01-05-2021 The Asian Independent

18 01-05-2021 to 15-05-2021 NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
It is a matter of pride for the Indians
that the United Nations including the
University of British Columbia
declared 14th April as “International
Equality Day”. All over the world,
Ambedkarites, and Buddhists are celebrating
130th birth celebration of
Vishaw Guru Baba Sahib Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar. Ambedakrites & Buddhists,
nationally and internationally, have
organized function virtually as well as
physically to celebrate the birth
anniversary of Baba Saheb Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar.
Nationally, the members of
Ambedkar Mission Society Punjab, in
association with Dr.Ambedkar Bhawan
Trust (ABT) & Samata Sainik Dal,
Punjab unit Shri Baldev Raj Bhardwaj,
Sudesh Kalyan took special permission
from the local administration and
organized the birth celebration function
physically while following the standard
operating procedures (SOPs) during the
pandemic of Coronavirus. The prominent
speakers at the functions were: Dr.
Jagmohan Singh (Nephew of Shahid
Bhagat Singh), Shri Lahori Ram
Balley, Editor Bheem Patrika, Prof. GC
Kaul, trustee Ambedkar Bhawan Trust,
Jalandhar, Shri Jaswinder Waryana-
President All India Samata Sainik Dal,
Punjab unit. A book entitled: “Dr.
Ambedkar De Mahan Karaj” was also
released on this occasion. OUTLOOK
magazine has published a special issue
on this occasion and listed 20 Dalits
who lit the light. Shri Lahori Ram
Balley, Editor Bheem Patrika, who had
the opportunity to meet & work with
Baba Saheb, is one of them.
Internationally, the members- Mr.
Anand Balley, Mr. Major Mal, Mr.
Mathura Mehay, Dr. Raj Narnaware,
Prof. Arun Kumar Gautum, Mr. Nikal,
Mr. & Mrs. Chanchal, Mr. Paramjit
Kainth, Mrs. Sujata & Mr. Mohinder
Sallan under the banner of Pan –
Canada, a platform of Ambedakrite,
Buddhist and Ravidassi organizations
organized virtually the birth anniversary
celebration. Dalit thinkers, intellectuals
across the globe were invited to
share their views. Boston Study Group,
USA, under the leadership of Rajinder
Kumar Badan organized a virtual
progamme.
“Educate, Agitate, Organize” is the
slogan around which the entire Dalit
movement is revolving since 6th
December, 1956. Now the time has
come for the Dalit Samaj, apart from
the celebration of the birth anniversary
of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, to assess the
journey travelled in terms of accomplishments
& disappointments. Any
Educate, Agitate, Organize:
SELF-REFLECTIONS
society or culture stands to
decay if the members do
not make efforts to preserve
it. In simple terms, a
gardener has to see what a
plant needs in order to
grow; a gardener has to see
how much sunlight is
required for the flower or
fruit to grow. Similarly, in
a constantly changing
world, the Dalit Samaj has
to see how much task is
done given by Baba Saheb
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar &
how much is still left. The
day we evaluate this thing,
we can make or remake
our strategy in order to
survive in a competitive
world.
‘Educate’
As everyone knows that
Dr. Ambedkar always
emphasized on Education
because he knew it very
well that the Depressed
Classes (now called
Dalits) for want of economic
resources cannot
make social & economic
mobility without higher
education. In 1929, Dr.
Ambedkar appealed to the Government
of India to make higher education as
cheap to the lower classes as it can possibly
be made. The government of India
accepted his proposal and introduce a
scholarship for the Dalits. Similarly,
Dr. Ambedkar also appealed to the
Government of India that 33% marks
should be made the criteria for eligibility
for employment in government
services. Dr. Ambedkar`s argument was
that the people belonging to the
Depressed Classes are not able to afford
exorbitant tuition fees to acquire the
best education. After 2014 in India, the
tuition fees of higher education including
government institutions have been
raised to 500%. Today, a Dalit student
aspiring to become a doctor or engineer
from a reputed college or university
needs 1 Crore. Even if a Dalit student
obtains 90% marks he or she cannot
afford such exorbitant fees because of
two major reasons, one is due to steep
poverty among their parents; the other
is the absence of collateral security to
be pledged to the bank to take a student
loan. Day by day, the drastic cut in government
scholarship for higher studies
meant for the SCs/STs have added further
woes to the critical situation of the
Dalits in the education field. In this
-Dr. Rahul Kumar,
Senior Columnist,
the Asian Independent UK
prevailing situation, where will the
Dalits students go? Who will help them
to earn higher education? The Dalit
activists have to think over it and take
up this matter with the government of
India.
‘Agitate’
In his lifetime, Baba Saheb Dr.
Ambedkar launched several public agitations
for the rights of the Dalits Dr.
Ambedkar was of the
view that political
power should be used
to resolve problems of
the people; to empower
them so that they
can become rulers of
the country. Dr.
Ambedkar was very
clear about his mission
and actions. Having
observed this, the
members of the
Depressed Classes
thronged to him and
participated in the
public agitations
(Mahad Satayagrah)
because they knew it
very well that Baba
Saheb Dr. Ambedkar
was fighting for their
rights. They believed
him, they trusted him.
In return, Dr.
Ambedkar never disappointed
them
despite his ailing
health. They also knew
it very well that Dr.
Ambedkar would
never bow to any High
Command of any
mainstream political party for his own
economic or professional benefit. Baba
Saheb Dr. Ambedkar understood very
well the cunning minds of the
Brahmins who were making policies &
programmes. Dr. Ambedkar being a
jurist & visionary knew in advance the
impact of these policies and programmes
on the life of the Depressed
Classes. Knowing this, he planned his
strategy. Today.it is unfortunate to
know that we find that the majority of
the Dalit elected representatives lack
vision and guts. The Dalits are losing
faith in them because the majority of
such representatives are greedy, opportunists
and traitors.
One will be surprised to know that
former Dalit woman Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh has issued directions to
the party workers not to organize public
protests. She also restricted herself to
issuing public statements on the paper.
Despite having political power she
watched silently the social & economic
deterioration of the Dalits in the state;
she watched silently the atrocities on
the Dalits; she watched silently the
rapes of the poor Dalit girls. The
Brahmins took every matter related to
the welfare of the Dalits to the court.
She kept on filling up her purse. Her
party did not bother to hire the best
lawyers to fight the cases in the court
and get relief for the distressed Dalits.
Udit Raj (earlier in BJP & now in
Congress) also termed BSP supremo
Mayawati as ‘feudal’ and ‘Manuvadi’
and pointed out that her disdain for
Dalits can be understood from the fact
that she never allows any Dalit to sit
beside her (India TV, July 13,
2014).Union Minister Ram Das
Athawale (BJP) demanded 25% reservation
should be given to the upper
castes ( Hindustan Times 16 April
2018). Late Ram Vilas Paswan
demanded 15 % reservation for the
upper caste (Financial Express 18 April
2018). Can you expect anything from
such Dalit elected representatives?
‘Organize’
On this account, the Dalit Samaj is
quite a week. The majority of the Dalit
leaders have forgotten to organize
themselves. They are highly confused
people on this earth. Their minds are
agitating like a child. For their own
economic interests, they can sell themselves
or mortgage the Dalit movement
to any mainstream political party. Rich,
resourceful Dalits are found exploiting
poor Dalits in the name of Baba Saheb
Dr. Ambedkar. One will be surprised to
know that recently a new Karol Bagh
gang has emerged having wealthy,
materialistic Dalits on board that collect
lakhs of rupees every year on the
eve of ‘Jankalyankari Day’. Nobody
knows where these funds go. Now the
time has come to identify such people.
The time has come to close doors to
them in order to save the future of the
Dalit Samaj. Would you please ponder
over it?
No doubt, we have achieved milestones
in our journey but our disappointments
are numerous. There is an
urgent need to invigorate the Dalit
movement. For that, we have to pause
for some time and do some brain exercise
in order to save the Dalit Samaj.
Let us sit, hold a discussion, and evaluate
our accomplishments & disappointments.
Let us not allow greedy, opportunist
& traitor to further paralyze the
Dalit movement. Today, Baba Saheb
Dr. Ambedkar is asking all of us about
the progress of the task he had handed
over to us.
RIL doubles Q4 net profit to Rs 13,227 cr
Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) Reliance
Industries Lts (RIL) on Friday reported
a 108 per cent growth in its consolidated
net profit for the January-
March quarter at Rs 13,227 crore.
During the same quarter of FY20,
the company had reported a net profit
of Rs 6,348 crore.
The company, in a regulatory filing,
said that Rs 13,227 crore is the net
profit attributable to the owners of the
company.
The oil-to-telecom giant reported a
revenue from operations of nearly Rs
1.55 lakh crore, 11 per cent higher on
a year-on-year basis, during the period
under review.
RIL Chairman and Managing
Director Mukesh D. Ambani said:
"These are extraordinarily challenging
times for India. Our immediate priority
is to help our country and community
tide over the Covid crisis. We
have deployed our best resources in
strengthening the nation's fight against
the pandemic."
He added that RIL's facilities in
Jamnagar are producing lifesaving
medical grade oxygen, which is the
crucial need of the hour in many
states.
"We have also taken urgent steps to
bolster the nation's capacity to swiftly
transport medical oxygen. These
efforts complement our other initiatives
such as distributing free meals to
the needy, supplying PPEs to frontline
workers and setting up world class
Covid-care facilities."
Ambani noted that the company
has registered robust recovery in
O2C and retail segment, and
resilient growth in digital services
business.
"Sustained high utilisation rates
across sites and improvement in
downstream product deltas as well
as transportation fuel margins aided
O2C earnings growth. Our consumer
businesses have proved to be
a digital and physical lifeline for the
nation in these challenging times.
Jio's high-speed connectivity services
enabled millions of Indians
work from home, study from home
and even receive healthcare from
home," he said.