Canada: York University organised community conversation on Dr Ambedkar's Ideology, Teachings & Philosophy

The event was organized under the leadership of Dr Nivedita Das Kundu, Director of CIPRI.

AIM is a global non-profit organization dedicated to continuing Ambedkar’s mission, "Unite Educate & Agitate."

"I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity," Dr Ambedkar had said.

CIPRI Students Group, faculty members of the York University, and all the community leaders and the community members present paid homage to Dr Ambedkar.

Professor Dawn Bazely, project investigator of CIPRI, in her welcome address said that she was excited to unveil the teachings, philosophy and ideology of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, whom she called India's founding parent.

According to Prof Bazely, Dr Ambedkar was responsible for uplifting and advancing the causes of women, not only in India but also in other countries.

As a science professor, Dawn said she was greatly concerned about the status of women and their contributions.

Professor Emeritus Arun Prabha Mukherjee, who had spent the major part of her life studying the philosophy of Dr. Ambedkar said that there was a need for keeping more books on Ambedkar in the libraries.

She recalled reading that Ambedkar faced discrimination towards the beginning of his life being from a lower class in society. However, with whatever resources available to him, he tried his best to pursue his studies and was able to acquire higher education.

Braving odds, Ambedkar was able to find justice not only for himself but he was responsible for emancipation of the downtrodden society of India.

He eventually became the first law minister of India after India’s independence from British rule and worked tirelessly to create constitutional rights for India's marginalized people. Dr. Ambedkar fought for civil rights and struggled against caste and untouchability.

After reading about Dr Ambedkar's struggle, Mukherjee was greatly touched and wanted to raise awareness about this unjust system which was prevalent in India.

While speaking of Ambedkar's philosophy, Remesh Sangha, MP - Liberal, Brampton, said that Ambedkar believed more in building libraries for people of India than in building statues of great men of India.

According to Sangha, DR Ambedkar had pointed out how in earlier days India did not allow advancement of women and many of them were barred from getting higher education. At that time Ambedkar had provided great inspiration for the education of women, providing better opportunities for women in jobs.

But, Sangha said, even when women were successful in getting higher education, they had difficulty finding suitable jobs. If they successfully entered the work force, they still had to suffer great physical and mental abuse at the work place. Even the pay scales for men and women in the same post varied and  Ambedkar fought to empower the women in the Indian society.

Ambedkar believed that industrialisation and agricultural growth could enhance Indian economy. Ambedkar advocated national economic and social development, stressing education, public hygiene, community health, residential facilities as basic amenities for all the citizens of India.

Sangha also recognized the good community work done by CIPRI with the support from York University, focusing on India and Canada’s possible collaborations in research and innovations and acknowledged CIPRI’s efforts and presented certificates to CIPRI research team members from House of Commons, Canada.

Dr. Nivedita Das Kundu reminded the participants that Dr. Bihmrao Ramji Ambedkar -- popularly known as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar -- was the principal architect of the Indian constitution and an emancipator of the poor and deprived.

Dr. Ambedkar, she said, was not only crusader against the caste system and a valiant fighter for the cause of the down trodden but also was a great statesman and a national leader of India. Dr. Ambedkar was a hope for the millions of depressed, oppressed and exploited people.

She said that Dr. Ambedkar's mission was to challenge the ideological foundation of graded system of caste hierarchy that denied equality, freedom and human dignity to minorities as well as, women in Indian Society.

"He developed Indian constitution and tried to bring the equality by the rule of law in India. Dr. Ambedkar left behind vast writings, teachings and valuable speeches and it is our duty to remember his teachings and think through his ideas, his vision, and his methods to bring change in ourselves and in the society as a whole," said Dr Das Kundu.

She said that Dr. Ambedkar was the leader who shaped modern India. As Dr. Ambedkar mentioned that women irrespective of their caste, class and religion should try to understand their rights and duties, protection and safeguards for their empowered, knowing the fundamentals and practicing them in life will be a tribute to Dr. Ambedkar.

"We should try to reach not only to Indo-Canadian Community but also to other community in general and spread his teachings among other nationalities too while we are in the multi-cultural society in Canada," she said in conclusion.

Professor Arun Gautam, president of Dr Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) Canada, Toronto appreciated the effort of those responsible for organising the event “Community Conversation: Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s ideology, philosophy and teachings.” He thanked Dr Ambedkar’s Mission in Scarborough and York University for its deep commitment to social justice.

"Canada and India," said Arun Gautam, "are multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic countries. There are many similarities in the constitutions of Canada and India. The violation of human rights of men, women, and children are important international issues. The international peace and development can’t be achieved without protection of human rights."

Arun Gautam's speech was followed by the speech of Bhram Dutt, from AIM Canada. Dutt pointed out that though Ambedkar graduated from Columbia University, he came from an underprivileged community.

Dutt said Dr Ambedkar inspired, and worked for the betterment of women, and submitted a bill known as Hindu Code Bill (HCB) in the Parliament of India. HCB aimed to codify and reform Hindu personal law in India, the first essential first step towards unifying the nation. However, Dr Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet as a Law Minister when the HCB bill was not passed.

An inspirational recitation by the children of AIM followed, and was much appreciated by the audience.

The programme concluded with the CIPRI Student Research Team thanking all the participants and audience.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)