati‘ and must do the work according to the divinely prescribed ‗Duties‘ to the particular ‗Jaati‘. Later, he fought for the temple entry of the Dalits into Kalaram Temple at Nasik but realized that the caste Hindus were not ready to accommodate the Dalits in equal terms and then came his historical announcement to renounce Hinduism and embrace Buddhism in the year 1935. Dr. Ambedkar‘s quest for equality with dignity remained till his death but the most important part of his mission was fraternity as he felt equality without fraternity was not acceptable to him and in his numerous articles Dr. Ambedkar mentioned as to why despite his respect for Russian Revolution, he felt more close to appreciating French Revolution as Russian Revolution brought equality but not fraternity but French Revolution brought fraternity too. This is an important point made by Dr. Ambedkar

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

which is ignored by many of his ‗admirers‘ who rarely have time to go through his entire writings. We cannot ignore the important aspect of social justice, freedom, and liberty from Dr. Ambedkar‘s warning when he presented the first copy of the Constitution of newly independent India to the chairperson of the Constituent Assembly Dr. Rajendra Prasad. He said, “On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics, we will be recognizing the principle of One Man One Vote and One Vote One Value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of One Man One Value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy, which this Assembly has so laboriously built up.” The warning was important that the country must first become a social democracy to ensure that its political democracy succeeded because a failure would keep the entire democratic process in peril. How can political democracy succeed and ensure social democracy? We are an iniquitous society and it was important therefore that the modern Constitution of India succeed. It put its own on the state to do certain things. The responsibility of the Indian State was much bigger and important to bring equality and social justice to all. The Zamindari Abolition Act was meant to democratize land relations, which dominate our socio-political system. In fact, Dr. Ambedkar wanted radical land reforms in the form of ‗nationalization‘ of

land for which he appreciated highly the Chinese and Russian models of the agrarian system. Once the private property in agriculture is diminished, there will be enough land for all. Private property was the root cause of social injustice even when Dr. Ambedkar could not bring many other radical changes in the Constitution because of the pulls and pressure of the diverse sections of society. He wanted the government to strengthen the public sector and initiate welfare measures, as he knew that without the state‘s interventions the vast majority of marginalized would never be able to progress. In fact so much was his faith in the political state that he felt that the failure of state intervention would endanger the lives of millions of the Dalits who were victims of the caste system and untouchability, which were still prevalent in the society despite a progressive Constitution. ‗State and Minorities‘ was a memorandum on behalf of All India Scheduled Caste Federation, to Constituent Assembly in 1946 talked about equality and abolishing privileges based on birth, region, hierarchy and all the citizens of the country should be treated equally. Today, it is important to understand Dr. Ambedkar and why the State owns an important part in the lives of the Dalits and other marginalized in our society. Without fulfilling our constitutional promises, the power elite of the country wants that Indian state abdicates its responsibility as a welfare state and embrace the ‗capitalist‘ system. Thousands of young boys and girls from Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis have come up in the ladder and succeeded in their life through positive affirmative action programmes. After the Mandal Revolution in India in the 1990s, the OBC students also succeeded and the power equations have changed now as Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis have understood the value of their vote and have consistently demanded their share in power. Of course, the Indian state has been highly prejudicious and stereotypical against Muslims who did not get any state

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

protection as a citizen of the country. Muslims and Christians have backwards and Dalits in their communities and they need equal protection by the state. After the Mandal Revolution in 1990, the forces detrimental to the Dalit Bahujan communities unleashed the economic liberalization, which actually meant to defeat the socialist agenda as defined by the Constitution of India drafted by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Socialism became a dirty word and all that was ‗inefficient‘ and ‗corrupted‘ was linked to socialism termed as ‗license permit raj‘. Actually, liberalization under Narsimha Rao was a carefully crafted policy of the Dominant Caste Hindus who were desperate to foil the state socialism, which provided space and opportunities to the most marginalized sections of society and acceptance of Mandal Commission Report became the death knell for their mischiefs. So capitalism in India came through a wrap of anti-Muslim sentiments carefully developed by the Hindutva‘s gangs. In the post-1990s, on the one side Dalits and OBCs were asserting for their share in the power structure and on the other side, India‘s ruling classes actually ensured that their process in the power structure is stopped through the vicious privatization process. The reservation was threatened, natural resources were being made private, Adivasis were losing their access to forest and water and crony capitalism was being promoted. Soon, the

state was being advised to withdraw from the health and education sector and land reforms were being considered as problem points. Farmers lost their fertile land and were virtually made landless. A few people gained maximum but a majority of them lost their access to jobs, natural resources and livelihood. As the country is standing against the crony corporate, they are misusing Dr. Ambedkar's name today and dividing Dalits and Bahujans for their narrow political goals. Dr. Ambedkar is being portrayed as a ‗free-market economist‘ and a Hindutva ideologue. The sad side was that at another level Ambedkar and Lohia have been placed under diametrically opposed camps for political purposes despite known factors that one of the biggest tragedies of Indian political life is the failure of Ambedkar, Lohia, Periyar and other like-minded people coming together. Lohia actually made all efforts to bring Dr. Ambedkar to his political view and felt that Dr. Ambedkar should not be just the leader of untouchables alone but of all the Indians. It is important to understand that all those who worked for an inclusive India from Nehru to Lohia, Ambedkar to Bhagat Singh, Acharya Narendra Dev to M N Roy... socialism was their faith and if the ruling classes of today are deviating from its path, they are not just betraying the historical legacy of India‘s freedom movement but also playing fraud to our Constitution.▲▲▲

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. ● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Lokayat: A platform for freewheeling conversation and a modest sincere effort to document untold history - Vidya Bhushan Rawat protected Ambedkarism in the purest way.

Lokayat is an ancient Indian philosophy based on materialism and the freethinking traditions of India. Like Buddhism and other humanist philosophies, Lokayat also revolved around human beings and scientific thinking. Unfortunately, all the materialists‘ philosophies of India were subjugated by the irrational hierarchical based Varnashram dharma. At the moment we are witnessing the worst forms of Brahmanical domination in India where history is being distorted and facts are being suppressed. It is also important to understand that independent India‘s biggest dissent in political life was that of Dr. Ambedkar. After the Mahaparinirvana of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, his supporters and followers tried to keep the legacy in various forms. Many of them contributed through their writings and preserving Baba Saheb‘s legacy. The foremost among them were Advocate Bhagwan Das, and Mr. L R Balley, Editor, Bhim Patrika, who spread the message of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar all over the country. There were people like Mr. N G Uke, who was selected by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar for a scholarship abroad. At different levels, these people

The cultural movement initiated by Dr. Baba Saheb in the form of reinventing Buddhism in India became the biggest rallying point of Ambedkarites all over the country. It gave a new identity to the hitherto socially excluded communities. We see the massive gatherings of Ambedkarite Buddhists on Dhammchakrapravartan Diwas in Nagpur. Unfortunately, such huge events remain unreported by and large or confined to the local page of the newspapers. For years, Ambedkarites have been bringing out books and magazines, engaged in socio-cultural movements but they remained invisible. After the 1990s, we saw new a breed of Ambedkarites rising mostly with the upsurge of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). But unfortunately, very few of them were aware of the historical struggle of the Ambedkarite movement in India. It was therefore important that we should at least try to preserve this heritage. We read a number of them but there was a huge number of things which, in my opinion, remained untouched. Now, there are so many parties that swear by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar‘s name. There are Republican Party of India (RPIs) and BSPs which were technically parties devoted to Ambedkarite thoughts but now even the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) want to speak about Dr. Ambedkar and Buddha. The danger is that they have already started their work at the ground level. The entrants to the Ambedkarite movement are growing widely but at the same point of time, they face the threat of distortions and appropriation of Dr.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Many Ambedkarites have written about it in the past but now the threat is much bigger and dangerous. Therefore it was important to preserve and protect the historical Ambedkarite legacy and listen to those warriors of the Ambedakarite movement who have kept the flag high. I was fond of speaking to Adv. Bhagwan Das and Mr. N G Uke. The most important part was that I would listen to Mr. Bhagwan Das and his narratives. He had so many things to share. One day I felt, we all know Mr. Bhagwan Das through his books but there are many issues he never had an opportunity or situation to speak or write on and future generations may remain unaware of such issues or his thoughts. Therefore, I decided to record that conversation. I felt it was some time in 2004. But what happened afterward was the difficulty of getting it edited. The tapes were lying with me. Afterward, I interviewed Mr. N G Uke. Next was Dr. R M Pal who was one of my mentors in the Human Rights Movement. Some of the conversations, I could transcribe and got them published. I had been engaged in film making voluntarily. As a social activist with a firm belief in Ambedkarism, I felt that it was important for me to document human rights violations as well as success stories but I did not have anyone to cooperate. Lack of finances resulted in my inability to get the tapes edited. Bhagwan Das Ji, Uke Saheb and Dr. R M Pal passed away but I am happy to share that we have uploaded rare videos and interviews with them at the Lokayat, our YouTube Channel.

and Dr. Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad when we met in Mumbai during the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations. My aim was to record conversations with those Ambedkarites who had seen or worked with Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar so that their legacies are recorded. I had already recorded conversations with Mr. V T Rajsekhar, Editor, Dalit Voice; Mr. L R Balley, Editor, Bhim Patrika and others but we felt it was important to speak to some of the Ambedkarites based in Maharastra. We made all the efforts and thanks to both the friends in Mumbai, we were able to speak to Mr. Sadanand Fulzale who passed away recently, and was deputy mayor of Nagpur when the Deekshabhumi celebrations were organized in 1956, Mr. Bhalchandra Rajaram Lokhande, an eminent Ambedkarite, Bhadant Nagarjun Surai Sasai, Dr. Rupa Kulkarni Bodhi, Gautamiputra Kamble, Mr. Raja Dhale, Mr. J V Pawar, Mr. Suhas Sonawane and Mr. Vijay Surwade who were an important part of the Ambedkarite Buddhist movement in Maharashtra and some of them were close associates of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar as well as Mai Saheb Ambedkar. The series that we had done was tremendous as many other interviews will be uploaded and the netizens will get to know understanding of diversity various movements in general and Ambedkarite movement in particular.

It is not that the conversations are confined to one or two states but they are crossing the borders too. We had interviewed Comrade Tilak Parihar, the The 2014 elections were a watershed in prominent member of the Central our history. We realized that media was Committee of the Nepalese Community not only distorting facts but shying away Party. One of the most marginalized from discussing the important issues. I communities in Nepal belonged to Badi vouched for the idea of having a youtube and Gopal Nepali belongs to that who channel with my friends Vivek Sakpal shared the pains of his community. He is ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 51

the first one from the community in pursuing M. Phil. from the Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. You can also listen to a very interesting conversation with Sunita Dom, again belonging to one of the most marginalized Dom community in Nepal but a Central committee member of the Naya Nepal party of the former Prime Minister, Baburam Bhattarai.

We have a huge list of interviews. Many of them are also textual which I have done online from different parts of the world. We feel that these conversations will give us an understanding of the complex issues that we face today and how we can fight our battle for human rights and dignity. The lives of these people are very inspiring.

It was not easy to interview people. Many of them had known me over the years so they had no problem, but for many, it was difficult to convince them to speak from their heart. Yet, most of the conversations are not only from the heart but also thought-provoking. There are interviews with Dr. Ram Puniyani, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Prof, Shamsul Islam, Lok Sahir Sambhaji Bhagat, Mr. Chandra Singh, former IAS officer from Uttarakhand. These interviews give you a glimpse of thoughts and various emerging ideas to understand the current communal challenge before us. We have also uploaded films that I have made during my 25 years of work with various communities like Mushahars and Swachchkars i.e. communities engaged

in manual scavenging. An important film that I uploaded is Ayodhya or Saket: The politics of Ram Temple.

Lokayat is a very modest effort not just by me but a group of friends who are doing this work purely on a voluntary basis. We used our own official visits to various cities to meet people. Most of the time when Vivek Sakpal is not with me, I had to take help from various individuals and sometimes just fix the camera on tripod and record videos on automatic mode. Many times, people complained of quality or audio failure but it happens to all such kinds of things in the missionary works.

Our request to all the friends is that they should watch the channel, subscribe to it and encourage it. At least those of my friends who are young and are able to edit it without any funds and resources. We need to acknowledge it. We will be publishing the contents of all the interviews and many others in book form in the coming days as we feel it is our duty to preserve the oral history of our movement which can also give new ideas to young minds to fight against castecommunal dominant forces who are dictating terms to us. We believe that Ambedkarism is the idea of the 21st century whose time has now come and it is important to spread the idea, initiate discussions and strengthen the movement. URL for Lokayat YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR jJnj1CEvtLdx7AcCim6Pw

▲▲▲

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Tribute

Mrs. Indubai Ratanrao Dandge (Anavikar)

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as Management Guru -Human Resources - Dr. Prakash H. Karmadkar Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had earned doctorates in economics from both Columbia University and the London School of Economics and gained a reputation as a scholar for his research in law, economics and political science. He has contributed to the process of creating Modern India during his lifetime. He was the chief architect of the Constitution of India. Unlike other leaders, Dr. Ambedkar was involved in governing from 1942 to 1946 as a member of Viceroy‘s Executive Council. Soon after 1857 Mutiny, the British Parliament had passed the ―The Government of India Act, 1858‖ resulting in the transfer of power of the East India Company to the British Crown which was empowered to appoint a Viceroy and Governor-General of India to head the government in India. The advisory council of the Governor-General was based in the capital Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) and consisted of four members, three of which were appointed by the Secretary of State for India and one by the Sovereign. The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It was also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consisting of five members heading revenue, military, law, finance and home by the Indian Councils Act, 1861, giving recognition to the portfolio system introduced by Lord Canning in 1859. In 1874, a sixth member was added to be in charge of public works. The Viceroy was allowed, under the provisions of the Act, to overrule the council on affairs if he deemed it necessary. The Indian Councils Act, 1909, empowered the Governor-General to nominate one Indian member to the Executive Council leading to the appointment of Satyendra Prasanna Sinha as the first Indian member. The

Government of India Act, 1919, increased the number of Indians in the council to three. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had a clear understanding of what to work on and he was more focused on social freedom from the ill practice of the social order in India. Therefore, Dr. Ambedkar did not show any inclination to take an active part in the freedom movement28. Considering this as an important aspect by the British Government besides educational qualification, he was appointed to the Executive Council of the Governor-General of India on 9th July, 1942 as Labour Member. He held the post till July 1946. He was the first untouchable to reach that position. It was nothing short of a do or die situation for Casteists. Probably one of the provocations for doing or dying declaration. He accepted the post of Labour Member of the Viceroy‘s Executive Council with a view to capturing posts of authority. ‗If it is not done‘ he said, ‗then the untouchables will not be a ruling race‘29. He made it clear that he would endeavour to see that no restraint was placed on the liberties of any class of people, for all time. In all battles between employers and workers, he gave the assurance that he would be on the side of labour30. Decisions taken by Dr. Ambedkar as Labour Member On May 7, 1943, the third meeting of the Standing Labour Committee set up by the Tripartite Labour Conference met at the Bombay Secretariat under the presidentship of Ambedkar. The setting up of Joint Labour Management Committees (on the model of the U.K. 28

Ambedkar’s Contribution To The Nation, unpublished reseach Accessed from https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/625 25/12/12_chapter%206.pdf

Ambedkar’s Letter to Gaekwad, p.214

News item in The Times of India, dated the 27-7-1942

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

and the U.S.A.) in factories and industrial units, employed in war work, was considered. The second question was the establishment of the Employment Exchange. The second session of the Tripartite Labour Conference was held at New Delhi on September 6 and 7, 1943. In his presidential speech, Ambedkar emphasized the need to set up machinery to investigate questions of wages and earnings, and to plan policy of social security for labour. He remarked that he had secured eight and one third percent appointments for the Depressed Classes, reserved seats for technical education of Depressed Classes students in London and one more seat in the Central Assembly. One seat was created for them in the Council of States. In April 1944, Ambedkar moved an amending Bill proposing holidays with pay for Industrial workers employed in ‗perennial‘ factories. He justified compulsory conciliation or arbitration as it was advantageous to labour. He hoped to make that principle a permanent feature of the Labour Code. The Seventh Indian Labour Conference met in Delhi on November 27, 1945. In his presidential address, Ambedkar said that labour should ask the capitalists why they did not spend money on the raising of labour‘s standard. In the first week of December 1945, in his inaugural address to the Conference of Regional Labour Commissioners, Ambedkar suggested some solutions towards establishing industrial peace. According to him, conciliation machinery, amendment of the Trade Disputes Act and minimum wage legislation were necessary. He said that industrial peace was possible on the basis of law, but not certain; just on the basis of power, it was not possible. It could be hoped for if it could be based on social justice. A triangular approach could be suitable. He observed that by the elimination of exploitation by labour welfare and by maintaining proper industrial relations industrial peace can be guaranteed. The services rendered by Ambedkar as the Labour Member of the Viceroy‘s Executive Council are note-

worthy. He proved himself as an efficient and purposeful Labour Member. To summarize Dr. Ambedkar‘s contribution towards welfare of the workers as Labour Member, we mentioned that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar has brought several labour reforms during his time. In the 7th session of the Indian labour conference in 1942, he initiated to reduce the factory working hours from 12 to 8. In the same year, at the Tripartite Labour Conference, Babasaheb was involved in building Plenary Conference and Standing Advisory Committee to settle the industrial disputes between employees and employers31. He also propounded to establish Employment Exchanges and to collect the statistical data under the Industrial Statistics Act. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was instrumental in bringing the establishment of Employment Exchanges. He created employment exchanges in India as the Labour Member in the Provincial Government in British India after the end of the 2nd World War, so also the tripartite mechanism of settling Labour issues through trade unions, Labours and government representatives and introducing skill development initiative in the government sector. Due to his relentless efforts National Employment Agency was created. Dr. Ambedkar has also worked for the upliftment of women in society. He has framed laws like the ―Mines Maternity Benefit Act‖ and ―Women and Child Labour Protection Act‖. He tried removing the ban on women's employment in the coalmines. He also established the ―Women Labour Welfare Fund‖ and fought to give maternity benefits to the women labourers. In 1943, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar framed the amendment in the Trade Union Act of 1926. In the amendment, he put forth the compulsory recognition of 31

Sunil Kumar (2019), "Ambedkar‘s Economic Ideas & Contributions", IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 24, Issue 3, Ser. 1 (March. 2019) 5054, Accessed from online soruce at http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosrjhss/papers/Vol.%2024%20Issue3/Series1/H2403015054.pdf

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

the trade union by the employers. India was the first nation to think about the employees' insurance and the credit goes to the great visionary Dr. Ambedkar. Employees State Insurance insured the employees against the medical, physical disability and injuries during the work. The Employees State Insurance (ESI): ESI helps the workers with medical care, medical leave, physically disabled during working injuries as compensation Insurance for providing various facilities. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar enacted and brought it for the benefit of workers. Actually, India only brought the ‗Insurance Act‘ as the first nation among the East Asian countries. Credit goes to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Other important facilities he introduced were Dearness Allowance (DA) to Workers, Leave Benefit to Piece Workers and periodical revision of Scale of Pay for Employees, Health Insurance Scheme, Provident Fund Act, Factory Amendment Act, Labor Disputes Act., Minimum wage, etc. In 1944, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar enacted a bill for the safety of the employees working in the coal mines. This bill was known as Coal Safety Amendment Bill. In 1945, he introduced Mica Mines Labour Fund which helped the employees in the coal mines to get housing, water, education, entertainment, transport facilities, medical facilities, and better health and sanitation.

November, 1943, he brought the Indian Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill for Compulsory recognition of trade unions. Dr. Ambedkar had been so concerned about the issues of the down-trodden, that he founded an Independent Labour Party in August 1936, and drew up a comprehensive programme which answered all the immediate needs and grievances of the landless, poor tenants, agriculture and industrial workers. For the benefit of industrial workers, the manifesto of Independent Labour Party declared that the Party would endeavour to introduce legislation to control the employment, dismissal, and promotion of employees in factories; to fix maximum hours of work; to make provision for adequate wages and for leave with pay and to provide cheap and suitable dwellings for workers unemployment, if observed, would be relieved by introducing schemes of land settlement and by starting public works. It promised the lower-middle-class adequate protection in matters of house rents in industrial centres and big towns. It can be concluded that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is the real management guru as far as Human Resource Development is a concern. Not only India, but the whole world has been benefited by the various provisions and laws introduced by Dr. Ambedkar which are now part of successful Human Resource Management. ___@@@@@___

The Indian Labour Act was enacted in 1926. This only helped to register the trade unions. But it did not include approval by the government. On 8

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Tributes

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Building Democracy through Adijan’s Historical Cultural Perspective: A Tribute to M C Raj - Vidya Bhushan Rawat

It is difficult to believe that M C Raj is not with us, despite knowing that he was suffering from cancer. We felt that he would somehow overcome. M C Raj, the dreamer, intellectual and weaver of words is no more. He passed away in Bangalore on 6th June 2017 leaving behind a family as well as all those who cherished his vision and dream project. Some of them had known him for long, as he was associated with community work at Tumkur (Karnataka State) which he began in 1984. Many of us remember him as part of the process of Campaign for Electoral Reforms in India (CERI) which he started in October 2008. He was passionate about it and worked hard to develop a team that would lead the political discourse on proportionate political representation in India. Raj was not merely a grassroots activist but a community leader with a vision and an intellectual who has got a deep understanding of the issues that he was talking about, particularly related to the ‗Adijans‘ (indigenous people). Though I came in touch with him a few years before the inception of the Campaign for Electoral Reform in India, what fascinated me was his ideas and vision for the community that he termed as Adijan. The Dalit Panchayat movement

that he built along with Jyothi (his life partner) in Tumkur is an example of his deep understanding of the community psyche. He was a deeply gifted person. I have rarely seen a person who could be engrossed in serious discussion with an entire group and yet weaving his fictional characters at the same time. His capacity to define a situation was superb as he never lacked words which took shape as he spoke. He would bring new words into conversations and amazed each one of us with this trait, all of us, who worked with him. Raj hailed from a very humble background, as his father was a daily wage worker in a leprosy hospital in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu. He was deeply influenced by European and Indian sisters who dedicated their lives to the lepers as he told me in a conversation adding that ‗he combined his love for the poor with a strong addiction to Marxian ideology. ‗People tested us of our commitment to them. They made sure that our actions were congruent with our words. Once they made sure of our truthfulness they were ready to give their life for us. With every successful struggle, their confidence in us soared high‘ and he always remained proud of the fact that both he and Jyothi have been so closely working with people. And I think that was his biggest strength. We know that working with people and remaining at the grassroots is particularly a tough task as you are judged not by words and ideas alone. We all have seen their work in Tumkur and how the Dalit Panchayat movement grew there. Raj used this strength of being with people and trying to understand their psychology which reflected in his work.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

He said, „It‟s not simply love that‟s in question. The oppressed psyche is constantly on the lookout for a symbol of their liberation. It does not accept anyone who claims to be such a symbol. It knows innately and intuitively who can effectively represent their aspirations and negotiate with the oppressors on their behalf. We are happy that we fit the bill of the people on this score. We are happy that we were able to combine it with a bit of charisma that is an essential ingredient of the liberation symbol. Our engagement with the society on behalf of the poor was not born out of an academically designed strategy. We developed our strategies of development organically as we learned at the feet of our people. This helped the people to own their development efforts.‟ As a person deeply engaged with communities at diverse levels, I was fascinated with the positive energy and building of a new community alternative by Raj and Jyothi in Tumkur. One thing that made him different from others in various social movements is his persistent support for a fair representation of women in the organisation, at different levels. At the time when individual rights were central, Raj and Jyothi attempted to focus on the community ownership issue. In fact, he told me that „Initially we got involved in regaining the lost land of individual members of the Adijan Panchayats. Such success led to entire villages taking up huge land struggles. But the government would approve land only for individuals. We then used street fights, lobbying with the bureaucracy, direct negotiations with the landlords and court cases. Until now, we have recovered 11,902.20 acres of land. There was a time when we initiated the idea of community ownership, but it remained only an idea as most people were either landless or had lost their land. Our priority was to

retain the recovered land in the hands of the Adijans and other poor. We have a long way to go to even take the first step toward community ownership of land‟.

It was interesting to listen to him defining the ‗Adijan‘ identity and how that differed from the Dalit identity. I had asked him as what is the difference between the two and he responded by saying that, ‗We arrived at the Adijan identify after extensive reflection and discussion over many years. This was a consequence of building a resurgent culture of assertion and celebration. Very positively and creatively we unearthed the latent strength of the Adijan poor and built the movement on their strength. We dismissed the Freudian path of focusing on the removal of weaknesses. Instead, we took recourse to the Jungian approach of scientifically identifying the strengths of the Adijans one by one. It led to the greater and bigger success of the Adijan struggles for entitlements and land rights. An inevitable sidekick was the permeation of a greater sense of dignity. A receiving people gradually became a giving people contributing generously to their development out of the meager resources they had. A new self-image of celebrating people emerged. Such resurgence made the identity of broken people (Dalit) redundant. Coupled with this was the cry from a few communities in India to give up the Dalit identity. Being oppressed is historical. But, to say that we are a broken people amounts to giving undue credit to the forces of caste hegemony. Dalit represents what has happened to us by

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

others. Adijan represents what we are from the beginning. It is internal. We delayed announcing it for many years not to create any confusion. When we found the time ripe we made an announcement‟.

on the ground, a life that provided him much strength and power to evolve

He was firm when he said that, „Dominant communities don‟t want to focus on culture and history because these are smeared with violence and blood. They don‟t want the rest of the world and their children to know their history. What will they show as their culture? But Adijan history and culture are filled with inclusion, resilience, primacy of women and nonviolence. We should have the courage to take these to the negotiating tables as our innate strength.

unique ideas that he shared with his colleagues. The most powerful point that he mentioned and which for sure, is the only way to protect the idea of India is to celebrate diversity, to make diversity our strength and not allow it to be hijacked by those who want to impose a monoculture on us. India‘s current crisis is its electoral system which needs to be reformed. We never felt the need for its as for now as the current dispensation is fast moving towards the American model of democracy, which is the presidential form of government, which would be far more dangerous with supreme power in the hand of one individual without much check and balance in India. If we remember M C Raj and respect his enormous contribution, then the Campaign for Electoral Reform in India (CERI) must be rebuilt and reaffirm itself as a movement and spread across the country engaging with political parties, intellectuals, community groups and students to protect the idea of India, its plurality and most importantly, its democracy.

He knew my position but then he also realize that despite all that I had an open mind able to receive diverse opinions which came to me through my understanding of Dr. Ambedkar who was undoubtedly an argumentative Indian. The Campaign for Electoral Reform in India (CERI) was M C Raj‘s big idea where he and all others who were part of it saw the 'First Past The Post System' as a manipulative process where dominant communities will always use division of votes of power, to assert one or another form of majoritarianism. Raj is no more today. In past years he wrote profusely and formulated definitions and theories. One was just mesmerized by his skills to define things and provide alternatives. He was definitely an intellectual whose feet were

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

The Importance of Being Rajni Tilak -

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

minorities. She never bothered about how many people joined her or who supported her. Even if it was only her, she would sit at Jantar Mantar to register her protest. I had jointly organised and participated in various protests, dharnas, and public meetings with her. The most remarkable thing about her was that she was ready to set aside her ideological differences with people if it meant coming together for a cause.

The sudden demise of Ambedkarite feminist Rajni Tilak on 30 March 2018 is a big loss to the Dalit Movement, particularly in North India. She had been spearheading a campaign to empower Dalit women. The younger activists would look to her for guidance and support. I had known her for nearly 25 years. I found her extremely pragmatic and, most importantly, active on the ground. As an activist, she encouraged students, particularly young women, to read and understand Dr. B R Ambedkar and Savitribai Phule‘s works. Those of us who were lucky enough to have known her were aware of her contributions in almost all movements and efforts concerning people and their rights. We would frequently run into each other at Jantar Mantar, companions in our fight against caste discriminations, violence against women, and violence against Dalits and

In May 2012, over 150 Dalit families were economically and socially boycotted by the Jats in Bhagana (a village roughly 150 km from Delhi), compelling the Dalits to march to Delhi to seek justice and security. Tilak, along with others, joined the solidarity committee in Delhi. The essence of activism for her was to be available for the community she worked for, and anyone else who needed help, at all times. Of course, this created a lot of problems for her. Such unflinching commitment often causes rifts in the family. For many, there is no difference between the already thin line that separates private and public life. They welcome everyone into their family. Tilak was one such person. During the 2012-2013 protests following the Nirbhaya rape case, there were many among the Dalits-Bahujans who felt that had the girl been from a Dalit family, she may not have received such support and the case would not have been so widely covered. They felt that upper caste activists, including feminists, would not have spoken up as vehemently as they had done for Nirbhaya; and nor would there be such a large crowd at candlelight marches across the country. But Tilak actively participated in the protests. She reasoned with them, explaining that this was not about caste but about women

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

being unsafe in the city; that what had happened with Nirbhaya could happen to any woman.

The revolutionary Savitribai Phule‘s birth anniversary, 3rd January, is popularly celebrated as Teachers‘ Day by Bahujan communities. Tilak used to regularly organise many events to mark the occasion. Every year, she would organise programmes to celebrate Teachers‘ Day. She had opposed the Bharat Bandh on 3 January 2013 that had been called to protest against the Nirbhaya rape. She felt that this was yet another occasion where an important Dalit-Bahujan occasion had been disregarded. In 2017, like always, she celebrated 3 January as Savitribai Phule‘s birth anniversary. In fact, we were together. Some of our Muslim friends in Nuhu town of Mewat area had organised a public meeting. Tilak was called to the meeting as the chief speaker. She spoke about Savitribai Phule‘s work for the emancipation and liberation of women in India and how it had influenced her own work and activism. She was also on the frontlines of the #MeToo movement, even though it had been more or less ―hijacked‖ by the ―secular‖ and elite crowd of Delhi, with very little space for any ―outsider.‖ As an Ambedkarite feminist, her core area was the double burden on Dalit women. She was among the most vocal about this issue within the Ambedkarite

movement. She was upfront with those who did not understand this and would tell them bluntly that they had to change. But she didn‘t let differences like these create rifts within the movement. She did not shy away from reaching out to fellow activists, even if some of them might have disagreed with her or distanced themselves from her for reasons best known to them. This was, perhaps, what made her a good activist. Being an activist makes you more pragmatic and focus on developing one on one relationships with people. She was a vociferous critic of the Left movement in India for their inability to understand or acknowledge the caste dynamics of our society. However, her relationship with most of the activists in the Left feminists' circle was powerful. She was not biased towards anyone, she did not hold grudges. Instead, she would emphasise the importance of building a joint movement, especially now, against the right-wing Hindu forces. She would stress that it was essential that all progressive elements who were against Brahmanical patriarchy and Hindu fundamentalism be brought under one banner. That apart, she was very categorical that the Dalits also needed to be self-reflexive. She believed that, for the Ambedkarite movement to succeed, the change needed to begin from Dalit homes. Her perspectives, her ideas, were all informed by the struggles she had faced as a daughter, sister, wife, and mother. In all these roles, she had seen how gender intersected with caste. Her experiences made her politics more nuanced. She realised that the most important thing for a woman in need was immediate help, support, and counselling. Ideological deliberations could be dealt with later. She was worried about people misinterpreting the writings of Dr. B R Ambedkar. She firmly held the view that,

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

without working at the ground level, you cannot succeed as an activist; that it is only by working at the grass-root level that you can strengthen your politics. In an interview with me in 2005, she said: We must be politically conscious but not ambitious. From ambition, I don‘t mean we should not be ambitious. But the internal unity and inner Dalit dialogue are getting hampered with various ambitious people in different communities. Their political ambition is the root of all the problems and [why] different communities [have failed to] come together. Rather than political ambition, if we mobilise people on a social basis, I am sure the unity will be stronger than the political unity. Look at 1992. The [Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party] combine had attained political unity but social unity was never there. Hence, it broke [because of] the egos of our political leaders. Dalit's issue is not simply with politics and political representation. It is a social battle, a battle of honour and for human rights of every Dalit. So, we have to fight a long term battle. The NGO culture in Dalits needs to reject, as it will be harmful to the movement. NGOs can do good work in different fields but they definitely cannot [lead] a movement. And for the liberation of Dalits, we need a strong, radical anti-Brahmin movement which should be based on rationality. In the absence of [such] a movement, we will not be able to create any pressure on the government. She was an open-minded, practicing Ambedkarite. There was no duplicity in her. Whether in her public life or her private life, she remained the same. She had often spoken against this duality,

pointing out that many activists who were ―revolutionary‖ in their public life were also reactionary and orthodox when it came to their private life. Rajni Tilak was born on 27 May 1958 and grew up in very difficult circumstances. She talks about her family background in her autobiography Apnee Jameen Apna Aasma: I was born in a basti of Machhli Walan in old Delhi. I was the sixth child of my parents. Before me, three of my brothers and sisters had died of malnutrition and other related problems because of poverty. [The fourth child to perish] was my brother Manohar, followed by another brother, Anil. After me, my brother Ashok, two sisters Pushpa and Anita, and two brothers Sanjay and Manoj were born. When we shifted to Seelampur, there were only four brothers and sisters with our grandfather and parents. All [of us were] loved by [our] parents. It was a mohalla of the Jatavs and there was no social exclusion inside it. But people would narrate stories of their discrimination when they used to return by the evening. That time, it was only alcohol that could ―boast‖ their ―confidence.‖ In one cup of drink, they would turn a lion from a baby lamb. The story of her family is a remarkable tale of grit and determination. All of them embraced Ambedkarism, dedicated themselves to the cause of the marginalised, and worked for social justice. Her entire family is inspiring for their staunch opposition to caste-based discrimination and for consciously choosing to not follow any caste-based customs. In fact, most of her siblings chose their own partners; they had intercaste and inter-regional marriages. This,

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

in a society where people are often killed for marrying outside their caste.

She wasn‘t one to play the victim card or crib about how hard life was for her. She took responsibility for her life and did not complain. She was very proud of her work and her perseverance. She started working as an Anganwadi worker in the early 1980s for the meager salary of Rs 150/- per month. The fact that it was a low paying job did not discourage her. She enjoyed her work; it gave her the opportunity to go out and meet new people and other activists who were working with marginalised communities. She faced a lot of opposition from caste Hindus; they would mock her for being from a Chamar community. But she continued undeterred. Eventually, Tilak and some of her friends got together and mobilised more than four thousand women, forming the Akhil Bharatiya Anganwadi Worker and Helper Union. It was around this time that she attended some cadre training camps organised by The All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), an organisation formed by the late social reformer, Kanshi Ram. Tilak was capable of making her own way, and she did. But she also respected and supported diverse groups who were working with marginalised communities, even if she had some differences with them. On the one side, she was with the Ambedkarites. But, on the other side, she

also associated with Left groups as well as those with a socialist-leaning. Except for the Brahmanical Hindutva groups, she was ready to work with anyone provided they acknowledged the existence of caste discrimination and accepted the plight of the Dalits. She disagreed with many feminists, especially on some feminists‘ understanding of women‘s right to ―use‖ their bodies however they wanted. This was particularly true when it came to understanding sex workers and their issues. While she was sympathetic to the feminist cause, she felt that some feminists often overlooked the role of caste in Commercial Sex Work (CSW). For instance, it hardly ever acknowledged that most of the illegally trafficked CSWs are from Adivasi and Dalit families. It is their marginalised position that makes them vulnerable. In an interview with me, I remember her saying: Many in the women‘s movement today support the rights of the women to ―use‖ their bodies. Now we are using legitimate words like ―sex workers‖ and fight for their rights. From a Dalit perspective, where do you differ? Agreed, women have a right to ―use‖ their bodies. But the main question is, how many of them are really using it freely and independently? And in the din of all this, are we not forgetting the grave fact that a majority of women brought up in the brothels [are not there out of] their own choice but [because of] trafficking. Most of the Dalit and Adivasi girls are not there out of their choice but because of forces operating in the villages, who make money at the cost of the dignity and choices of Dalit and Adivasi women and perhaps that is a clear difference of perception here with that of Dalit women.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

While most people in Delhi‘s civil society circles only knew her as an activist of indomitable spirit, conviction, and courage, not many know that she was also a popular poet and writer of the Hindi language. Her poetry inspired a large number of youngsters. They were witty and to the point. She authored about 12 books, including the first part of her autobiography. Her first book was on Savitribai Phule, which was published in 1998. This was followed by a remarkably inspiring poem for young girls called ―Padchap.‖ But the most inspiring work for me, in terms of her writing, was a volume of Savitribai Phule‘s original writings, poems, five of her speeches, and letters to her husband Jyoti Ba Phule, all of which was originally written in Marathi. The volume, Savitribai Phule Rachna Samgra (Savitri Bai Phule‘s Complete Works), was edited by Rajni Tilak. She worked extraordinarily hard to put this book together. Her friend, Shekhar Pawar, was instrumental in translating most of the work from Marathi into Hindi. It is an important book for all those who want to read about Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule and understand how gender and caste intersect. She also got Dr. Ambdkar‘s writing on women‘s issues translated

from Marathi into Hindi and brought out a volume of these. She was a powerful link between the Ambedkarite movements in Maharashtra and North India. But more than that, she was a woman who believed in bringing people together to work for the cause of the marginalised. Her house was a popular meeting place for activists. They would come together to talk, discuss, and consult. Many would frequently stay there. The only thing she fell short in, perhaps, was taking care of her health. Her untimely death is a huge loss for all of us, especially because of the trying time that this country is going through, given the Brahmanical, fascist government at the Centre. Rajni Tilak‘s legacy must be continued. I sincerely hope that her close friends and associates will keep her memory alive by engaging in dialogues with like-minded groups and individuals, encouraging the youth to read and understand the works of revolutionary social justice icons like Savitribai Phule and Dr. B R Ambedkar. This article was first published at http://indianculturalforum.in/2018/04/3 0/the-importance-of-being-rajni-tilak/

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Unsung Hero of Ambedkarite Movement: Mr. T N Urkude - Dr Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad being a district place, was then a small town. It is located about 90 km from Delhi. Mr Urkude often visited Delhi during that period and soon he found a job as a librarian in a government school in Delhi. On reaching Delhi, he met many the Maharashtrian friends, particularly from Nagpur and Vidarbha region. Adv. Ram Khobragade Mumbai is a metropolitan city having a huge population of followers of Dr Ambedkar. The biggest gathering is seen on 6th December every year at Chaitya Bhoomi. However, there are many social issue based meetings that keep happening in the city barring the peak season of monsoon. I have been attending many such social meetings whenever possible. Most of such social meetings have a common set of people who are present for each meeting. That is where I met Mr. Tulshiram Namdeo Urkude, sometime around 2002-03. Mr. Urkude, being a soft-spoken person, had knack of keeping in touch with people. Every meeting I attended, we met. If I missed any important meeting, I could always get the updates from Mr. Urkude. Being well-connected to people, he introduced me to many distinguished Ambedkarites in Indian and also abroad. He was a one-point directory to get contacts of the intellectual and distinguished Ambedkarites all over the world. Born on 7th February, 1949 in Nagpur, he was fortunate to attend the conversion ceremony at Diksha Boom on 14th October 1956 at the age of 7 years. He came from a humble family background. He completed his education in Library Science from then Nagpur University. His first job was at Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, where he joined around 1970. Hapur

was then located in Delhi and was working with IFCI Ltd. Both, Adv. Ram Khobragade and Mr. Urkude, were good friends and were residing in Karol Bag area in Delhi. When Manyavar Kanshi Ram left his government job in Pune, he shifted his base to Delhi and initially stayed with Adv. Ram Khobragde at his residence. Then, Adv. Khobragade was also actively involved in labour union activities. Adv. Khobragade was then the General Secretary All India IFC Employees Association. In 1971, Manyavar Kanshi Ram founded the All India SC, ST, OBC and Minority Employees Association and in 1978, this became ―The All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF)‖, an organisation that aimed to persuade educated members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backwards Classes and Minorities to support Ambedkarite principles. When BAMCEF,

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

(BSP). Kanshi Ramji fought his first election in 1984 from Janjgir-Champa seat in Chhattisgarh when Mr. Urkude was also helping Mr. Kanshi Ram in the election campaign.

under the leadership of Mr. Kanshi Ram, was taking shape, Adv. Khobragade was fully engaged in developing and overlooking the activities of BAMCEF. This is the time when Mr. Urkude had shifted to Delhi and was also actively involved in the activities of BAMCEF. During this period, he met Mr. Raju Kamble, the founder of Ambedkar International Mission(AIM). Our last issue, No. 7 (September 2018 issue), was dedicated to the Late Mr. Raju Kamble who passed away on 16th August, 2018. To spread the network of BAMCEF, Mr. Urkude had travelled along with Manyavar Kanshi Ram and Mayawatiji, extensively to many parts of the country, particularly to Punjab, UP and other States in North India and Karnataka. During this period, Mr. Urkude got married. Since Mr. Urkude‘s residence in Delhi was next to BAMCEF‘s office, many of the activities such as poster making and coordination was being done from his residence. His residence had almost become a part of BAMCEF office. It caused inconvenience to the family but they always supported him. In 1981, Manyvar Kanshi Ram formed another social organisation known as Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DSSSS, or DS4). That is when Manyvar Kanshi Ramji started his attempt of consolidating the Dalit vote and in 1984, he founded the Bahujan Samaj Party

Meanwhile, many friends of Mr Urkude left Delhi due to change of jobs for better prospects. Mr. Raju Kamble and many other socially active friends went overseas for jobs in Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries. Mr. Urkude also left his job in Delhi in 1994 and joined Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), Ranchi, as a Librarian, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Coal India Limited, engaged in the field of environmental engineering and provides consultancy and engineering services across the globe. Since Ranchi was a new place for Mr. Urkude, most of his social activities stopped and he was not very comfortable with such a situation. Ranchi was then a part of Bihar State. Mr. Urkude was later transferred to Bilaspur in MP at his request but again he was confined to his job there. After spending about a year and half, he started applying for new jobs. Being an intelligent man and well versed with his job as a librarian, he received an offer in 1995-96 from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a prestigious research institute in Mumbai, Maharashtra. TIFR is a Public Deemed Research University located in Mumbai,

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

India that is dedicated to basic research in Mathematics and the Sciences. TIFR is considered as one of the outstanding research institutes in India. Even though I was in Delhi from 1988 to 1995, my involvement in social activities was limited and I never had the opportunity to meet either Mr. Raju Kamble or Mr. Urkude or any active Ambedkarite in Delhi. I knew only Adv. Ram Khobragade since both of us were working with IFCI Ltd. However, Adv. Khobragade, being a union leader, had always maintained distance so that management should not be aware of our relations in order to protect me. I was transferred from Delhi to Mumbai in 1995 and during the same period in August 1995, Adv. Ram Khobragade also resigned from his job at IFCI to pursue a full-time career in Politics.

Urkude was the co-ordinator for the conference that was attended by leaders and Ambedkarites from all over the world. Adv. Ram Khobragade was also involved and devoted a lot of time for the 1st World Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Urkude was actively involved in organising and co-ordinating all the functions organised by AIM. Some of the major conventions and functions organised by AIM where Mr Urkude attended and worked extensively, inter alia, includes the second Dalit International Convention on Casteism held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2011; a celebration held in USA for Commemoration of Centennial of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar‘s Entry to Columbia University in 2013; the 3rd Dr. Ambedkar International Convention, Paris (France) held in July 2014; and the 4th International Dr. B. R. Ambedkar International Convention held in Japan in September 2018.

Mr. Raju Kamble switched his job to an overseas company in Malaysia. He, along with other NRI friends, established Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) in April 1994 at Kuala Lumpur. During Mr. Raju Kamble‘s visit to India, he found out Mr. Urkude‘s whereabouts after a long gap and asked him to work for AIM as Secretary for co-ordination from India. Mr. Raju Kamble organised the 1st World Conference in 1998, under the banner of Dalit International Organization (DIO) at Kuala Lumpur. Mr.

AIM has played a significant role is spreading the writings of Dr B R Ambedkar to all major parts of the world. AIM has donated books to many universities in the world way before such literature was available electronically. I have accompanied Mr. Urkude for buying and carrying books on a few occasions from Government Book Stores located at

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Charni Road, Mumbai. Whenever a new volume of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches is published, Mr. Urkude often purchased all the volumes available at the Government Book shop in bulk and carried them home, and then handed them over to the Ambedkarites who are scheduled to travel abroad. The network of the Ambedkarites who travelled frequently to international destinations was used efficiently by AIM to ensure that the books written by Dr. Ambedkar reached many universities / colleges and intellectuals in many counties. It was really courageous of Mr. Urkude that even at the advanced age; he carried bags full of books to Mumbai Airport for handing over to the traveller. I have seen him setting up stalls every year at Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai and at Diksha Bhoomi in Nagpur for AIM over the last two decades. I helped him to manage the stall for the last decade. He distributed books and various educational material to visitors to AIM‘s stall. We have, together, organised Career Guidance workshops in Mumbai. Mr. Raju Kamble visited the AIM Stall in Mumbai every year on 6th December. AIM‘s stalls in Mumbai and Nagpur were the annual meeting point for many Ambedkarites every year. AIM, on death of T N Urkude, in its condolence message stated that “With a heavy heart, we bid farewell to one of AIM‟s oldest and longest serving foot soldiers. With the sad passing away of our dear T N Urkude sir, we have lost a staunch Ambedkarite who was an epitome of “a man of action and not words”. We will never forget the support he provided on our trips to India for promoting AIM‟s stated goals. Although soft spoken and seemingly introvert, he would instantly win one‟s heart within a few minutes of his acquaintance. His contribution in upholding the AIM flagship

and promoting Ambedkarism internationally is monumental. He provided all the backend support need for AIM to gloriously march on in taking Ambedkar to foreign shores. As one of the closest associate of our founder president Raju Kamble sir, he was instrumental in almost all the important assignments AIM undertook. One of the most important contribution that comes to mind is his sterling role in procuring and shipping Babasaheb volumes across the globe, which enabled us to introduce and promote Babasaheb‟s work across Universities and other institutions globally. The void he left behind would be difficult to fill and he‟ll be sorely missed by the global AIM family. We at AIM, USA pray for his Nibbana and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family. In Solidarity, AIM USA, January 31st 2020” On the 7th Feburary 2014 on the occasion of 65th Birthday of Mr T N Urkude, a function was organised at by Ambedkar International Mission at Ambedkar Bhawan, Dadar, Mumbai. The function was chaired by Dr Suresh Mane, BSP (then he was part of BSP). The function was attended by many distinguished Ambedkarite from Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. He insisted that I should shoot all the photos for the function which I did.

Mr. Urkude was the Secretary of Bhikkhu Sangha's United Buddhist Mission (BSUBM) since 2009. BSUBM has been promoted by Ven. Bhandant Rahul Bodhi. Over the years, BSUBM has built a huge vihara known as Maha

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Buddha Sarvodaya Vihar at Tilak Nagar, Mumbai. Mr. Urkude played a very active role in building this Vihara. Even upto 2019, he was actively involved in the activities of the Vihara.

Mr. Urkude was associated with Campaign for Electoral Reforms in India (CERI). He had been an active member of Maharashtra CERI Team since 2008. He attended two National Conferences of CERI in Delhi, in 2009 and also in 2012, and spoke in support of CERI. He played a major role in organising CERI State Conferences held in August 2009 (Mumbai), May 2010 (Aurangabad) and August 2011(Nagpur). Mr. Raju Kamble and Mr. Urkude always supported CERI and spoke in support of introduction of Proportional Electoral System (PES) in India.

Being a Librarian, he was a reference guide for Ambedkarites. Many intellectuals and writers often enquired about references from Mr. Urkude. He always gave the right reference for the subject. He was a well-read person. He had an enormous collection of books. In one of our meetings at his house, he said

that he will give his books to me towards the end of his life. His collections had rare books about Dr Ambedkar and about the Ambedkarite movement in India. He loved music and during informal gatherings, he sang many songs from Hindi Movies. During the cultural evening at our workshop at Beed in October 2009, he demonstrated his knowledge of music by singing many rare songs. After the untimely death of Mr. Raju Kamble on 16th August, 2018, he appeared very upset and never recovered from the shock. He attended the 4th International Dr. B. R. Ambedkar International Convention held in Japan in September 2018 and then a function organised in Punjab by Ambedkarites in winter season. Due to extreme cold in north India, his health deteriorated during his visit to Punjab. We met a few times at his home in Navi Mumbai after his visit to Punjab. His last WhatsApp message to me was on 6th April 2019. He said, “Bed Ridden since last month. Not sure I will survive more. This is just for your information.” I met him few times since then. Over the phone he appeared to be very weak and I could sense that the end is coming closer.

His last call to me was towards the end December 2019 when I was in Delhi for some work. I had promised him that I will meet him but somehow I could not make it. Towards the end of his life, some of his friends had become his critics for a few inconsequential issues. He never reacted but always said it is everyone‘s

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

karma and why should he be concerned about it. He had forgiven them. He finally left this world on 30th January, 2020. His funeral was attended by many distinguished Ambedkarites from Mumbai. Everyone said, ―We lost an important person of the Ambedkarite movement‖. I lost my close friend and an admirer. I miss all our long conversations

over the phone and at the social functions. He left this world with many secrets of the Ambedkarite movements. I don‘t know whether he wrote a biography. He could see his death well in advice. I miss you Urkude Saaheb. ___@@@___

Dr. Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad delivered a lecture on “Managing Finance in an Enterprise” at Entrepreneurship Workshop organised by HPCL for SC/ST Women at Mumbai, India.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

T. N. Urkude : My Friend, My Colleague For More Than 40 Years - Adv. Ram Khobragade Founder Member of BAMCEF (1978), D-S4 & BSP I met Mr. Urkude in Karol Bagh, Delhi, probably around the years 1979-1980, in our BAMCEF (1978) office at Raigarpura, Karol Bagh. He was then a Librarian in the government higher secondary school at Delhi. Initially, it was just a casual acquaintance as both of us belong from the Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra State. Often, Mr. Urkude devoted his entire free time (after office hours) at BAMCEF office. During this period, I was deeply involved in planning, discussing and executing the BAMCEF functions. This was the original BAMCEF founded in 1978. Mr. Kanshi Ramji, though a National Convener of BAMCEF (1978), used to be busy with meetings either at Pune or Mumbai for organizational activities of BAMCEF (1978). I was managing the Central Office of BAMCEF (1978), taking up the Scheduled Caste Employees‘ cases with the respective government offices and helping them to get justice. Mr. Urkude, had rented a flat for his residence very close to the BAMCEF (1978) Office in Raigarpura so that he could devote his time for BAMCEF (1978) activities during evenings. Sometimes we had organisational discussions and at other times, we discussed on the current situation and the future of the Ambedkarite Movement. He was never our active worker but was always a supporter. While he was working in Delhi government school, he got another job at Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), Ranchi which was promoted by Coal India Ltd. as Senior Librarian. Though he was away from Delhi, we kept in touch through letters. From CMPDI he shifted to Mumbai - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Colaba, Mumbai. Though he was in Mumbai, we were still in touch. He regularly sent me important clippings of newspapers about

the movement, which were useful from the Organisational point of view.

In the year 1995, I resigned from my lucrative position in IFCI Ltd. (then known as Industrial Finance Corporation of India), New Delhi and started a Hindi monthly magazine - Jan Andolan Ka Sajag Prahari. I was the Chief Editor of the magazine. My friends who were in Malaysia, Dubai, Brunei, viz. Late Raju Kamble, V. R. Meshram, A. Karunakaran and Vijay Hathmode (now Harsey), financed the publication of Jan Andolan Ka Sajag Prahari from 1995 to 1998, for three years. Once Mr. Karunakaran and I visited Mumbai for enrolment of members for the magazine and stayed at the residence of Mr. Urkude over a period of 15 days. He helped us to enrol many new members for our magazine. During our stay in Mumbai, he took leave from office and devoted his entire time for us. I visited Mumbai several times for trade union activities as a General Secretary of IFCI Employees Union. He accompanied me, or in other words, was my guide in Mumbai.

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

In Mumbai, Urkude was involved in a number of social and religious activities. He was actively associated with one of the Buddha Vihara at Tilak Nagar, Mumbai. During the year 1998, our colleagues Raju Kamble, V. R. Meshram, A Karunakaran and Vijay Harsey, with the help of one of the Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. M. G. Panditan, and along with Mr. K Punjamurti, planned to organize the First Dalit International Convention in Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian MP and his colleagues desired to invite Honourable Dr. K. R. Narayanan, then President of India. They visited India several times for meeting with the President but could not succeed as they could not manage to get an appointment from the President Office. Mr. M. G. Panditan, Malaysian MP, even visited the USA for meeting Dr. K. R. Narayanan when the President was there on an official visit to the USA, but the meeting between them could not materialize. Even Raju Kamble tried to arrange the meeting of Malaysian MP with the President, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr. Kanshi Ramji and popular Ms. Phoolan Devi but he could not succeed and their year-long efforts proved futile. Finally, Raju Kamble asked me as to whether I could help them in arranging the meeting with the Honourable President and other leaders. I agreed to try. I could arrange the meeting of Malaysian delegation of Indian Peoples Front of Malaysia and Dalit International Organisation with the Honourable President and other leaders. Finally, the program could proceed ahead. I was appointed as the Organizing Secretary of Dalit International Organisation as I was in Delhi. Mr. Urkude was managing the affairs from Mumbai for the convention in Malaysia. Thereafter, Urkude was closely

associated with Raju Kamble and Ambedkar International Mission (AIM). He worked actively for AIM activities in India since 1996 till his death in January 2020. Two weeks before his death, Urkude and I had a discussion over the phone twice. During our talk, I could tell that he was not well but he did not share that it was serious. I was planning to meet him during my next visit to Mumbai (as my elder son Akshay is residing at Mumbai) and I communicated with him as such, but before I could reach Mumbai, I got the shocking news of his departure. I was terribly shocked. It was very unexpected. It was beyond my imagination that he would leave us so abruptly. Being an introvert, he never took credit for anything but the Ambedkarite movement has lost its true devoted soldier. During 1979-1980, our team comprising of me, Raju Kamble, V R Meshram, Satpute (All Engineers in EIL) and T N Urkude visited several Ambedkarite Officials in Delhi for collection of donation for Ambedkar Jayanti. We often had discussions on the Ambedkarite Movement and its future. Earlier, Raju Kamble (2018) left us and now Urkude (2020) has also left for the unknown journey. Now I am left with those reminiscences of the time we had spent together in the last 40 years. As Lord Buddha said, one who is born is likely to die. However, we try to forget but our reminiscences shall continue to haunt us till we take the last breath. What remains to be remembered are one‘s goodness and contribution to the society and to the Ambedkarite movement over a very long period of time.

“ The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly ” - Buddha. ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

॥ सुहृद जैममनी : एक धगधगता मनखारा ॥ –

प्रा. डॉ. मनोहर

चळिळीचा एक ज्येष्ठ सामामजक मिचारिांत आमण मिद्याथी युिा सामहत्य सांमेलनाचा प्रिताक म्हणून नािारूपाला आला. समग्र पररितानाद्वारे बहुजन समाजात चेतना मनमााण होईल असा मिश्वास त्याने बाळगला होता. त्याचे मिचारमिश्व हे मिस्तृत ि गहरे होते. त्याला िैज्ञामनक दृष्टीची‚ बुमद्धप्रामाण्याची आमण सामामजक सांिधानाची बैठक होती. माणूस म्हणून जगताना कोणत्याही कृ तीची साांगड न्याय‚ बुद्धी ि तार्कककता या घटकाांशी असािी‚ असा त्याचा आग्रह असायचा. त्यामुळेच “आता आमच्या मानेिर आमचेच डोके असेल.” या ज्येष्ठ मिचारिांत डॉ. आ. ह. साळुां के याांच्या मिचाराांशी जैममनीचे मिचारसाधम्या अमृता प्रीतम याांची एक कमिता आहे— ‘आग की बात.’ ही कमिता अमृताजींनी सामहर लुमधयानिी याांच्यासाठी मलमहली असािी. सामहर युिािस्थेत असताना ‘तल्खीया’ नािाचा कमितासांग्रह घेऊन जगासमोर आला. अमृता प्रीतमकडे होती ‘आग’. यातूनच अमृताजींच्या कमितेतन ू जे रसायन मनमााण झाले‚ त्यातून कमितेची काही अक्षरे पानािर उतरलीत—

होते. बहुजन समाजात स्िामभमानातून िैचाररक क्ाांती व्हािी म्हणून जैममनी तथागत बुद्धाचा धम्म सुलभतेने माांडायचा. एक मचदकत्सक धम्म अभ्यासक म्हणून जैममनीने आपल्या अनेक भाषणाांतून तथागताांचे तसेच डॉ. बाबासाहेब आांबेडकर‚ सांत मशरोमणी तुकाराम महाराज ि राष्ट्रसांत तुकडोजी महाराज याांचे अमूल्य मिचार आपल्या जीिनाच्या अांतापयंत बहुजनाांच्या समोर अव्याहतपणे माांडले.

“यह आग की बात है तूने यह बात सुनायी थी

त्याने के लेले सांशोधन‚ त्यास लािलेली तका सांगती जैममनी

यह जजदगी की िही मसगरे ट है

आपल्या लेखाांद्वारे ‚ पुस्तकाांच्या आमण व्याख्यानाांच्या स्िरूपात सांपूणा भारतात माांडत गेला. यासाठी त्याला

जो तूने कभी सुलगायी थी...!” स्मृमतशेष प्रा. जैममनी शारदा भाऊराि उपाख्य जैममनी कडू माझा एक सुहृद. जैममनी म्हणजे एक धगधगता

बामसेफ‚ राष्ट्रीय मूलमनिासी सांघ‚ भारत मुक्ती मोचाा‚ मराठा सेिा सांघ‚ सत्यशोधक समाज‚ उत्तर भारतातील कु मी ि तत्सम बहुजनाांच्या सांघटनाांनी शब्दातीत असे

मनखारा होता. महाराष्ट्रातील गझल सम्राट श्री. सुरेश भट

सहकाया के ले. तो कु ण्या एका व्यक्तीपेक्षा मिचाराला आमण

याांच्या ‘बहुमत’ या पामक्षकातून आपल्या पत्रकाररतेची

बहुजन समाजाला अमधक महत्त्ि देत आला आहे.

सुरुिात

करणारा

जैममनी

पुढे

‘दै.

लोकमत’

या

िृत्तपत्रातील आपल्या दैददप्य काममगरीद्वारे एक पत्रकार म्हणून नािाजल्या गेला. आमण पुढे पत्रकाररतेबरोबरच त्याला समाजसेिा ि सामहत्यसेिेचे सुद्धा िेड लागले. त्यातूनच मग तो एक उत्कृ ष्ट सांपादक‚ प्राध्यापक‚ लेखक‚ प्रभािी ि मनभीड िक्ता‚ समाजसेिक‚ पररितानिादी

जैममनीने

आयुष्यभर

शब्दाांिर

प्रेम

के ले.

त्याला

शब्दाांिाचूनही शब्दाांच्या पलीकडले उमगले होते. त्याने आपल्या जीिनात सत्य‚ समय‚ समाधान‚ सहकाया‚ सामांजस्य ि स्िामभमान या गुणाांशी कधीही तडजोड के ली नाही. या गुणाांशी त्याचा अन्योन्यसांबांध रामहलेला आहे. ‘

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

शब्दाांनी जग जजकता येत.े ’ म्हणून शब्द जपून िापरा.

साांस्कृ मतक व्यिस्थापनाच्या उत्कृ ष्ट कायाासाठी तत्कालीन

त्याची धार शस्त्राच्या धारे पक्ष े ा फार तीक्ष्ण असते. एिढेच

राष्ट्रपती डॉ. शांकर दयाल शमाा याांच्या हस्ते ‘लामणददिा’

नव्हे तर शब्दाांमुळेच प्रेरणा ममळते आमण पररितान घडू न

पुरस्कार देऊन गौरि‚ ३. अमखल भारतीय सत्यशोधक

येते‚ यािर जैममनीची मनष्ठा होती.

समाज (सांस्थापक : महात्मा ज्योमतबा फु ले) चा राष्ट्रीय

जैममनीचे लेखन अभ्यासपूणा‚ बहुजन समाजाचे प्रबोधन

प्रचारक म्हणून कायारत असताना मुांबई अमधिेशनात ‘

करून आपल्या सत्यशोधकी परां परे ची आठिण करून देऊन

सत्यशोधक सम्मान’ प्राप्त‚ ४. क्ाांमतज्योती सामित्रीबाई

क्ाांतीला चालना देणारे होते. त्यामधील जोरकसपणा

फु ले स्मृती शताब्दी सममती‚ ५. उस्मानाबाद तफे ‘

महत्त्िाचा आहे. जैममनी ज्या आत्ममिश्वासाने अभ्यासपूणा

बुमद्धप्रामाण्यिादी पुरस्कार’ देऊन गौरि‚ ६. बोमधसत्ि

आमण बहुजन समाजाच्या कल्याणाच्या दृष्टीने हे माांडत

डॉ. बाबासाहेब आांबेडकर सांयुक्त जयांती महोत्सि सममती‚

होता. ते खूपच मूल्यात्मक आहे. त्याच्या माांडणीतील

जबलपूर (मध्य प्रदेश) तफे

तार्कककता‚ सांदभा‚ ितामानाशी त्याची साांगड‚ ज्या शैलीत

असोमसएशन‚

तो माांडतो ती शैली‚ त्याच्या चाळीस-पांचेचाळीस िषााच्या

स्मृमतमचह्न देऊन गौरि‚ ८. नाांदड े महानगर पामलके तफे

प्रदीघा जचतनातून‚ अभ्यासातून‚ अनुभिातून आलेली आहे.

मानपत्र देऊन सम्मान‚ ९. डॉ. आांबेडकर मराठिाडा

त्यामुळे त्याच्या लेखनात ढोंगीपणाचा आि ददसत नाही.

मिद्यापीठातफे स्मूतीमचन्ह प्रदान‚ १०. नागपूर मशक्षण

जैममनीची आतापयंत एकू ण सोळा पुस्तके प्रकामशत

मांडळाचा ‘रटचर ऑफ दद इयर’ पुरस्कार‚ ११. अमखल

झालेली आहेत. ती पुढीलप्रमाणे— १. ब्राह्मणिाद‚ २.

भारतीय कृ षक सामहत्य सांमल े न‚ पुणे तफे ‘काव्य पुरस्कार’

फु ले आांबेडकरिादाची मूलतत्त्िे‚ ३. मशिराय : एक

‚ १२. सामामजक उत्तरदामयत्ि पुरस्कार (२००९)‚ पुणे‚

सामामजक सांदभा‚ ४. ओबीसी : दशा आमण ददशा‚ ५.

इत्यादी पुरस्कार ि सन्मान.

तुकोबाच्या हत्येचा पांचनामा‚ ६. कु णबी समाज : स्िरूप‚

आपल्या ६० व्या िाढददिसाच्या मनममत्ताने स्ितःमिषयी

सांस्कृ ती आमण सभ्यता‚ ७. बहुजनाांच्या महापुरुषाांचे

नाांदड े

तफे

गौरि‚ ७. कल्चरल सामामजक

कायााबद्दल

बोलताना जैममनी म्हणतो— “मी माझे माणूसपण मान्य

मिकृ तीकरण का?‚ ८. मशिराय : काल‚ आज आमण उद्या‚

करतो. मी प्रत्येकच माणसाचे माणूसपण मान्य करतो. मी

९. फु ले-शाहू-आांबेडकर आमण कु णबी समाज‚ १०. मला

माझ्या माणूसपणाला मनमााण होणारी बाधा सहन

समजलेले आांबेडकर‚ ११. भारतातील ओबीसींचे भमितव्य

करणार नाही. मी इतराांच्या माणूसपणाला बाधा मनमााण

‚ १२. आ. हां.! िाह‚ १३. सत्यशोधकी मिचारसूत्र‚ १४.

करणार नाही. मी माझे कोणत्याही स्तरािरून शोषण

मेरी समझ में आांबेडकर (जहदी में)‚ १५. ओबीसी : दशा

होऊ देणार नाही. मी इतराांचेही कोणत्याही स्तरािरून

और ददशा (जहदी में)‚ आमण १६. उध्िस्त क्षणाांचा

शोषण करणार नाही. मी माणूस म्हणून मला होणाऱ्या

उदयास्त

मिकाराांची जशी काळजी िाहतो तशीच मी माणूस म्हणून

(काव्यसांग्रह).

या

व्यमतररक्त

मिमिध

मनयतकामलकाांतन ू आमण िृत्तपत्राांतून मिमिध मिषयािर

असणाऱ्या प्रत्येकाच्या मिकाराांचीही काळजी िाहीन.

लेखन प्रमसद्ध झाले आहे.

ककबहुना

जैममनीच्या जीिन कायााचे मूल्यमापन म्हणून मिमिध पुरस्कार ि मिमिध सन्माना द्वारे त्याचा गौरि करण्यात

अमस्तत्ि‚ हक्क‚ अमस्मता मान्य करीन. त्याांना त्या त्या

आलेला आहे. त्यातील काही मनिडक पुढीलप्रमाणे— १. महाराष्ट्र शासनाच्या महाराष्ट्र कामगार कल्याण कें द्र‚ मुांबई तफे देण्यात येणारा ‘गुणिांत कामगार पुरस्कार’ तत्कालीन राज्यपाल डॉ. शांकर दयाल शमाा याांच्या हस्ते प्रदान. (हा जैममनीला ममळालेला पमहला पुरस्कार आमण त्यािेळी मी उपमस्थत होतो.)‚ २. दमक्षण मध्य क्षेत्र साांस्कृ मतक कें द्राच्या अपना उत्सि‚ ददल्ली ि अपना उत्सि‚ मुांबई येथे

प्रत्येक

सजीिाच्या

जगण्याचा

अमधकार‚

स्तरािर सहकाया करण्याचे मी अमभिचन देतो.” आमण माझ्या या सुहृदाने ते अमभिचन पाळले‚ याचा मला अमभमान आहे. त्याला शहरापासून दूर जायचे होते. आमच्या शेिटच्या भेटीत तो म्हणाला होता की— “ माझ्या आयुष्यातील शेिटचे ददिस एकाांतात घालिायला मला आिडेल. त्यासाठी मी मनसगााच्या सामिध्यात जायचे म्हणतो. सिासांग पररत्याग करून एका लहानशा कु टीत

राहून उिाररत आयुष्य व्यतीत करण्याची त्याची इच्छा ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 75

होती.” पण माझ्या या ऋमषतुल्य परम ममत्राची ही इच्छा

परम ममत्र म्हणून माझा पररचय करून देणाऱ्या आमण

पूणा होण्यापूिीच शहराने‚ पयाायाने शहरी सांस्कृ तीनेच

सांबोधणाऱ्या या माझ्या सुहृद जैममनीला (जन्म : १७

त्याचा घात के ला. आमण आपल्या जन्मददिशीच या

माचा १९५२ − मृत्यू : १७ माचा २०१८) त्याच्या मद्वतीय

लौदकक जगाचा मनरोप घेऊन अलौदकक जगात मागास्थ झाला.

पुण्यमतथी

ि

६९

व्या

जयांती

प्रीत्यथा

ही

शब्दसुमनाांजली...!!!

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Eleanor Zelliot (7th October, 1926 – 5th June, 2016)

Eleanor Zelliot was an American Writer, Professor of Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota, USA) and a specialist in the history of India, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Women of Asia, Untouchables, and Social Movements. Zelliot wrote over eighty articles and edited three books on the movement among Untouchables in India led by Dr B R Ambedkar, on saint-poets of the medieval period, and on the Ambedkar-inspired Buddhist movement. She was one of the most prominent writers on Dalits of India. Some of the famouns Books by Eleanor Zelliot

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Padama Shree Dr. Gangadhar Pantawane 28th June 1937 - 27th March 2018

Dr. Gangadhar Vithoba Pantawane was an Eminent Marathi Writer, reviewer, and Ambedkarite thinker. His career spanning over a five-decade was dedicated to Literature, particularly Dalit Literature. He is one of the pioneers of the Dalit Literary Movement. His journal Asmitadarsh is considered to be a mile stone in Dalit Literature and it gave the platform to the Dalit writers and thinkers. He was honoured with Padma Shree by the Government of India. In 2008, he was elected as a President of the First Marathi Vishwa Sahitya Sammelan that was held in the US.

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Sadanand Fulzele 1st

November 1928 – 15th March 2020 Late Mr. Sadanand Fulzele was a devoted Ambedkarite. Being the organiser of Mass Dhamma Diksha (Conversion) Ceremony on 14th October 1956, he has been the pillar mainly of post conversion Ambedkarite movement. His first interaction with Dr Ambedkar was during the visit of Dr Ambedkar to Nagpur City. He began working with Samta Saink Dal (SSD) and Scheduled Caste Federation in 1942. In 1952 he fought the Nagpur Municipal Corporation‘s very first election from Ambedkar Nagar on Scheduled Caste Federation ticket and got elected. Surprisingly he won election with a margin of one vote. He became deputy mayor of Nagpur Municipal Corporation in 1956. He took the full responsibility of for historic Dhamma Deeksha Ceremony held on 14th October 1956. He himself also converted to Buddhism along with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and nearly half a million followers. It was the biggest event of religious conversion in the whole history of India. In 1963 he was elected as a Secretary of Deeksha Bhoomi Smarak Samiti and he continued to hold this post till his death. Mr. Fulzele worked very hard and selflessly and he played an important role in building and designing the entire architecture of Deekshabhoomi, which is the main attraction of Nagpur City now. Every year millions of people visit Nagpur on 14th October (Dhammachakra Pravartan Day) every year. He was not only a witness to Dr. Ambedkar‘s historical legacy but was also part of the Republican Party of India (RPI). He was one of the first office bearers of RPI after its formation on 3 rd October 1957. He also established the Dr. Ambedkar College having courses in Arts and Commerce in the premises of Deekshabhoomi. Mr. Fulzele had visited Sri Lanka, Japan, Budapest Hungary, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Nepal, USA, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. for spreading of Ambedkar‘s thought in the world. He also worked as Director of Vidharbha Vikas Mahamandal for five years. He was nominated as senate member of Nagpur University. During his lifetime he received many awards from various agencies and government of Maharashtra. Some of the prominent award includes Government of Maharashtra‘s Shahu Phule Ambedkar Award, Vidharbha Ratana Award by Sarathi Society etc. With his death, the loss to the Ambedkarite movement is irreparable.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Prof. Avinash Dolas 1951-2018 Prof. Avinash Dolas, was a Noted Writer and Thinker of Ambedkarite Movement and committed political leader. He had retired as Head of the Marathi Department of Milind College of Arts and Science, Aurangabad. He had honour to be the President of the 5th All India Dalit Drama Conference (5th Akhil Bhartiya Dalit Natya Sammelan) and President of the 12th Ambedkaree Literary Conference (12th Ambedkaree Sahitya Sammelan). He was felicitated by the Samyak Vidyarathi Andolan, for being chosen as the Member Secretary of the State Government Committee for publication of Dr B R Ambedkar‘s pictorial biography. He was actively involved in the struggle by Ambedkarites for renaming of the Marathwada University at Aurangabad, Maharashtra, after Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He has many famous books to his credit.

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Raja Dhale September 30, 1940 - July 16, 2019 Indian Writer, Artist, Activist for Dalit Rights and Founder of Dalit Panther. In April 1972, he, along with Namdeo Dhasal and Arun Krushnaji Kamble, founded the Dalit Panther, a youth-based organisation inspired by the Black Panther outfit of African Americans in the U.S., The objective of forming Dalit Panther was to raise the voice of Dalits more aggressively. His article „Black Independence Day,‘ in Marathi magazine Sadhana on August 15, 1972, where he questioned whether the atrocities on a Dalit woman are of lesser concern than the insult of the national flag, raised a storm in Maharashtra. Apart from being a social worker, he has written extensively on atrocities against Dalits. He also wrote poems for children, articles on literature, analytical pieces and books on Buddhism. Raja Dhale was a veteran Ambedkarite and strong Buddhist.

Raja Dhale appriciating content of Buddhist Voice at Chiatyabhoomi. ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Raja Dhale: A Giant Has Gone -

A giant has gone. I had met him several occasions and found him extremely dedicated to Baba Saheb Ambedkar‘s mission. His command over language and subject was complete. He was forthright to the extent of calling a spade a spade. Raja Dhale, one of the founding fathers of the Dalit Panther movement passed away in the morning today at his Mumbai residence. Born on September 30th, 1940, Dhale had seen Baba Saheb from his childhood. According to him, Baba Saheb Ambedkar‘s name was part and parcel of the lives of Dalits and backward communities in Maharashtra. The first time, I met him was at the Chaitya Bhumi in Mumbai where I had gone on December 6th, 2016 to see the huge mass of people gathered at the place where Baba Saheb was cremated

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

on December 7th, 1956. He was a very pleasing personality and asked me to visit him at his home two days later. When I went to meet him along with my friend Vivek to record the conversation, we discussed things and about the people. He was very upset with my just taking the name of a senior scholaractivist from Maharashtra and said that these English speaking people with their connection with the ‗communist‘ editors in Delhi, capture all the space in the name of Dalit identity. He was certain that many of those ―Panthers‖ who rarely worked with the people, gained ‗national‘ and ‗international‘ fame because of the Brahmanical ‗intellectuals‘ who patronised them. He was dead against the whole attempt to ‗patronise‘ the movement and then co-opt it. And that

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

was the reason why he felt upset with me when I informed him that a friend has informed me about him. It took a lot of time and we recorded the conversation the next day. Dhale was a man of literature and had always complained about the ‗left‘ trying to use those people who succumb to them. Prior to him, I had the impression that Dalit Panther‘s movement was influenced by the Marxian-Ambedkarite ideology but he categorically blunted the theory. In fact, in the end, he did not even like the term Dalit or Panther. He was clear that the only identity that he had was of being a Buddhist. He was also categorical that for the Bahujan movement, it is PhuleAmbedkar ideology and identity which remain supreme. He never wanted to use even Chatrapati Shahoo Ji Maharaj in the company of them. He abhorred those who were putting so many ‗icons‘ of Bahujan Samaj in their meeting and platform reducing Phule Ambedkar one among them. He wanted categorically that it is the ideology of Phule Ambedkar that will ultimately emancipate and revolutionise the Bahujan Samaj so they don't need to confuse by bringing so many others into it.

―What‘s the big deal in that? It‘s a job, you throw it as you pick it. It was never the case that I never found something to eat. The ones who work only for food [material gains] are fools. There is more to life than that, and we should work for it. Of course, everyone does not possess this quality. In my family, I was the youngest amongst all my siblings and cousins, and that‘s why everyone always helped me, and I learned from them. One of my brothers became a doctor, being the first few students to enroll in the new Siddharth College; he even has a photo with Baba Saheb. Such were the sources of inspiration during my youth, and from there began my creative journey, through which I joined this movement. There were two writers from Worli, who were not highly literate, but they established the Maharashtra Dalit Sahitya Sangh under the guidance of Babasaheb. At the age of 15, I was a member of the Sahitya Sangh.‖ He faced charges under Sedition laws too for his article published by a Magazine called Sadhna. Narrating the entire incident Dhale said that it happened in 1972 after the establishment of Dalit Panthers:

―There was a Brahmin village in I would say, he was the Tiger of the Dalit Marathwada, where there were two Panther‘s movement. A man of deep women – Kalavati, and I forget the other‘s convictions. In fact, when we met in name, but she is in my article – who were Mumbai for the recording of the paraded naked because they had crossed conversation on December 8th, 2016, he the Brahmin fields. This was covered in said now the OBCs too are embracing the newspapers, so I decided to visit the Buddhism and asked me to come to village personally, and made some Nagpur for the ceremony on December inquiries. That night, we arranged a 25th, 2016. I made a point to visit there meeting there, where the magistrate was when nearly ten thousand people took also present. After I spoke, they filed a Deeksha from Bhadant Nagarjun Surai case against me. A month later, a man Sasai. came to give me the court documents. I was sleeping, but I let the man in. He Raja Dhale left his government job for the told me that I should go with him since I cause of the movement. During the have a warrant against me, and if I don‘t conversation he said : comply, there will be problems. I told him ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 83

I am not coming, and he can inform the magistrate. The man then started begging saying his job is on the line. He then just wrote that I will come, and disappeared.‖

His case became an eye-opener and exposed many of those Brahmanical ‗ideologues‘ who claimed to defend freedom of expressions and human rights but police and administration could not do anything to Dhale. Such was the power of the Panthers in Maharashtra. The Namantar movement in the 1980s was its glorious chapter when thousands of people asked the government to name the Marathwada University as Baba Saheb Ambedkar University while Shiv Sena kind of organisations was pushing people to oppose it. It was a disgrace of how political parties opposed the name of the University but ultimately the power of Panthers compelled the government to rename the University as Baba Saheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad. That was a great victory of the Ambedkarite movement and the role of Dalit Panthers will always remain heroic in that.

Raja Dhale was closely associated with Bhadant Anand Kauslyayan, who devoted his life to strengthening the philosophy of Buddhism.

Kauslyayan had translated numerous books of Baba Saheb in Hindi and encouraged young dynamic Ambedkarite in the movement. In fact, it was Bhadant who got Dhale‘s marriage solemnized according to Buddhist traditions.

The passing away of Raja Dhale is a great loss to the Ambedkarite movement in India. His contribution remains enormous. His writings were mainly in Marathi and he often charged that the English speaking people get bigger publicity without doing their work while those close to the movement and native language rarely get the credit.

Raja Dhale was born on September 30th, 1940, and passed away on July 16th, 2019 and though he might have aged, he was very active till the end. His death is a great loss to the Phule Ambedkarite movement as he was not afraid of communicating his mind. In our interview, he has named people and former friends who now crossed over to the Hindutva side and termed them easily purchasable, people who make organisations to survive and promote themselves and their interest. He categorically said that he was not among those who built an organisation to his own benefit.

Dhale never compromised. He remained Tiger till the end who roared according to his convictions. Though he was the founder of Dalit Panthers, at the later stage, he dissociated with the world and never really liked it. He wanted to be called a Buddhist of the Phule Ambedkarite movement and that is what he wanted everyone to follow. Perhaps, the Bahujan movement needs to follow the enlightened path as espoused by Raja Dhale, if it really wants to challenge the Brahmanical hegemony. Our sincere tribute to him. Courtesy: Counter Current

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Suhas Sonawane 29th November 1939 - 6th July 2019 Suhas Sonawane was a prominent Ambedkarite Writer. He was renowned Journalist. He wrote some of his articles in newspapers with pen name Mukesh Machkar. He wrote books on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Books on Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He also worked with Government of India. His association with Dr. Maisaheb Ambedkar gave him many insights about work of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar which is reflected in his writings. The condolence meeting after his death held on 15th July 2019 was attended by many distinguished political leaders and people from Marathi literary world

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Suhas Sonawane

Condolence Meeting held in Mumbai on 15th July 2019

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

News Section

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Literature Will Create a New World 2nd Dalit Literature Festival held at Delhi The second Dalit Literature Festival was held at Delhi University‘s Kirori Mal College on 16th and 17th February 2020. Some of the notable writers who attended the festival were writer Mamta Kalia, poet Balli Singh Cheema, literary critic Chauthi Ram Yadav, activist Chandra Bhan Prasad, academic Vimal Thorat, Professor Vivek Kumar, and activist Medha Patkar.

The First Dalit Literature Festival was held on 3rd and 4th February 2019. The theme of that 1st edition was – „Sahitya Se Ek Nai Duniya Sambhav Hai‟. ‖

The topics of 'The Society of Dalit, tribal, minority, women‘ Dalit Literature: The Song of Liberation of Past, Present, and Future‘ were discussed. They were presided over by Vimal Thorat and Prof. Vivek Kumar respectively. The sessions had a discussion on how Dalit Women are the victims of oppression. Vimal Thorat made a remarkable statement that ―There are three layers of Dalit women oppression – caste, class and gender. It was further observed by the

speakers that while women of a tribal society have lesser gender inequality, they are subject to the plunder of their forest land by the government and corporations.

A book fair was also held during the festival at Kirori Mal College in which students and visitors enthusiastically took part in. Many well-known publishers participated in it. The concept of the Dalit Literature Festival has been designed on the basis of some of Babasaheb Ambedkar‘s core thoughts with the help of Ambedkarite groups and positive revolutionary intellectual units. As per the organisers, the objective of the festival is ―This

platform would establish a dialogue so that the pains and problems of Dalit communities can be brought to light, furthermore the cultural traditions and vibrancy of Dalit literature and art can be demonstrated.”

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

14th April as a Day of Equality

leadership and support provided by the Burnaby Council and for proclaiming April 14, the birthday of Dr. Ambedkar, as the equality day in Burnaby. This gives us all a moment to take a pause and celebrate the contributions of Dr. Ambedkar in evolving India as the world‘s largest democracy‖ Photos Courtesy of https://www.voiceonline.com/burnaby-proclaimsapril-14-as-dr-b-r-ambedkar-day-of-equality/ The Council of the City Burnaby, Canada proclaimed Birthday Anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar i.e. April 14 as Dr B R Ambedkar Day of Equality. The Councillor Mr. Sav Dhaliwal while reading the proclamation during an open council meeting in Burnaby on April 6, 2020, said that ―While Dr. Ambedkar was born in India, his mission for equality is relevant across the globe.‖ Further, he said that ―We are also proud to have Dr. Ambedkar‘s portrait enshrined in the deliberation room at the city as a reminder to uphold values of equality when the council is making significant decisions‖ The General Secretary of Chetna Association of Canada, Mr. Jai Birdi, expressing pleasure said that ―We are very pleased with the

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Global Buddhist Congregation-2019

Global Buddhist Congregation (GBC), 2019 a Mega-Conference with a noble cause of spreading the teachings of mindfulness, compassion and peace of Lord Buddha was held at PES-Milind College Stadium, Nagsen Van, Aurangabad on the 22 to 24 November 2019. The GBC was organised under the guidance of all India Bhikkhu Sangha, in the historical city of Aurangabad, Maharashtra. It is blessed by the auspicious presence of His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Most Ven. Dr. Warakagoda Dhammasiddhi, Sri Pagnananda Gnanarathanabidhana Mahanayaka Thero of Srilanka and very senior monks from India and other countries. Aurangabad is famous for ancient Buddhist caves around it including world-famous Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Aurangabad has more than 4 lakh Buddhist population and because of many educational institutes in Nagsen Van area set up by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in 1950, people from different parts of Maharashtra came for education and settled here.

Keeping this as background, the Congregation was organised in the same Nagsen Van campus in Aurangabad which is belonging to Peoples Education Society formed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in 1945.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Indo- Thai International Buddhist Festival in Mumbai Three Days Indo-Thai International Buddhist Festival was organised jointly by Thai-Indochina Association and Maitreya Trust in Mumbai. The fuctions on first two days of the festival were held at Vishnudas Bhave Natyagruha, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. After the inaugural function, the festival was addressed by The Distinguished keynote speakers Ven. Phra Thepyanmongkhol (Indo-Thai International Buddhist Seminar & Cultural Exchange & Entertaining the Buddhist Way) and Ven. Bhikkuni Visooto Yana (The Best of Tripitika Teacher of Thailand and Deputy Chief Bhikkuni of Vatra Bikkuni Thailand). The cultural program was participated by Buddhists from India as well as guests from Thailand.

The festival was organised Ven. Bhante Aryanag Attdarshi. His dedicated efforts over six months have resulted in well organised International Buddhist Festival in Mumbai. The chief guests at the festival were Honourable Mr. Ramdasji Athawale (Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India) and Honourable Mr. Rajkumar Badole (then Minister of Social Justice, Govt. of Maharashtra). The representative of Thai Consul General Mumbai also attended the festival. ● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

The festival was graced by President Orawan (Thai Indo China Friendship Association) and Lt. Gen. Nadda Ponjulaskadi (Thai Indo China Friendship Association). The third-day program was held at Nalasopara Stupa, Near Mumbai.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Buddhism is India’s The Greatest Gift to the World President of Central Tibetan Administration, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, was invited as Chief Guest at the function of unveiling a 50 Feet Statue of Buddha at Lokuttara Mahavihara Bikkhu Training Centre, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. During his address to the gathering he said that ―Of all the things, Buddhism is the greatest gift India has given to the world32‖. The function was attended by thousands of Indian Buddhists as well as distinguished guests from the cross section of the society.

lower-rung in the Indian Caste System and attributed him for the growth of renewed interest in Buddhist study and Neo-Buddhists in the country33.

Speaking in Hindi, Dr. Sangay expressed his happiness in meeting a large number of Buddhists in the area and said that Tibet and India share a deep and unique cultural and spiritual heritage bond. He also expressed his happiness and appreciated the growing interest being shown in the study of Buddhism around the world besides India.

During his address, Dr. Sangay also paid homage to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for his efforts to uplift and empower the 32

Yangchen Dolma, The Tibet Post, " Buddhism is India‘s greatest gift to the world: Tibetan President in Aurangabad. News accessed from http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/exil e/6492-buddhism-is-india%E2%80%99sgreatest-gift-to-the-world-tibetan-presidentin-aurangabad

―At a time when India lays so much emphasis on maximising exports to strengthen the economy, Buddhism, which is India‘s home-grown spiritual tradition, is one area that can be invested in and carve a niche for a global Indian brand. In fact, Buddhism has not only grown in terms of devotees around the world but has also proven to be a factor bringing in positive impacts and creating

Tibet.Net, "Buddhism is India‘s greatest gift to the world: CTA President on Buddha Purnima day in Aurangabad. Accessed from https://tibet.net/buddhism-is-indiasgreatest-gift-to-the-world-cta-president-onbuddha-purnima-day-in-aurangabad/

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

a more peaceful society,‖ Dr. Sangay opined.

Lokuttara Mahavihara Bikkhu Training Centre is headed by Venerable Bodhipalo

Mahathero and is situated in Chowka village, about 14 km from Aurangabad in Maharashtra State. Ms. Rojana Vanich Kamble has been the main source of inspiration in establishing the Monk Training Centre at Chowka.

Ajanta Caves, a set of about 30 rock-cut ancient Buddhist monument caves, is situated in Aurangabad and is a major pilgrimage attraction for Buddhists from around the world. Lokuttara Mahavihara Bikkhu Training Centre can be visited on the way to Ajanta Caves.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Congressional Resolution introduced to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in US House of Representatives. On the occasion of 129th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar, an Indian-American Congressman introduced a resolution34 in the US House of Representatives to honour the Dr. B R Ambedkar, the architect of India‘s Constitution.

celebrating Dr. Ambedkar and his life and legacy37.

The Resolution was introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna in the house. Three other Indian-American Congressmen- Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi along with Eliot Engel - co-sponsored the bill35. The resolution also refers to Dr. Ambedkar‘s historic labour reforms, the codification of gender equality, and the successful inclusion of Article 17 in the Constitution of India, which abolished untouchability and its practice in any form36. ―This Dalit history, even in this dark time of COVID-19 it is inspirational to know that we can find the light of hope in our history‖, Executive Director of Equality Labs Thenmozhi Soundararajan said, adding that is why Equality Labs was thrilled to work with Mr. Khanna‘s office on first Congressional Resolution to

Celebrating the 129th anniversary of the birth of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Resolution. Accessed from https://khanna.house.gov/sites/khanna.h ouse.gov/files/KHANNA_105_xml.pdf

NRI News, "B.R. Ambedkar in US Congress: Resolution introduced to celebrate birth anniversary" Accessed from https://www.nripulse.com/b-r-ambedkarin-us-congress-resolution-introduced-tocelebrate-birth-anniversary/

Indicanews, ―Rep Khanna introduces resolution to celebrate the birth anniversary Dr B R Ambedkar‖. Accessed from https://indicanews.com/2020/04/17/repkhanna-introduces-resolution-to-celebratethe-birth-anniversary-dr-b-r-ambedkar/

Rep. Khanna‘s resolution has been endorsed by Equality Labs and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). Rep. Khanna while speaking on the occasion said that ―Dr. Ambedkar mobilised a generation to push back against discrimination and to instead celebrate equality, human rights and universal tolerance. Today, we stand at a moment in world history when we could all use more of that compassionate spirit‖. He further said that ―We hope all Americans will join us in celebrating this towering historical figure who was a fearless feminists and caste abolitionist whose contributions to the fields of economics, philosophy, religious, jurisprudence, and democracy remain unparalleled even today.‖

The Hindu, "Congressional resolution introduced to celebrate birth anniversary of Ambedkar" Accessed from https://www.thehindu.com/news/internati onal/congressional-resolution-introducedto-celebrate-birth-anniversary-ofambedkar/article31346311.ece

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

AWARDS

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Dr Ambedkar International Award by AANA to Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Ambedkar Association of North America(AANA) bestowed upon Vidya Bhushan Rawat with Dr Ambedkar Intentional Award for outstanding performance and lasting contribution for Dr B R Ambedkar's Mission and Buddhist Community.

Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings. ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Samaj Seva Puraskar to Dr Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad

Samaj Seva Puraskar (Award for Community Service) was bestowed upon Dr Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad by Suganddhai Foundation and Dhamma Chakra Orchestra, Mumbai for his immense contribution towards Dr B R Ambedkar's Mission and service to Buddhist Community over last three decades. Excellence Award to Dr Pramod M Duthade

Dr Pramod Duthade, General Physician Doctor based in Aurangabad, Maharashtra received the Excellence Award at the International Buddhist Festival held in Aurangabad. This award is the recognition of dedicated service to the people over last two decade by Dr. Pramod Duthade. He is one of the most popular doctors in the area. He is known for down to earth nature, generosity and compassion towards people. ● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

Matoshree Bhimabai Ambedkar Puraskar to Prof. Ashalata Kamble

Sambodhi Pratisthan Satara has conferred Matoshree Bhimabai Ambedkar Puraskar to Prof. Ashalata Kamble for her contribution to Dalit Literature and social work

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

100

The Hindu Literary Prize 2018 conferred to Manoranjan Byapari

(Photo Source https://www.thehindu.com/lit-for-life/i-do-not-give-up-easily-manoranjan-byapari/article26025165.ece)

The Hindu Literary Prize 2018 was awarded during The Hindu Lit for Life 2019. The Activist Manoranjan Byapari, author of Interrogating my Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit, bagged The Hindu Prize 2018 for non-fiction. Manoranjan Byapari is an Indian Bengali writer and socio-political activist. He is known as the pioneer of Dalit literature in Bengali from the Indian State of West Bengal. To know more about Mr Manoranjan Byapari, please visit the following links. 1. Manoranjan Byapari Opens Up About His Literary Journey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnqF7xSXYmE 2. Shabd Badalte Hain Jeevan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTS2TIobm3g 3. The Hindu Lit for Life 2019 | The Hindu Prize 2018 award ceremony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw5fYzXEc5s ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

101

BOOK REVIEWS

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

102

Rise and Role of Marginalised Communities in Indian Freedom Struggle By Vidya Bhushan Rawat - Dr. Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad

evidence are available. The marginalised community was in long fighting for their own social freedom from what was imposed on them by the Chatur Varna System for a few thousands of years. They were not allowed to educate themselves and therefore reading and writing was not a possibility for them. Most of the history during the freedom struggle was written by historians from the dominant caste writers and therefore the majority of the people who are projected as heroes are from dominant castes and from the top three Varnas. Therefore, the role of Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis in our movement for independence has been underreported or ignored.

The Indian Historians who are mainly from the Dominant Section of the Society have discriminated even while writing the history of the country. The role of the marginalised communities or the people who are classified as Dalit has been underreported and never received any place in writing the history of freedom struggle. In this context, the Book “Rise and Role of Marginalised Communities in Indian Freedom Struggle” is an important work on the subject especially for those who have interest in knowing the realistic history of pre-independence India cannot afford to miss it. For ignoring the contribution of marginalised in the freedom struggle the reason is often given that such participation of marginalised communities is not documented and therefore no pieces of

Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Chairman of the Institute of Objective

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

103

Studies and also General Secretary of All India Milli Council, states that this book by Mr. Vidya Bhushan Rawat is an attempt to correct the historiographical perspective in India. He further suggests that “Rise and Role of Marginalised Communities in Indian Freedom Struggle” will be good reading for students and researchers of history who want to read alternative accounts of the freedom struggle.

The author, Mr. Vidya Bhushan Rawat, argues that that the suppression of Dalits, Adivasis, and Shudras in the name of their identity was not merely mythological but factual and therefore, it was essential for historians to look at the role of these communities in the freedom movement. The freedom movement in our liberal secular historiography meant for the period 1857-1948 where the lead role was played by either the Brahmins or the Congress under Gandhi. The attempt was to deny others their legitimate place in history. He mentions that it was unfortunate, therefore, that in these entire exercises, our historians rarely wrote the role of the Dalits, OBCs, Pasmandas, and Adivasis in the freedom struggle. He further points out that Gandhi led three important movements during his fight for independence. One was in Champaran, the other was in Chauri Chaura and third could be the Peasant Revolt in Poorvanchal and a careful analysis of the things will suggest

that at the end of the day, the poor peasant did not get anything. He raises the question was the movement to sabotage the growing unrest among the landless agricultural workers who were predominantly Dalits, OBCs and Poor Muslims? He also mentions that the Avadh Kisan Andolan has become a communal flashpoint to be used by the Hindutva protagonists who want to make political capital out of legal land disputes by converting it into an emotional issue. Avadh Kisan is a movement originally intended for basic rights of the Andolan people across the castes linens, particularly belonging to farming communities including minimum wages, reduction of unnecessary taxes and against the oppressing feudal caste structure and it needs to be explained to people in a much better way in the greater interest of the unity of the country. He also argues that much before the official revolt against the British in Meerut in 1957, the Adivasis of Jharkhand had revolted against the British Raj‘s attempt to displace them from the forest. In fact, the heroic tales of Santhal and Munda Tribes to protect their autonomy and forest rights have become more than relevant today. Therefore, he points out that the Indian Historians have done a grave injustice by ignoring these valiant stories of the fight by tribal people to protect their zones from the invaders. Giving the example of various struggles in Bengal, Mr. Rawat argues that the protest against castebased hierarchy and British Raj was an equally vociferous but very little reference about the same is found in history books except for the highly nationalized debate from the state about colonialism and emergence of emotional slogans like ―Vande Mataram‖ resulting in complete ignorance of various facts of struggles of Dalits and the marginalized people. Therefore, researchers must dig out the

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

104

factual background of when and how did ―Vande Mataram‖ and ―Bharat Mata‖ came into the picture in Bengal.

The author critically analyses the various milestones in India‘s freedom movement and points out the contribution of the Dalits which was not given its due importance. He starts with India‘s First Revolt against the British Raj, particularly with reference to Santhal – Munda Rebellions Act. Here, he gives glimpses of the contribution of Birsa Munda towards freedom movement. He mentions that the Indian rebellion of May 1957 is wrongly considered as the first war of Indian Independence, overshadowing the Santhal Revolt of 1855-56 which was a large-scale rebellion in northern and central India against the British East India Company Rule. The researcher has already pointed out that the 1957 war of Independence was actually inspired by Matadin Bhangi38, a Dalit. His fight over

a glass of water with Mangal Pandey was the trigger point where Matadin pointed out to Mangal Pandey about the use of cows‘ and pigs‘ fat in the Bullets supplied to the soldiers. In subsequent topics, he discusses the caste struggle in Bengal, Dalits‘ struggle during Peshwai which originated from Maharashtra and also struggles in Travancore. While mentioning about the victory of Bhima Koregaon on 1st January 1818, he explains the detailed account of atrocities on Dalits during Peshwai. The book further elaborates on the Non-Brahmin Movements, particularly, initiated by Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Periyar E V Ramasami Naickar, Sree Narayan Guru and Sri Ayyankali in Travancore. The last chapter is dedicated to the perspective of Dr. Ambedkar and Gandhi towards Freedom Struggle.

There is no doubt that Rise and Role of Marginalised Communities in Indian Freedom Struggle is a well-researched book and it is a must-read book for those who want to know the untold story of the Freedom Struggle. The research was sponsored by the Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi and published by Genuine Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. (www.genuinepublications.com).

Rediff.com News (November 2005), Dalits took part in 1857 revolt: Study, Accessed from https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/10revo lt.htm ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

105

Contesting Marginalisations : Conversations on Ambedkarism & Social Justice By Vidya Bhushan Rawat.

Many Ambedkarites while expressing, their experiences or thoughts, in a formal format like a book always have limitations. The structured writing has helped to understand their thoughts and philosophy but discussions in the form of informal interviews result in bringing out many issues the person may not have expressed in his / her formal writings or speeches. Here is a book that will help you get an insight into many complicated issues on which the person has not written anything but have views and experiences which they want to write or express but somehow left out in this busy world.

Balley, V T Rajshekar, Raja Dhale, Vijay Surwade, and many others, as well as those who may not claim to be Ambedkarites, yet remained supporters of the movement and vision that Dr. Ambedkar espoused for, such as Dr. R M Pal and Mr. Anand Patwardhan, you must read this book. In this book you will read Mr. Anand Teltumbde‘s fierce critique but also Mr. A K Biswas and Manohar Biswas‘s narratives about the dominance of Brahmanical politics in West Bengal. The conversations are wide-ranging with activists as well as human rights defenders in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For the first time, here is a book that gives you an indepth understanding of caste, race, class and other ethnic issues. The conversations are also about the Dravidian legacy of EVR Periyar as well as the issues of Chakmas in Bangladesh too. The Dalit question in Nepal is well discussed with an Ambedkarite as well as one leader of the left movement in Nepal. You can also read the fascinating work of Ambedkarites in the UK through the prism of Ms. Santosh Dass, Mr. Arun Kumar and Mr. Bishan Dass Bains. A well explained interview with Prof. Kevin Brown about the issues of African Americans as well as his fascination with Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Live recording of some of these interviews are also available in the form of Videos and have been uploaded on Lokayat YouTube Channel. The link to the Lokayat Channel is as follows:

Therefore, in order to understand Ambedkarism through the eyes of Ambedkarites like Bhagwan Das, L R

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRjJnj1CEvtLdx 7AcCim6Pw/videos)

This 323-pages book, published by Peoples Literature Publication, has 22 ● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 106

interviews from across the globe and age group. Mr Rawat has interviewed many veteran Ambedkarites who had the opportunity, in person, to work & interact with Dr. Ambedkar and learn from him directly. It is a very important book to understand the Ambedkarite movement over the years.

The detailed reviews of this book can be found at the following links: 1. Bhupinder Singh (2017), The Wire, ―Review: What Ambedkar and His Legacy Mean to People Today‖. It can be accessed from online source at https://thewire.in/books/ambedkar-legacyactivists-contesting-marginalisations-review) 2. Akhil Alha (2019), Social Change 49(4):730-733 • December 2019, "Book review: Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Contesting Marginalisations: Conversations on Ambedkarism and Social Justice, Volume I" It can be accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/3 38078013_Book_review_Vidya_Bhushan_Ra wat_Contesting_Marginalisations_Conversati ons_on_Ambedkarism_and_Social_Justice_V olume_I/link/5e01e82ba6fdcc28373aaa4d/d ownload This book can be purchased at the belowmentioned links: http://peoplesbookshop.com/product/conte sting-marginalisations-ambedkarism-socialjustice/

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

107

Caste Matters By Suraj Yengde

Anti-racism and Accountability, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Suraj has been writing in the field of Caste, Race, Ethnicity Studies, and inter-regional labour migration in the global south. Currently, he is involved in developing a Critical Theory of Dalit and Black Studies. Dr. Suraj is nominated to India's highest literary award, "Sahitya Akademi" and he is a recipient of "Dr. Ambedkar Social Justice Award" Canada 2019, and ―Rohith Vemula Memorial Scholar Award" 2018. He is also the author of Buddhist Voice for the last few years.

Caste Matters is proved to be an explosive book on the subject. In this book, Dr. Suraj has described his gutwrenching experiences of growing up in a Dalit inhabitation. He has discussed the multiple humiliations suffered by the Dalits in everyday life. Caste Matters has been in news and one of the most talked-about books since its publication in 2019. It is published by Penguin Random House. Suraj Yengde is a first-generation Dalit scholar. Suraj is India‘s first Dalit Ph.D. holder from an African University (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) in the nation's history. The book has already made waves and within few weeks of its publication, the book Caste Matters went for reprint. Caste Matters was recently featured in the prestigious "Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade" list by The Hindu. Presently, Suraj is a postdoctoral fellow at the Initiative for Institutional

This path-breaking book reveals the situation in India so that readers can visualize how caste crushes human creativity and is disturbingly similar to other forms of oppression, such as race, class and gender. At once a reflection on inequality and a call to arms, Caste Matters argues that until Dalits lay claim to power and Brahmins join hands against Brahmanism to effect real transformation, caste will continue to matter.

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

108

Ambedkar, Gandhi and Patel: The Making of India's Electoral System By Dr Raja Sekhar Vundru In 1931 Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B R Ambedkar met in London and clashed on the future of India's electoral system. Later in 1932 when the British announced reserved seats for dalits, Gandhi went on a fast unto death. Ambedkar saved his life by agreeing to the changed terms of representation, which changed the course of electoral system of India39.

in 1948. Sardar Patel tried to abolish reserved seats for Dalits also in 1948 only to be thwarted by Ambedkar. Those reserved seats continue. Based on a singular pursuit of tracing the electoral system and methods that define India-the world's largest democracy, this book is the first to document the evolution and account of electoral history of colonial and independent India. Do we know how Sardar Patel and Gandhi used electoral system to integrate India? Since the first provincial elections in 1937, do we know that double member constituencies existed till 1961, only to be abolished by Jawaharlal Nehru? Do we know that Ambedkar lost his first election in independent India because voters threw away their ballots? If we need women reserved seats, we need to know that we might have to try to double member constituencies. This book tells all. The story of electoral thoughts and ideas of Ambedkar, Gandhi and Patel and Ambedkar's struggle to get a representative electoral system appear for the first time in a book. In India only election results are predicted, analysed and compiled. The electoral method that determines India's every election comes into focus in this book. Can any political party get away without offering tickets to one minority community or Dalits? The history is the answer to the future through this book.

The Gandhi - Ambedkar engagement was only on the electoral system and method of election by separate electorates which Muslims enjoyed till then. Till the partition of India in 1947, the draft Constitution provided reserved seats for minorities and Dalits, which Sardar Patel chose to abolish. The fate of India's electoral system shifted to Ambedkar and Sardar Patel after Gandhi's assassination 39

A detailed Book Review of this book can be read at the following link :News 18 Books, "Review of the book Ambedkar, Gandhi and Patel: The Making of India‟s Electoral System by Raja Sekhar Vundru, Bloomsbury", https://www.news18.com/news/books/reviewof-the-book-ambedkar-gandhi-and-patel-themaking-of-indias-electoral-system-by-raja-sekharvundru-bloomsbury-1596639.html

Accessed from https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/ambedkargandhi-and-patel ●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

109

The Corporate Buddha: Strategies for Composure, Confidence and Control By Randiv Mehra extra-ordinary wisdom of The Buddha is presented in terms of three key strategies which when implemented lead to our spiritual innovation. We become wiser, release our great potential, create new possibilities and lead ourselves to better work, a better life and a better destiny.

The teachings of The Buddha with the correct interpretation can be a gamechanger.

They

improvement

enable

and

healing,

transformation

not

only for us but our world and reality as well. There are ways to attract fewer problems, negative

less

negative

outcomes

and

people,

less

thereby

less

negative emotions. There are instead ways to attract better people, better places, better work and better outcomes leading to more positive emotions. One can take charge and control of life. The

The book is published by Bloomsbury Publishing India Pvt. Limited and it is worth investing time in reading this book. A must read book for Corporate Professionals.

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

110

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and 21st Century

By Dr. Girish Jakhotiya Dr Jakhotiya is very frank in his writing with a focus on the welfare of the innocent masses. He presents his own innovative analysis of the teaching of Lord Buddha and the advice given by Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Jakhotiya presents many pragmatic solutions to today‘s complex problems using the doctrines of Buddha and Babasaheb.

This book has received/won the following two awards:1. Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha Award (previously known as Deccan Vernacular Translation Society, Pune), Dr. Girish Jakhotiya is a well-known author having won ten awards so far. He is a reputed international business consultant and a noted economist. The book “Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Ani Ekvisave Shatak” is a Marathi book that has been well accepted by the wider spectrum of readers. This book highlights the vision of Dr. Ambedkar towards the future of the country. This book has five parts which mainly deal with Dr. Ambedkar‘s view about religion, society and nation, economics and common people, the leadership of masses, Islam and the world and social entrepreneurship.

2. Bhai Madhavrao Bagal Award. This award was given by the Government of Maharashtra every year for outstanding work by the writers. The Books for review in this emagazine can be sent to the following address : Dr Anil Yadavrao Gaikwad B-62, Yamuna, Sector – 3 Srishti Complex, Mira Road (East) District Thane, Pin 401107 Maharashtra State, India Phone +91-9821141819

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

111

Acknowledgements of Marathi Books Books by Dr Shashikant Lokhande

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

112

Books by Dr Shashikant Lokhande

●Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

113

Books by Mr. Machindra Kamble

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

114

Book Published by Anand Publication

Book by Dr. Milind Kasabe

● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

115

Readers Voice Thanks for the magazine. It is informative and insightful and I read with great interest. Sudatta Eng, For You, Editorial Supervisor, Singapore

Congratulations on publishing an excellent publication on Buddhist News. It has some excellent articles of interest to anyone interested in Buddhism. Anil Perera Australia Could you please kindly let me know how can I subscribe / receive regular Buddhist Voice e-journal? It is excellent. It was forwarded to me by friends and I shared it with my Buddhist colleagues. Dr. Jana Fernando New Zealand

I read the latest issue of Buddhist Voice, which is of high standard. I appreciate your efforts to promote Buddhism in India and elsewhere. Well done and keep up with the good work. I am Sri Lankan Buddhist. I have written many articles about Buddhism and Law (I am lawyer by profession). I have written an article titled ‗Why Anagarika Dharmapala is important to the Indian Buddhist.‘ If you are happy to publish it, I am happy to email it to you. Chanaka Bandarage Sri Lanka

Buddhist Voice Issue is really informative and insightful. There is so much to learn and share with peer, friends and students. You worked very hard on compiling this. Authors also shared their scholarly work. Congratulations. Keep it up. Dr. Prabha Tirmare Professor Mumbai, India

You can download old issues of Buddhist Voice from following link http://buddhistvoice.com/index.php/downloads/ ● Issue – 8 ● April 2020 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com

116