guru nanak and his vision 550th birth anniversary … · 2019-11-20 · corridor for devotees of...

Editor-in-Chief: Prem Kumar Chumber Contact: 001-916-947-8920 Fax: 916-238-1393 E-mail: [email protected]

VOL- 11 ISSUE- 31-36 November 20, 2019 www.ambedkartimes.com www.ambedkartimes.org

550th Birth Anniversary celebrations of GuruNanak Dev Ji Maharaj were held at Sri Guru Ravi-dass temple, Pittsburg, on November 17th, 2019with a spirit of dedication and enthusiasm. Approx-imately seven to Eight hundred devotees from allparts of Bay Area participated in this historic andauspicious day. Three days Shri AKHAND PATH and

langar Sewa for the occasion was voluntarilyhosted by a very dedicated family of Shri VarinderKumar Sudhir of Concord.

Mr O.P. Balley founder member of the tem-ple while managing the proceedings of the functionfrom the stage addressed the Sangat with the mes-sage of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, an apostle of peace,love, equality and humanism.

Guru Sahib’s message was meant not forany particular section of the community but for theentire spectrum of society. During the 14th and15th centuries when the Political, religious and So-cial conditions had declined to its lowest ebb, GuruNanak Dev Ji enlightened the people that God isone without any discriminations, delusions or ritual beliefs.

Bhai Gurnam Singh Ji and Om Pal Singh Ji(Jatha Gurughar) also shared with Sangat, GuruNanak Dev Ji's spiritual message of love, peace andharmony through their Shabad Kirtan.

A very renowned Ragi Jatha from San Joseled by Bhai Laakhan Singh also embellished the oc-casion with their melodious Shabad Kirtan basedon the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Other speakers who paid their tribute andhomage to Guru Nanak Dev Ji included Mr. RajGumber, Bibi Kulwant Kaur, Bibi Navneet Kaur andBibi Satnam Kaur and a group of young childrenfrom Rattu family.

SIGNIFICANCE OF OPENING KARTARPURSAHEB CORRIDOR: - Opening of Kartarpur Saheb

Corridor for devotees of Guru Nanak Dev Ji to visitKartarpur where Guru Saheb spent the last 18years of his life as an agriculturist bears an un-precedented significance on the part of both Indiaand Pakistan to live in peace and harmony. Therecan be no better tribute and homage to the legacyof Guru Nanak Dev's divine preachings with a uni-versal appeal.

In the end the Sudhir Family who hostedday and night Sewa during the recitation of ShriAkhand Path was honored with a Siropa from GuruGhar.Guru Ghar committee also thanked Mr. PremKumar Chumber Chief Editor, Desh Doaba andAmbedkar Times for taking pictures and providinglive-coverage of the entire event on the Facebook.

The program ended with the recitation ofARDAS and thanks to Sangat."NANAK NAAM CHARDI KALA -TERE BHANESARBAT DA BHALA"

SEWADAR,O. P. BALLEY

Founding Member Sri Guru Ravidass Sabha Pittsburg, CA

550th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONSOF GURU NANAK DEV JI IN PITTSBURG

Guru Nanak and his Visionof Egalitarian Social Order

Prem K. ChumberEditor-In-Chief: www.ambedkartimes.comAfter Tathagath Lord Buddha, it was Baba GuruNanak who raised a thundering voice against theoppressive social system of caste divisions anduntouchability. His engaging approach and consis-tent efforts for the establishment of egalitarian so-ciety both through teachings and practicedistinguished him from his predecessors and con-temporaries of the Prema-Bhakti path of famousNorth Indian Bhakti Movement (Great Revolution-ary Movement), which is known for its emphasison equality of all persons irrespective of theircaste, sex and creed before the almighty God.Baba Nanak was for social and gender equality inboth the realms of spirituality (Parlok) and terres-trial world (lok). He stood with the lowest of thelow. He reiterated that if one was desirous of thegrace of God, he had to take care of the lowest ofthe low. In order to institute the principle of socialequality in the sharply divided Hindu caste soci-ety, he founded the tradition of common commu-nity kitchen (langar) which needs to be financedout of the hard earned living by sharing its fruits.KiratKaro, NaamJapo, VandShakko was the tril-ogy for the success of his social revolution. How-ever, this trilogy of spiritual path needs to beunderstood in conjunction with the another pos-tulate of the egalitarian social structure of Sikhismmeticulously nurtured by Guru Nanak. Sharing thefruits of one's hard earned labor was to be prac-ticed across caste boundaries of the given Hindusociety based as it was on the divisive Varnaorder. Baba Nanak advocated decimation of allsuch oppressive caste based social boundaries.The inclusion of the Bani of different spiritual per-sonalities cutting across caste lines vindicates theegalitarian intent of Sikhism. Had Baba Nanakbeen alive today, he would not have approved ofthe emergence of Gurdwaras on caste/communitylines. Similarly, for the establishment of a trueegalitarian society, Guru Nanak laid emphasis forthe emancipation and empowerment of thewomen who were denied equal rights. While high-lighting the various merits of women, Baba Nanaksaid why to condemn them who give birth toprincess. He travelled far and wide to comprehendas well as enlighten the ignorant about their du-ties towards themselves, society and spiritualworld. We need to sincerely adopt his teachingsin our routine daily life and social dealings to giveshape to the society which he envisioned andtruly practiced in his earthly life time. Are we gen-uinely living the way he exhorted us to live? Letus do introspection within ourselves on the aus-picious occasion of 550 Parkash Purab of GuruNanak Dev Ji and resolve to follow his teachingsin word and spirit. Read more: www.ambedkar-times.com

Honorable Dr. Ronki Ramhonored at the

auspicious occasion of

550th ParkashPurv of Sri

Guru NanakDev ji at IK

Gujral PTU Ka-purthala (Pun-

jab) onNovember 10, 2019.

All pictures credit: Prem K. Chumber Ambedkar Times

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 2V0l-11 Issue-31-36 November 20, 2019

550th BIRTH ANNIVERSARYCELEBRATIONS OF GURU NANAK DEV JI IN PITTSBURG



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bfbf sfihb zf[ BIm rfE aMbydkr dy Brf dy pVpoqry sRI rfjrqn aMbydkr sRI gurU rivdfs tYNpl iptsbrg (kYlyPornIaf) phuMcy.

Wedding ceremony of Ravi Singh Bhatia, son of Jagtar Singh Bhatia and Nirmla Bhatia withAlexandria Noelle D'Souza, daughter of Daughter of Luiz D'Souza and Cherylanne D'Souza was

celebrated in Sri Guru Ravidass Temple, Pittsburg on October 9, 2019.

Wedding of Michael Chand RALH son of Mr.Ramesh Chand Rahl and Mrs. Jindo RALH withKameshwary Devi Daughter of Mr. TrivenderKumar Ans Mrs.Kavia Sharma in Sri Guru Ravi-dass Temple Pittsburg on November 1, 2019


From the very beginning of the ap-pearance of human beings on theearth planet, religion kept on accom-panying them. In fact, it remainedperennial manifestation of the hopes,inchoate ideas, fears, phobias, aspira-tions, visions, socio-cultural norms,mores, ethos and emerging moral par-adigms. Religion assigns meanings toabstract cultural worldviews in themode of deciphering oblique socialsymbols and pagan marks. Culturaldifferences and social demarcationsare often identified through the dis-tinct mental cartographies of religiousboundaries.Intensive pursuit of cul-tural studies within the relatively lateemergence of the discipline of anthro-pology in the broader domain of So-cial Sciences could become possibleperhaps due to the rich presence ofvaried tangible and intangible reli-gious traditions across civilizationsand continents around the globe. Re-ligion and culture are interrelated andborn of thought, which is what Clif-ford Geertz called “conduct and is tobe morally judged as such". Thoughtlike another social act is culturally andtraditionally made available in nicelypacked tedious religious foils. Sincethinking is directly related to 'social'as opposed to 'personal', it material-izes itself in the tangible frameworkof religious norms and ethos amongothers. In the realm of human com-munity,'personal’ is invariably inter-changes with 'social'.

The very existence of humanbeings is ‘social’. It is within the ‘so-cial’ of human beings that their ‘per-sonal’ assumes distinct shape withinits larger social self; and ‘the presen-tation of self in everyday life,’ to bor-row the famous phrase of ErvingGoffman, becomes ‘less of an individ-ual matter; less a personal project,more a collective, even a political,one’. And that collective/political 'so-cial' reveals itself more vividly in theform of what contestably called 'reli-gion'. Cultural anthropology seeksthe explication of the socially hiddenphenomena in the garb of religionwhile picking up its cultural threadson the surface of religious beliefs. Itis in this critical context that the 're-ligious' metamorphoses into 'cultur-al'. Cultural and religious become toocomplex to get separated from eachother in a neatly dividing framework.If culture is passage to both the ‘per-sonal’ and ‘social’ of human beings,religion is the storehouse of that ‘cul-ture’.

Apart from this above men-tioned highly productive functionalagency of religion, it also plays an in-domitable role of deep social transfor-mation while building meta counter-public narratives through questioningas well as demolishing the given anti-social and anti-individual structures ofdiscrimination, domination, oppres-sion and marginalization. If religionwas deployed to create hope and at-tain meaningful socially egalitarianexistence, it was not spared at allfrom being used to promote partisan

and vested interests. Religious warsat different intervals are the most rel-evant case in point. Moreover, thegiven adamant structural mecha-nisms of well-established religious or-ders often give rise to new religiousvisions to respond to subdued humanconcerns buried under the deadweight of empty structure of oncemeaningful religions and the teach-ings of their heavenly founders. Reli-gions are born of social contentionsin a given society rooted in its internaland external environs and give rise tofurther social conflicts.

Each religion has its own long

life story from the initial stages of dig-ging foundational channels to the fin-ishing touches on its formal structuralsettings in the tangible form of sanc-tum sanctorum as pilgrimage centerswith highly guarded sacred texts sur-rounded by never-ending ceremonies,rituals and prayers.Every religion tooklong time to reach its formally crys-talized structure and often had toface untold difficulties on its thornyway. Religion had to assume variedforms to impact its followers as wellas adversaries during its long tortur-ous journey. It invariably began withan appearance of a great personalitywhat Muhammad Iqbal called Marad-e-Kamil who exposed the world to anew way for leading a meaningful lifein an egalitarian sphere of social in-teraction with humble deeds and self-less conduct. Called a Guru, Prophetor Son of God, the precursors in anyof these nomenclatures dedicatedtheir entire life towards the better-ment of social conditions around andbuilding good deeds within the heartsof humanity. Structures (temples,churches, mosques, gurdwaras,deras, ashram, rituals, rites, cere-monies, traditions, hukamnamas etc.)were laid down and traditions formu-lated to bemeticulously followed bytheir descendants and followers.

What part of this long journey of con-cretisation of a religious order is moreimportant - initial life teaching of thefounder or the structural parapherna-lia that evolved in the due course ofits institutional rise up - is a difficultquestion to answer. Here enters in-compatibility between the teachingsof the precursors and the later onadded structural paraphernalia al-legedly built around their life storiesand post thinking about them amongtheir followers.

My immediate concern in thispaper is to contextualize the teach-ings of Guru Nanak, the founder of

Sikhism, theyoungest religion inthe world, within histime and its relevancefor a meaningful so-cial existence. GuruNanak was born at atime when the longDelhi Sultanate period(1206-1526) wascoming to an end andthe emerging Mughaldynasty (1526-1857)was taking its roots inturbulent Hindustanunder the reign ofBabur (1526-1530).It was a time whenthe country had al-ready been ruled overfor almost more than500 years after thedemise of HinduShahi (879–1026)that was ableto established its holdon the most turbulentregions ofAfghanistan after de-

feating the rulers of Turk Shahi (665-850).The period before the DelhiSultanatewas equally turbulentwherein Turkish invasions to capturepower from various pockets of differ-ent Hindu dynasties was a routine af-fair. Hindu Shahi dynasties in Kabulvalley and Gandhara, and Brahmin dy-nastic rule of last Hindu Raja Dahir ofSindh were replaced by Turkish originIslamic rule after repeated attacks.Hindu rule in Sindh was brought to anend by the killing of Raja Dahir withthe sword of Muhammad bin Qasimwho sent his severed head along withhis two daughters to Al-Hajjaj ibnYusuf, governer of Basra oftheUmayyad Caliphate in 712. Infact, the period from the invasion ofMuhammad bin Qasim on Sindh(712) to the establishment of theMughal Dynasty in 1526 constitutesthe most turbulent long phase of fightbetween the then fast expanding Is-lamic religion and the dwindling graphof the once well-established Hindu re-ligion along with other equally re-spected religions of Buddhism andJainism as is evident from the timesof Gupta Empire (from the mid-to-late3rd century CE to 543 CE). The com-mon people of the region were theimmediate victims of the ferociousatrocities perpetrated by the agency

and forces ofthe expansion ofIslam. Therewere unendingc on s p i r a c i e sbeing playedwithin the corri-dors of Islamicruling families,which were con-tinously en-gaged in savageinternecine war-fare amongthemselves and the heat of theirfights further afflicted the innocentpeople who were forced to lead asub-human life. It was against such along turbulent phase that Guru Nanakappeared on the scence what thetheologian Bhai Gurdas aplty de-scribed in the following poetic words:The true Guru, Nanak, was then bornThe fog and mist evaporatedAnd light shone on the earth.As the rising Sun dispels the dark andoutshines the StarsAs flee the herd of deer when the lionroarsWithout pause, without turning backfor assurance(So fled evil from the world) (as trans-lated in Khushwant Singh, A Historyof Sikhs Vol. 1) .

---Before and during the life

span of Guru Nanak (1469-1539)there was no dearth of religious inter-ventions to grapple with varied social,cultural and political evils of the time,but what makes Guru Nanak and hisnon-anthropomorphic God based ap-proach different was anintense abilityof his soul appeal to influence the fol-lowers of both Islam and Hindu reli-gions and his valiant stand in favourof the downtrodden. The merit of hisunique approch lies in his achieve-ment to keep himself beyond andabove the misconceptions of bothHinduism and Islam, on the one hand,and offering an alternative way of anegalitarian living based on inclusivesocial vision and rationalistic spiritualpursuits.However, as far as his socialvision is concerned it needs to becontextualized more in his spiritualunderstanding of the ultimate truthand to get oneself immersed within itthan in his contemporary social mi-lieu. There is no doubt about his deepand all embracing knowledge of thevaried dimensions of the social, eco-nomic, cultural and political aspectsof life that he lived through. In hiscomprehensive compositions, hemeticulously mentioned varied politi-cal offices, social ranks based onHindu varna order, Muslim socio-reli-gious nomenclatures and occupa-tional segments. The ‘social’ for himwas ephemeral and transitory. In fact,Guru Nanak termed it as false. Thatis why he did not weigh the meritsand demerits of the followers ofHindu and Islam in a comparativeequation from a judgemental point ofview. He was equally critical of both

(Contd.. to next Page)

Religious Refiguration of Social Transformation:Drawing Lessons from the Teachings of Guru Nanak

Ronki RamFellow & Dean (Arts Faculty)Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor of Political Science Panjab University, Chandigarh


the mullas and pandits from a largerperspective of the most tenable goalof salvation in the realm of truth.

For Guru Nanak it was noteasy to question the surging Islamicinfluence under its cruel political forcebuttressed by the supplementary ec-clesiastically organised institutional(shariat) set-up headed by Shaikhs,Pirs, Mullas and Qazis. With hismeticulously articulated bani (spiritualpoetry), Guru Nanak wasnot only able to prevailupon his detractors froma distance but showedthem the true pathbythem. He convincedthe Shaikhs at Meccathat God did not live in aparticular direction onearth; indeed every direc-tion was His abode. Heconveyed his message tothe rulers and the ruled insuch a wonderful waythat all of them foundhim speaking from a levelthough different fromtheir convictions and reli-gious conventions butwith an appeal to theirvery being within. It wasthe reason that while inBaghdad when GuruNanak was conveyed in asymbolic manner that there was nomore place left for any other personin the congreation of religious per-sons at a dwelling, he calmly placedsome petals of a flower on a bowl fullof milk without making it spill outthus making them realise the exclu-sionary nature of their behaviour.Similarly at home during his visit toHardwar he proved the pilgrims whowere bathing in the Hindu holy riverGanga and praying for the well beingsof the departed souls of their ances-trors by offering water to the Sun ata distance of “49.1/2 crore kos” thatif the water offered by him failed toreach his agricutural field in Kartarpurwhich was only 250 kos away, howcome yours would reach at such along and high up distance.

Guru Nanak was adept in theways of conveying his messageacross the religions and regions at atime when populace had long beforeresigned to fate in the face of tyrantrulers who simply relied upon bruteforce. How the Gazhnavid andGhorids oppressed the people of Hin-dustan during their repeated raidsraised hairs even today after hearingabout such atrocities. Guru Nanakhad the courage and audacity to roseup to the challenge posed by Baburand his associates, and minced nowords calling spade a spade. In his in-trepid Babur bani, he called the Kingslions and their officers dogs whotroubled the people unprovoked intheir leisure time. He travelled far andwide within the country and beyondin the four directions and indulged indialogues with all sorts of people hemet during his historic four odysseys.During his travels abroad, he visited

Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan Iran/Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Hindustan hadvery close trade and cultural interac-tions with these areas in its neigh-bouring states in the Asian continent.Moreover, after the long reign of DelhiSultanate and the formative years ofMughal rule, foreign lands of Baghdadand Mecca ceased to be so remote atleast in terms of cultural and religiouscontexts. Guru Nanak's prophetic

visit at these places and his enchant-ing teachings therein proved to thelocal people that Hindustan was nolonger the land of infidels that had tobe conquered and enslaved. On thecontrary, Guru Nanak proved themthat spiritual knowledge is not onlythe fiefdom of Islam and Hinduism. Itresided in every corner of the planetwherever the humanity was re-spected and the downtrodden weretaken care of. He was able to winover his detractors through love, em-pathy and compassion. He convincedthem with his reason based argumen-tationsto locate where resided the re-ality. Whosoever had come into hiscontact got motivated and convincedabout the eternal truth wrapped inthe sacred words of his spiritual po-etry. He spoke and conversed in thelanguage of the comman people -Punjabi. He addressed almost all sec-tions of the society in the medievalPunjab and took special note of thesocially excluded sections of the so-ciety and women. He was, as under-lined above, spoke for theemancipation and empowerment ofthe socially excluded people andwomen while invoking the moral andethical principles relating to the allpervasive existence of the attribute-less God in each and every particle inthe cosmos. Since God himself pe-vade in everyone and everywhere, noone should be victimized in the nameof caste, gender and creed. In Hiseyes, all carry equal weight. Sincelowest of the low (Nichan under NichJati)and women were denied equalrights and subjected to all sorts of hu-milations and were made to suffer inignominy, Guru Nanak placed special

emphasis on these two most vulner-ables and historical oppressed sec-tions of the society. He reiterated inhis spiritual poetry that why to con-demn women without whom thisworldly life was impossible to imagine. BMiz jMmIaY BMiz inMmIaY BMiz mMgxu vIafhuBMzhu hovy dosqI BMzhu clY rfhu�BMzu muaf BMzu BflIaY BMiz hovY bMDfnu�so ikAu mMdf afKIaY ijqu jMmih rfjfn�

BMzhu hI BMzu AupjY BMzY bfJu n koie�nfnk BMzY bfhrf eyky scf soie� ijqu muiKsdf sflfhIaY Bfgf rqI cfir�nfnk qy muK Aujly iqqu scY drbfir�

Similarly while raising his boldvoice against the oppressive livingconditions of the lower classes, BabaNanak exhorted that those who carefor the lowest of the low receive thegrace of God.nIcf aMdir nIc jfqu, nIcI aiq nIc�nfnku iqn kY sMig sfiQ, vizaf isAu ikaf rIs�ijQY nIc smflIain iqQY ndir qyrIbKsIs�

In an unjust society sharplydivided into low and high castes seg-ments, the grace of lord could not beinvoked. Guru Nanak’s tirade againstsocial injustice and his life long com-mitment towards building an egalitar-ian society free from caste andgender divisions manly attracteddowntrodden (victims of caste andgender divisions) towards his newlyemerging faith that culminated into awell-structured religious order at thepious hands of Tenth Master alsocalled Dasma Nanak – Guru GobindSingh.

Though Sikh religion took160 years to get its accomplishedshape after the exhit of Baba Nanak,some of its basic features which nur-tured by him continued to shape themoral and ethical conduct of its fol-lower even today. After the conclu-sion of his odysseys, Guru Nanakfinally settled at Kartarpur Sahib, anew habitat that he founded after thecompletion of the first course of hisodysseys. A sarover (water pond) andkhooh (well) were dug at KartarpurSahib. It was at these two water bod-

ies that Baba Nanak started the tra-dition of taking an early bath to befollowed by recitation of the holyshabds (hymns) of Japji Sahib, one ofhis most adored spiritual composi-tions, before taking up daily routinework. The purpose behind foundingthe tradition of taking bath in earlymorning within the precincts of Kar-tarpur Sahib and to meditate on thename of one God was perhaps to dis-

card the age old tradi-tion of making longvoyages to far off holyrivers/places for ablu-tions. That traditions ispreserved even todayby Guru Nanak naam-leevansangat (followersof the Baba Nanakfaith). The followers ofNanak prefer to takebath on auspiciousdays of Gurpuravs (an-niversaries of Gurus),punia (full moon night)and sangrand (the firstday of every month) inthe name of Waheguruat their respectivenearby Gurdwaras. The presence ofsarovers in almost allGurdwaras, especiallythe historic ones, is a

case in point of the continuation ofthe tradition set by Baba Nanak atKartarpur for arranging bathing facili-ties within the living precinct of hisfollowers. Its legacy can be seen inthe early morning holy processionforthe prakash (to begin the recitation ofthe celestial bani) of Sri Guru GranthSahib at Darbar Sahib/ Golden TempleAmritsar.Tenth Nanak, Guru GovindSingh, also refuted the tradition ofgoing on pilgrimage for ablutions byemphasing that if one takes bath atholy places upto the seventh sea, heloses this world and also the next one(Twaprasad Swaiye).

Another equally consistentSikh tradition laid down by BabaNanak is kirat karo, band shakoo,Nam Japoo (earn with one's hand,share the fruits of hard earned labourwith other and meditate on name ofattribute less one God). However, thisethical trilogy of spiritual path of Sikhfaith needs to be understood in con-jection with another postulate of itse-galitarian social structuremeticulously nurtured by GuruNanak. Sharing the fruits of one'shard earned labour was to be prac-ticed across caste boundaries withinthe given Hindu society based as itwas on the divisive varna order. BabaNanak advocated decimation of allsuch oppressive caste and genderbased social boundaries. The inclu-sion of the bani of different spiritualpersonalities cutting across castelines vindicates the egalitarian intentof Sikhism. Had Baba Nabak beenalive today, he would not have ap-proved of the emergence of variedGurdwaras based on caste/commu-nity lines.

Religious Refiguration of Social Transformation:Drawing Lessons from the Teachings of Guru Nanak

Honorable Dr. Ronki Ram honored at the auspicious occasion of 550th Parkash Purv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji at IK Gujral PTU Kapurthala (Punjab) on November 10, 2019.


Dismantling Casteism & Racism Symposium

Saturday, October 12, 2019 (10AM – 3PM)Continuing the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

“Jai Bhim! Jai Martin Luther King!”So began Professor Kancha IlaiahShepherd’s address to a packed audi-ence at the Michigan League on Sat-urday, October 12. Invoking Dr.Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and Dr.Martin Luther King—two stalwarts inthe global struggle against racism andcasteism—Professor Shepherd kicked

off a full-day of presentations and dis-cussions for the symposium “Dis-mantling Casteism & Racism:Continuing the Unfinished Legacy ofDr. B.R. Ambedkar.” The event was afirst-ever collaboration between theAmbedkar Association of NorthAmerica (AANA) and University ofMichigan’s Program in Asian/PacificIslander American (A/PIA) Studies.Aimed at building solidarity and ex-amining issues that pertain to theDalit community in South Asia, thesymposium explored the politics ofdignity and equal rights for marginal-ized communities in a global contextwith an emphasis on intersectionswith issues of gender, race, and reli-gion. As the organizers put it, “Weseek to strengthen conversations be-tween scholars, activists, and practi-tioners in analyzing caste-baseddiscrimination and violence in SouthAsia and beyond.”

The Vandenberg room of theMichigan League was filled withnearly one-hundred audience mem-bers, including guests from California,Chicago, Toronto, Indiana and Ken-tucky. Two longtime activists of theAmbedkarite movement, Dr. Velu An-namalai (Washington, DC) and Dr.Gary Bagha (Sacramento) were alsoin attendance. During a reception heldin Sterling Heights on Friday, Dr. An-namalai—the former executive direc-

tor of the International Dalit Forum—spoke about his early years as an ac-tivist for the Dalit cause when he firstimmigrated to the U.S. in the late1960s. Dr. Annamalai described hisefforts lecturing across the country toAfrican American audiences aboutthe struggle against casteism andpenning editorials in Indian-American

newspapers that challenged thebenevolent image of Gandhi by high-lighting his record of anti-Blackracism and his role in underminingDalit self-determination.

The Saturday morning ses-sion featured speeches from Profes-sor Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, whorecently retired from the Center forthe Study of Social Exclusion and In-clusive Policy at Maulana Azad Uni-versity, and ThenmozhiSoundararajan, the director of Equal-ity Labs and former director of AANAin the U.S. One of India’s most promi-nent anti-caste intellectuals, Shep-herd spoke about the “spiritualfascism” that undergirds caste prac-tice and sharply criticized the virulentHindu nationalism of modern Indiathat continues to persecute and dis-enfranchise the Dalitbahujan commu-nity. Continuing these themes,Soundararajan discussed the role of“Hindu fascism” in proliferating a cli-mate of violence and hatred towardsDalits, Muslims, Christians, and othernonupper- caste communities. Herpresentation displayed examples ofthe proliferation of hate speechagainst Muslims and Dalits on socialmedia as well as the bipartisan in-roads that the Hindu Right have madein U.S. electoral politics. Her presen-tation asked a captivated audience toconsider, “What does it mean to be

an Ambedkarite during a time of fas-cism?” “It means more than justcoming to a conference,” Soundarara-jan explained, imploring the audienceto consider how to continue thestruggle against casteism and Hin-dutva outside of ivory tower spaces.

An afternoon session fea-tured three panelists who discussed

more personal impacts of casteism,colorism, and racism by focusing onthe role of mental health. AnkitaNikalje, M.S., M.Ed, a doctoral candi-date at the College of Education atPurdue, described her personal expe-riences of living as a Dalit woman andconnected her narrative to recentstudies which highlight the rampantcaste-based discrimination in theAsian-Indian immigrant community inthe U.S in education, employment,local businesses, places of worship,and interpersonal relationships. Pro-fessor Ronald Hall from MichiganState University, whose scholarshiphas focused on the role of “colorism”in the African American community,drew connections between colorismand caste in South Asia.

The final panelist, ProfessorGaurav Pathania from George Wash-ington University, explored the waysthat student activism in India has em-powered Ambedkarite scheduledcastes, scheduled tribes, and OBCstudents to construct a new narrativeto counter the mainstream narrativesof Hindu mythology within the sacredspaces of higher education. Heclosed the afternoon panel with arecitation of his poem, "The MoonMirrors a Manhole" (“चाँद मैनहोल सालगता है”).

To conclude the event, Ma-hesh Wasnik, a co-founder of the

AANA and symposium organizer, pre-sented plaques and a copy of the In-dian constitution to each of the panelists.

The symposium was the cul-mination of a conversation that beganin January 2019, initiated by MaheshWasnik and Vivek Chavan of AANA incoordination with Professor Manan

Desai of UM’s A/PIA Studies pro-gram. In the end, the symposiumbrought together a number of com-munities not only at the University ofMichigan and Metro-Detroit region,but nationally. It was sponsored bycommunity organizations includingthe Periyar-Ambedkar Circle, theAmerican Federation of Muslims ofIndian Origin, and the Association forIndia’s Development.

A long list of University ofMichigan sponsors also generouslyfunded and supported the event, in-cluding A/PIA Studies, the Depart-ment of American Culture, the Officeof Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,Rackham’s DEA Programmatic Sup-port Fund, the LSA Humanities Insti-tute Mini Grant for Public Humanities,the Center for South Asian Studies,the Department of English Language& Literature, the Department of Com-parative Literature, the Center forSouth Asian Studies, the Departmentof History, the Global Scholars Pro-gram, and the Barger Leadership Institute.

The organizers especiallythank the following individuals whomade the event possible: Vivek Cha-van, Rakesh Raipure, Chatak Dhakne,Prabhu Karan, Dinesh Pal, GanganithiSivapandian, Sandeep Kulkarni, An-shul Sontakke, Rohit Meshram,Bikash, and Bipin.


Rajratan Ashok Ambedkar's Historic Visit to Californiawww.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 8V0l-11 Issue-31-36 November 20, 2019

guru nanak and his vision 550th birth anniversary … · 2019-11-20 · corridor for devotees of...

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