A non-academic book on the work of the father of the Indian Constitution B R Ambedkar is being planned after a conference to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon generated huge interest in South Africa.
Academics from India, the US and South Africa participated in the two-day event here organised by the Consulate General of India in collaboration with the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) at the Witwatersrand University.
Prof Dilip Menon, Director of CISA, who called for greater scholarly attention worldwide to studying the prolific writings of India's first Law Minister, said the participants had been invited to comment on selected works of Ambedkar.
"The idea is to actually produce a book, which introduces to the average reader some of the major texts of Ambedkar and ways to read them," said Menon.
"Once that first book has been done, we hope to move on to the next set of works, with these then possibly used for teaching and generate a larger interest in Ambedkar's thinking which is quite complex," Menon added.
Opening the conference, Indian Consul-General Randhir Jaiswal recalled the immense contribution of Ambedkar to fighting for the rights of Dalits and downtrodden in India and his seminal role in shaping the Constitution of India as the chairman of its drafting Committee.
"This birth anniversary is being celebrated in every nook and corner of the world by our Government, something which has happened for the first time. To us this global celebration is, indeed, a befitting tribute to a person who had global aspirations and achievements: In spite of all the insurmountable social and economic odds," Jaiswal added.
"This special honouring of Dr Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary underscores the resolve of our Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sakba Vikas' (inclusive development)."
South African participants in the conference highlighted the relevance of Ambedkar's ideas and politics to South African social realities, and called for a closer study looking at the two political experiences, particularly in the areas of social exclusion and injustice for long periods.
Gopal Guru from Jawaharlal University, New Delhi, dwelt on the notion of 'kaivari' (the one who stands up for you) in his analysis of Ambedkar's writings, while Prof Aishwary Kumar from Stanford University, USA, looked at Ambedkar's faith in equality which the protagonist formulated around the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927.
Prof Ajay Skaria, University of Minnesota, USA, talked on Ambedkar's engagement with Buddhism and Valerian Rodrigues, Mangalore University, India, spoke on the radical democratic imagination of Ambedkar and his engagement with the caste system.
Prof Kalyan Kumar Das from Presidency College in Kolkata presented his paper on Ambedkar's seminal writings, highlighting the different strands in the political narrative in India of his time.
