Editor-in-Chief: Prem Kumar ChumberVOL- 4 ISSUE- 7 September 21, 2012 www.ambedkartimes.com www.ambedkartimes.org

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ADAB & SALAM TO AMBEDKAR The formal ceremony to announce the outcomeof the Greatest Indian poll was held on August14 at the CNN-IBN TV Channel in a filmy style.Shabana Azami who was the member of theJury pronounced, with a sense of pride and grat-ification, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as the greatest In-

dian since 1947(sounds better thansaying the greatest In-dian after Gandhi) andconveyed her ADAB &SALAM to him.Amitabh Bacchan, Har-sha Bogle, ShabanaAzami, Madhuri Dixitjoined the host RajdeepSardesai at the cere-mony. Mandira Bediconducted the show

with great aplomb as the Master of Ceremonies.My congratulations and thanks to all of them par-ticularly Rajdeep Sardesai, theCEO of CNN-IBN. I like a drink inthe evening. My sense of elationin joining the celebrations ( asMandira Bedi said that it was notonly an announcement but was acelebration too) was so high thatwith the permission of my wife Itook an additionalpeg while watchingthe programme onthe CNN-IBN

Yet an unfortunate aspect, as I wrote inmy earlier blog, is that the print media of India istotally silent. I have not seen a mention of thefact that Dr. Ambedkar has been declared theGREATEST INDIAN since 1947 with due processin line with an internationally accepted format byan established agency and an eminent jury.

One of the leading dailies, HindustanTimes, on its front page on August 15 carried astory “Recognition at Last – Pak rights historicalwrong, confers Nishan-i-Imtiaz on Manto” Itspeaks of the mindset of the intelligentsia. Whata shame ?

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE NORDCORP WORKSHOP – SIKH IDENTITY FORMATION, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 1, 2012)

Ronki Ram (ronkiram@yahoo.co.in )

ICCR Chair Professor of Contemporary India

Studies, Leiden University Institute for Area

Studies & International Institute for Asian

Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands.

The Nordic Institute of Asian studies(NIAS), Copenhagen, Denmark, organized a twoday workshop on “Sikh Identity Formation” inCopenhagen on August 31 & September 1,2012. The workshop was a part of the annualmeeting of the Nordcorpresearch project entitled“Sikh Identity Formation:Generational Transfer ofTraditions in the NordicCountries”. This researchproject is funded by theJoint Committee forNordic Research Councilsfor the Humanities andSocial Sciences (NOS-HS). The workshop alsoorganized two open lec-tures. The first lecturewas delivered by Dr. BrianKeith Axel, University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz in the forenoon technicalsession of the workshop. The title of his well-perceived lecture was: “Traumatic Citizenship:Racial Conflict in Sikh-American Life since Sep-tember 11, 2001”. The second lecture was de-livered by me. I spoke on “Confronting Caste inDistant Lands: The Emerging Contours of Dias-poric Dalit Identity” in the afternoon technicalsession of the workshop on August 31, 2012.Apart from these two invited open lectures,there were four interesting research presenta-tions from the four researchers of the Nordcorpresearch project on “Sikh Identity Formation:Generational Transfer of Traditions in the NordicCountries”. These research presentations weremade by Prof. Knut Jakobsen of the Universityof Bergen, Norway, Dr. Kristina Myrvold of theLund University, Sweden, Laura Hirvi of the Uni-

versity of Jyvaskyla, Finland, and Dr. RavinderKaur of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

During the second day technical ses-sions of the workshop, Laura Hirvi, doctoral can-didate of the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland,presented her dissertation draft to seek thefeedback from the participants in the workshop.The other important highlights of the secondday workshop were the publication plans andthe planning for the 2013 forthcoming confer-

ence of the Nordcorp re-search project.ABOUT THE NORDCORPRESEARCH PROJECT

This research projectinvestigates generationaltransfer of traditions andidentity formationprocesses among Sikhs,one of the visible minoritygroups in the Nordic coun-tries. How Sikhs transmittheir religious, cultural andlinguistic traditions andhow the second generationSikh youth with transna-

tional life-styles negotiates between contradic-tory perspectives confronting them andgravitates towards religious identification in at-tempts to carve out a place for themselves inmulticultural domains abroad are the two majorthemes of the Nordcorp research project. Theproject headed by Dr. Kristina Myrvold, Centrefor Theology and Religious Studies, Lund Univer-sity, Sweden, brings together five scholars fromDenmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to criti-cally examine the how the ‘second generationshapes understanding of individual and collec-tive identities in relation to many different “cul-tural others” in the social fields of home, school,religious community and on the Internet’.

Abstract of the invited open lecture Prof.Ronki Ram: Confronting Caste in Distant Lands:

(Cont.. on page no 3)

By Ramesh Chander

(Ambassdor, IFS Rtd.)

BABA SAHEB DR. AMBEDKAR AND HIS VISION OF DEMOCRACY AND PEACEBodhisattva Bharat Rattan Babasa-heb Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar iswell known not only in India butthe world over. Coinciding with thecelebration of the 66th Independ-ence Day on August 15, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was declared the Great-est Indian since 1947 by a wellconducted opinion poll organizedby the CNN-IBN TV Channel in India.

He was not only the chiefarchitect of the Constitution of In-dependent India and the Messiahof the downtrodden, but also agreat votary of democracy, consti-tutional methods of conflict resolu-tion and forerunner of peace in theworld, a great economist, legal lu-minary and over and above all agreat humanist. His deep thoughtson the water management in Indiaare yet to be harvested.

Another aspect of his greatpersonality was that he never ac-cepted defeat after stiff and con-tinuous oppositions from allquarters of the mainstream in thethen emerging electoral arena ofthe country before as well as afterIndia’s independence. For him whatwas important was not the defeator victory in the literally sense ofthe terms but the actual empower-ment of the socially excluded sec-tions of the society. It is because of

for this reason that Dr. Ambedkar,quite often, used to say rather ve-hemently that for what use theScheduled Castes legislators wouldbe to their people if they were tosit muteand dumbin the par-liament and state assemblies whilejust winning on the party tickets ofthe mainstream political parties andorganizations in the reserved con-stituencies. What he really wantedto do with the reservation in theparliament was to deploy it forbringing political equality too in theasymmetrical domains of Indian so-cial and economic life.

For the emergence of a trueand genuine democracy in India,Dr. Ambedkar gave a clarion call forthe ‘annihilation of caste’ throughconstitutional and democratic way.His emphasis on the total transfor-mation of ‘public sphere’ in colonialand Independent India distin-guished him from his contempo-raries who were interested more inthe political freedom of the countrythan the overall socio-economictransformation of the Indian soci-ety and economy. However, as faras Indian freedom struggle is con-cerned, the contributions of Dr.Ambedkar were second to none.Furthermore, he reiterated that the

struggle for political freedomshould be thoroughly embedded inthe social democracy, which aimedat bringing social emancipation andempowerment of ex-untouchables

w h i l em a k i n gtheir par-

ticipation in the local structures ofpower equally active and signifi-cant. Thus, for Dr. Ambedkar thestruggle for political freedom wouldnot cease to exist with the historicmid-night celebrations at the RedFort, it will continue rather uninter-rupted until independent Indiaachieves equality and fraternity, thetwo equally important componentsof the trinity mantra (liberty, equal-ity and fraternity) to liberate thepeople from the thraldom of igno-rance, slavery and poverty. It is inthis context, that the social demo-cratic vision of Dr. Ambedkar be-comes central to his postindependent political discourse andpraxis in the country that also dis-tinguished him from his contemporaries.

According to Babasaheb Dr.Ambedkar the roots of democracyare to be searched in the domain ofsocial life. On the completion of theDraft Constitution (25 November1949), Dr. Ambedkar sounded agrave warning in his famous ad-

dress in the Constituent assembly:On the 26th January 1950, we aregoing to enter into a life of contra-dictions. In politics we will haveequality and in social and economiclife we will have inequality. In poli-tics we will be recognizing the prin-ciple of one man one vote and onevote one value. In our social andeconomic life, we shall, by reasonof our social and economic struc-ture, continue to deny the principleof one man one value. How longshall we continue to live this life ofcontradictions? How long shall wecontinue to deny equality in our so-cial and economic life? If we con-tinue to deny it for long, we will doso only by putting our politicaldemocracy in peril. We must re-move this contradiction at the ear-liest possible or else those whosuffer from inequality will blow upthe structure of political democracywhich this Assembly has so labori-ously built up.

It is in the above context ofthe cited warning of Babasaheb Dr.Ambedkar that the current policy ofinclusive growth in India needs tobe implemented in its true spiritlest the new economic reforms fur-ther expand the gap between thegoverned and governing to thedetrimental of the health of Indiandemocracy.

Prem Kumar Chumber

ACJP LOBBIES FOR DALIT RIGHTS AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, BRUSSELS

TWO BILLS SIGNED BY CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR

Ambedkar Times’s Plstal Address: 5101 Doe Hollow Pl,Antelope, CA. 95843

The opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the staff or employees of Ambediar Times.All disputes subjected to Sacramento jurisdiction.

'aMbydkr tfeImË` ivc Cpy lyKF, ÉbrF aqy ieÈiqhfrF afid ivcly ivcfrF nfl adfrf aMbydkr tfeImË aqy sMpfdk df sihmq hoxf ËrUrI nhIN.

Sacramento: California GovernorEdmund G. Brown Jr. signed (Sep-tember 8th) two Bills, ‘AB-1964:Workplace Religious Freedom Act of2012 & SB-1540: Instructional ma-terials: revised curriculum frame-work: history-social science,’ on thenorthern footsteps of State Capitolbuilding in Sacramento, California.These would acknowledge the reli-gious freedom in work place and au-thorize the state board to considerthe adoption of a revised curriculumframework & evaluation criteria forinstructional materials in history-so-cial science respectively.

Governor Brown signedthese two Bills at the Peace and

Unity rally organized by NorthAmerican Punjabi Association(NAPA) where Consul General ofIndia Mr. N.Parthasarathi, partici-

pated. Addressing the gathering,Consul General of India called it ahistoric day as the two Bills signedby Governor Brown would go a long

way in promoting goodwill andawareness about various communi-ties including the Sikh community.These would pave the way forschool children in California to learnabout various religions including theSikh religion. The Bills augur well forhard working and industrious peopleof Indian origin.

Consul General was deeplyappreciative of NAPA led by Mr.Satnam Singh Chahal, Presidentand Mr. Dalwinder Singh Dhoot,Chairman, for taking such an impor-tant initiative to organize the Peaceand Unity Rally.

www.ambedkartimes. com

Posted on (September 12, 2012)

AMBEDKAR CENTER FOR JUSTICEAND PEACE, a global NGO based inUSA, Mumbai etc. and devoted to theliberation of Dalits through global ad-vocacy including UN for the last 21years, has continued its advocacywork for the interest of Dalits in Euro-pean Parliament just recently.

EU and India have been nego-tiating FREE TRADE AGREEMENT for

the last two years. like USA CanadaFree Trade or USA Mexico free tradewhere both countries benefit, withtotal 1.8 Billion population.India has nearly 50 % destitution ofthe world, with 700 million peoplehaving less than $1.25 a day income.Child labour is nearly half of the globalchild labour, Therefore to educate EUP,Members ACJP Delegation met senior

staff, Raphael of BARBARAHOCHBUHLER,Chair, EUP Subcommit-tee on Human Rights, Green Party Ger-many,staff of Dr. Sayed Kamall, EUP,London , Sakib, PA to Sajjad Karim,EUP, Manchester Area, and discussedthe need to pay attention to destitu-tion and dehumanisation of 250 mil-lion Dalits and Tribals in India andneed to address Child Labour, Bonded

Labour, Atrocities committed againstthem with 3-6% conviction rate etc..Since it was a short beak for the mem-bers, this issue will be brought to theattention of the Trade negotiatorswhen the session starts soon. It is im-portant to note that .EU Parliamentwas the first to condemn CASTE SYS-TEM and asking India to be PROAC-TIVE not long ago.

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com Vol-4 Issue-72 September 21, 2012

I appreciate the initiative taken to or-ganize a fund-raising event to supportthe drive for election of Dr. HarmeshKumar for the position of a councilmember in the city of concord. Dr.Kumar has given a very vivid descrip-tion of his credentials and bio-data inthe enclosed attachments which arequite self -explanatory and undoubt-edly speak for his suitability for theposition, he is seeking. During the last20 years of my close association withDr. Harmesh I had the opportunity toobserve his involvement in various ac-tivities of social, religious and culturalnature to advance the interests andthe welfare of the entire community,

including the mainstreamAmerican community. Aswe see in our day to daylife, some parts of theworld are badly gripped byunabated acts of violenceand mutual discord whichmakes it very important forus all to understand and re-spect the dignity of all eth-nic groups and religiousfaiths. Dr. Harmesh, being an activemember of contra costa county inter-faith council, has been very instru-mental in his attempts to foster aspirit of harmony and goodwill.

With improved demographic

presence of Indian communityin U.S, it becomes all themore imperative for all of usto encourage political partici-pation and assimilation inAmerican heritage, whilemaintaining our own culturalidentities. Moreover, Dr.Harmesh's professional expe-rience as a psychologist in the

field of assisted living for over20 years has contributed to makinghim an affable figure of the commu-nity at large. I hope Dr. Harmesh'ssuccess in this election for city coun-cil will be very inspirational for futuregenerations,a remarkable choice and

a stepping stone for his future en-deavors to be a strong voice at stateand national levels. We should encour-age this fund raising event beingarranged in his honor, with a veryhealthy and generous participation. Please contact Mr. Tavinder Kazla at916-300-5398 for any further infor-mation about this event, s cheduledas under. Date:-September 30th (Sunday) 4:00 p.m, Location:-Namaste Nepal Indian Cou-sine, 380, Roseville Square (WestDouglous Blvd) Roseville CA 95678

-O.P. Balley

FUND-RAISING MEETING IN THE HONOR OF DR. HARMESH KUMAR

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 3 September 21, 2012Vol-4 Issue-7

Dr. Amrik SinghSikh pioneers had great fascinationfor agricultural land. Their workethics on the farmlands had im-pressed many a California landlordswho preferred leasing their land tothem. It, however, aroused imagi-nary fears in political circles that ledGovernor Hiram Johnson to signCalifornia Land Alienation Act of1913. Sikh pioneers continued toown more and more land taking ad-vantage of some loopholes in theAct. By the time Governor WilliamStephens plugged the loopholes in1920 making it virtually impossibleto buy land in California, Sikh pio-neers had 88,000 acres land in theircare and were employers to manyCalifornians. The signing of the twobills marks 100 years of Sikhs' pres-ence in influencing California's leg-islative measures starting withGovernor Hiram Johnson and end-ing with Governor Brown.

Governor Brown signed twoimportant bills yesterday, in a hur-riedly convened gathering of Inter-faith groups at the State Capitol. AB1964, the Workplace ReligiousFreedom Act, introduced by Assem-blywoman Mrs. Mariko Yamada andsupported by a variety of faithgroups including Catholics, Sev-enth-day Adventists, Muslims, andSikhs, is considered the landmarklegislation in protecting civil rightsof Americans of all backgrounds.The bill defines Civil Rights Act of1964 more vividly so that employ-ers avoid unnecessary civil law suitsby denying Americans equal treat-ment in employment.

Balbir Singh Dhillon, President ofSikh Temple West Sacramento dur-ing a telephone interview said thathe was always proud to be Ameri-can and with the passing of theabove bills he felt Sikhs as a minor-ity are more secure in America thanthey are in their land of birth. His-tory of Punjabi pioneers in Californiahas now a chance to be included inthe school curriculum. This wills p r e a dawarenessa m o n gAmericanswho will re-main nomore igno-rant abouttheir fellowAmericans.SB 1540 History-Social ScienceFramework was introduced by Sen-ator Loni Hancock. The main pur-pose of the bill was to removerestriction put by former CaliforniaGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger inadopting the revised framework.The bill was supported by CaliforniaCouncil for the Social Studies, SikhCoalition, Sikh Council of CentralCalifornia, Sikh Temple of WestSacramento, and Superintendent ofPublic Instruction. There was no op-position on record to the bill.

California History and SocialScience Framework was revised lastin 1998 and adopted in 2005. Theschool curriculum provided a little orno information about some ethnicgroups who had been contributingto the economy and social life ofthe state for more than 100 years.

The bill requires including historicalinformation about them in revisingAcademic Content Standards. Dr.Onkar Singh Bindra, an alumnus ofUC California who spearheaded thecampaign to revise 13 year old His-tory-Social Science Frameworkfaced several obstacles since hetook up the matter of eclipsing his-torical information that is essentialfor enhancing ‘pupil knowledge of,

and pridein, our his-tory.’ Thes u b j e c tmatter ofthe billwas re-lated withm a n yother bills

such as SB 1325 (Wyland) whichrequired the Superintendent of Pub-lic Instruction and the State Boardof Education to consider methods ofenhancing students’ interest in civicparticipation, including developingnew curriculum frameworks andstandards.’

Dr. Bindra’s watchword was‘Try Try Try Again,’ when after yearsof grueling efforts and public hear-ings; History-Social Science Frame-work was revised and submitted forfinal approval of the former governorArnold Schwarzenegger who sus-pended it due to financial constraintwith a restriction until 2015. Thesignature legislation will benefit notonly Sikhs but all ethnic groups whocarved their niche in California’s his-tory by working hard and living theirlives to the best of their potential.

Dr. Bindra thanked members of theSikh community all over CaliforniaState for extending their unstintingsupport in writing letters and ringingphones to Governor, assemblymembers and senators for highlight-ing the significance of the legisla-tion for their children’s education.Dr. Bindra also thanked author ofthe Bill Senator Lori Hancock, Su-perintendent of Public Instruction,School Board of Education, Depart-ment of Education, Members of theSenate and Assembly, and manyothers who expressed their uncon-ditional support for the bill.

During the pendency of thebill, Oak Creek shooting shook theSikh community for being targetedby a white supremacist WadeMichael Page. Since 9/11 more than700 cases of attacks on Sikh com-munity were mainly ascribed to theabsence of information about Sikhsand their history in the school cur-riculum. The journey of Land Alien-ation Act of 1913—that targetedmainly Sikhs from owning land intheir names—to AB 1964 WorkPlace Religious Freedom Act of2012 and SB 1540 of 2012 isspectacular and eventful. It may beconsidered the best tribute to thePacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Societyof Stockton that was incorporatedin 1912 and for which the Centen-nial Conference is being held onSeptember 22, 2012 in Universityof the Pacific Stockton.

The invitation to the confer-ence is open and free to the public.Participants will also enjoy freesnacks and lunch.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SIGNS TWO LANDMARK BILLS

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE NORDCORP WORKSHOP – SIKH IDENTITY FORMATION, COPENHAGEN...(Cont.. from page no 1)

The Emerging Contours of Diasporic Punjabi Dalit Identity. Among the Non Resi-dent Indian (NRI), Punjabi Dalits are a sizeable diasporic community. Way backhome they are compelled to grapple with caste in their daily routine life. As usuallythought about, that was primarily because of the highly segmented and hierar-chical character of the Indian society. But what is there in their much sought afterdiasporic locations that forced them to organize for similar struggles against castediscriminations that used to be their daily routine affair way back home. Is it that

caste is not only specific to a particular location but tied rather inextricably withcertain communities so much so that where ever such communities travel theycarry the virus of caste with them? Or what is there in caste that helps it surviveeven in altogether different and to large extent socially egalitarian foreign lands?This study aims at critically unraveling the dilemmas of caste abroad and the tra-jectories of the emerging diasporic Punjabi Dalit identity. How the Punjabi diasporicDalit identity affects Dalit movement back home and in what way it draws sus-tenance from it would be yet another major concern of this study.

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 4 September 21, 2012Vol-4 Issue-7

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar- The greatest Indian after independenceAs we all know that after an exten-sive research and long debatesamong the most distinguished andelite members of the jury, BharatRattan Babasahib Dr. B.R.Ambedkarhas been chosen by popular vote ofthe people of India to be the great-est Indian after independence. Thisunique honor unequivocally bearstestimony to the fact that his great-ness has been adjudged not only asthe architect of free India’s consti-tution and for completing his illus-trious academic pursuits but for hisunrelenting efforts and crusade forequality and social justice. This is allthe more significant that he earnedthis honor in spite of other contem-porary and great lndian leaders likeJawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Bal-labh Bhai Patel.

The people of India and par-ticularly the millions of those so-cially neglected segments of societyare grateful to CNN/IBN media fortaking the gigantic initiative for thisunprecedented and soul searchingcampaign providing them the op-portunity to speak their mind to findthe long-awaited truth to adorn thepages of the history of India in par-ticular and that of the world in gen-eral with the greatness ofBabasahib.

The most adorable and last-ing impact of this distinct honor andrecognition for Babasaheb ,tran-scending all political, social and re-ligious barriers is that an enduringlink between the present and thepast has been created by reckoninghim as a great political philosopherand genius of rare originality andversatility.

A glimpse of his rare contri-butions:-I have no words and thecapability to elucidate the penetrat-

ing intellect of Dr. Ambedkar indrafting the constitution of freeIndia which has kept the nationwelded together in spite of the di-verse intricacies in Indian socialorder. He believed that politicalequality without social equality ismeaningless and thus made him thespearhead and symbol of resur-gence, the upheaval of social justicefor the people of India who havevenerated him from their heart andsoul. He was able to see the in-builtinadequacies in the entire socialspectrum of India which kept himawake to fight like a giant till thelast breath of his life. His intellect,vision ,creativity and farsighted-ness reinforced the truth that it isthe worth and not the birth which isthe right yardstick to measure one’scontributions to society.

Education:- Babasahib firmlybelieved that importance of goodeducation is the same as the impor-tance of eyes to a blind person. Ifthe moon ,sun ,wind and water aremeant for the use of all the livinghuman beings then why should theeducation be limited to the privi-leged classes only.

Guardian of women andhuman rights:- Dr. Ambedkar wasone of great thinkers India has pro-duced. But for his visionary ideas,perhaps India would not have astrong judiciary with powers tostrike even the laws repugnant to

the spirit of the constitution. It is itsstrong judicial system envisaged byBabasahib which always stood as astrong vanguard against violation ofhuman rights. The Hindu code bill,considered as a Magna Carta ofWomen rights , was introduced byDr. Ambedkar as the first law min-ister of free India which had to faceheavy odds and opposition leadingto Ambedkar’s resignation from theunion cabinet of free India. The billwas subsequently passed in differ-ent phases.

Personal Meetings:- In theyear 1956, I had the honor and theprivilege to see and listen toBabasaheb in person many times athis residence in Delhi through MrNanak Chand Rattu, his private sec-retary . In spite of his ongoinghealth concerns caused by over-work and heavy responsibilities ofdrafting the constitution within thelimited span of time I saw him work-ing hard day and night to pursue hisvision to fight social suppressionand inequality. I heard him loud andclear in a public meeting at Ambed-kar Bhawan in 1956 saying, “AskJawahar Lal Nehru how many timeshe offered me to become the presi-dent of India but I declined”Babasahib was right in that asser-tion because the grace and honorhe has achieved now would neverhave happened.

Vision still not fulfilled:- The

foremost vision of his life was to ridthe society of the monster of caste-system but it is still alive in the psy-che of those who created it.Manusmiriti which gave legitimacyto Chaturvarnya and the caste sys-tem is the main contributor to thisdehumanizing practice.

As suggested by Dr.Ambedkar in his treatise “Annihila-tion of Caste” inter-caste marriagesas remedy to destroy caste need tobe encouraged with a refined, sin-cere and dedicated conscience andnot with words only.

Education and the financialclout gained by the depressedclasses after the dawn of independ-ence emanates directly from life-long struggle and sacrifices ofAmbedkar which have put a littledent in the rigidity of the caste sys-tem in the urban areas but a lotneeds to be done in rural India.

Own Media a Must:-_Thereal and a honest change in the out-look of the people and establish-ment of a strong , unbiased andhonest media among the sufferingclasses both in and outside Indiawill be a colossal step in the rightdirection to rid the society of castesystem which has been eating intothe very vitals of unity and strengthof India for centuries. I admire therole played by Ambedkar Times andDesh Doaba Newspapers in USA fora crystalised portrayal of Guru Ravi-dass Ji, Babasahib and Babu ManguRam Muggowalia who supportedand stood by Babasaheb duringPoona-pact crisis. In the end I againsalute this jewel of India for his mer-itorious services and the most befit-ting homage to his acknowledgedgreatness is to keep his vision alivetill it is realized.

O. P. BalleyGeneral Secretary,

Supreme Council Shri Guru Ravidass Sabhas USA

THE STORY OF SB1540 (HANCOCK) (Cont.. from page 8)

To seek support of the 17 membersof the Assembly AppropriationsCommittee, one day I visited 20 of-fices at the Capitol. Further, I testi-fied at all committee meetings thatconsidered SB1540 and the billsthat preceded it. Some of my localfriends also testified at my request. No one opposed SB1540(Hancock), either in writing or orallyand no one voted against it. It hada smooth sailing until Aug. 8, 2012,when the Assembly AppropriationsCommittee placed it in their Sus-pense File. California’s Sikh and Ko-rean communities went into actionat my request. Lots of letters andphone calls, from throughout Cali-fornia, to the Assembly Speaker andthe Chair of the Assembly Commit-tee for Appropriations helped thebill get out of the Suspense File

with a 16/0 vote on August 16. Itreached the Governor’s desk onAug. 30 at 4:00 P.M. In anticipationof the same, I requested numerousfriends to write to the Governor andphone Governor’s office requestingthe Governor to sign the bill. Sikhsfrom Los Angeles in the South toReno in the North sent about 3000letters to the Governor. Also, histelephone was kept ringing.

Sikh Coalition, SALDEF,United Sikhs, SCCC, WSC-AR andseveral Gurudwaras helped with theletter/phone campaign. Some usedFace Book and on-line signaturecampaign.

I and my friends reached outto the Governor. Ultimately, listeningto all, Governor Edmund G. BrownJr. announced on his website onSep. 7, 2012 that he would signSB1540 and AB1964 on Saturday,

Sep. 8, 2012. About 500 interested Amer-

icans, primarily Punjabis and Sikhs,but including other ethnic and reli-gious groups gathered and watchedthe Governor sign the two bills. Thetime-line of major legislative actionsof this bill is given below.TIME-LINE OF MAJOR LEGISLA-

TIVE ACTIONS:

2012-02-24 - Introduced. To Com.on RLS. for assignment. .2012-03-28 - From committee: Dopass as amended and re-refer toCom. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.Page 3034.) (March 28).2012-05-01 - From committee: Dopass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 3388.)(April 30).2012-05-07 - Read third time.Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page3430.) Ordered to the Assembly.2012-06-19 - From committee: Do

pass as amended and re-refer toCom. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.)(June 13).2012-08-08 - Set, first hearing. Re-ferred to APPR. suspense file.{CAMPAIGN TO GET IT OUT OFSUSPENSE FILE}2012-08-16 - From committee: Dopass as amended. (Ayes 16. Noes0.) (August 16).2012-08-22 - Read third time.Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page6131.) Ordered to the Senate2012-08-30 - Enrolled and pre-sented to the Governor at 4 p.m.{CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR’SSIGNATURE}2012-09-08- Signed by the Gover-nor Gerry Brown around 1:30 P.M. Read his more articles onwww.ambedkartimes.comhttp://ambedkartimes.com/Onkar%20Singh%20Bindra.htm

Poona Pact and Beyond (Arun Kumar, Bedford, UK)

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 5 September 21, 2012

24th September is a very significantday in the history of Dalit movement.It is the day when after thousands ofyears of slavery, an agreement be-tween the representatives of the in-digenous people of India and theruling Aryan class was signed to givelegitimate representation and shareto the members of DepressedClasses. After successful argumentin the Round Table Conferences, Dr.B.R. Ambedkar was able to convincethe British government for a separateelectorate for the Untouchables bywhich they were to elect their ownrepresentatives in the Lok Sabha andthe provincial legislative assembliesas similar provisions were alreadyavailable for the other minorities, in-cluding Muslims, Christians, AngloIndians and Sikhs. But Gandhi bit-terly opposed this award and beganfast unto death. A huge pressurewas put on Dr. Ambedkar to changehis mind. The people of DepressedClasses (Dalits) were being threat-ened. Had Gandhi died as a result offast, there would have been a hugebloodshed. To avert the danger tothe lives of his people, Ambedkarwithdrew his demand of separateelectorate and an agreement wasreached at Yerwada Central Jail,Poona on 24th September, 1932.Now this agreement is popularlyknown as Poona Pact.

This Pact was incorporatedin the government of India Act 1935and later on in the Constitution of In-dependent India.

Dr. Ambedkar was neverhappy with this agreement. He com-plained of blackmail by Gandhi as hewas forced to sign the pact underthe impact of coercive fast. Ambed-kar denounced it the very next dayexpressing his views, “The untouch-ables were sad. They had every rea-son to be sad.” He kept denouncingit till the end of his life in 1956. Hedenounced it in private discussions,public meetings, relevant writings, infact on all the occasions that de-manded denunciation. Commentingupon Gandhi’s fast, he said “Therewas nothing noble in the fast. It wasa foul and filthy act. The fast wasnot for the benefit of the Untouch-ables. It was against them and wasthe worst form of coercion againsthelpless people to give up the con-stitutional safeguards of which theyhad been possessed under the PrimeMinister’s Award and agree to live onthe mercy of the Hindus. It was avile and wicked act. How can theuntouchables regard such a man ashonest and sincere?”

Ambedkar was well aware ofthe loss suffered by the SchedulesCastes by losing separate electorate.He made clear, “If the Poona Pact in-creased the quota of seats for the

untouchables it took away the rightto the double vote given to them bythe communal award. This increasein seats can never be deemed to bea compensation for the loss of thedouble vote. The second vote givenby the Communal award was a price-less privilege. Its value as a politicalweapon was beyond reckoning.”

The Joint Electorate is aform in which the Hindus get theright to nominate a member ofScheduled Caste to set nominally asa representative of the Scheduledcastes but really as a tool of the Hin-dus. There a sizeable number of DalitMLAs and MPs, most of them fearedthey would not get re-elected if theyaggressively raise their voicesagainst Dalit oppression. Though wehave got constituencies reserved forDalits, it is unfortunate that thosewho act like rubber stamps, withoutaggressively opposing any oppres-sion, are being preferred by casteforces. Babu Kanshi Ram explainedthis phenomenon in his much ac-claimed book, ‘The Chamacha Age’in which he says that Poona Pact hasproduced stooges not the real repre-sentatives of Bahujans.

It is true that Poona Pactlacks the spirit of proper and realrepresentation, but it cannot be de-nied that it played a vital role intransforming the economic and so-cial conditions of ScheduledCastes/Tribes. Today whatever theprogress is seen in their conditions,Poona Pact is a contributory factor.The policy of reservation has helpedDalits to achieve high positions. Mr.K.R. Naryanan became the Presidentof India, highest office in India. K.G.Balakrishanan served as the ChiefJustice of India, Meera Kumar asSpeaker of Lok Sabha, Ms. Mayawatias a Chief Minister of Uttar Pardesh,India’s biggest and most populousstate. There are numerous adminis-trative officers in Central and stategovernments which was unimagin-able without the Poona Pact. Enlight-ened government employees helpedpolitical leadership. Prime example isBabu Kanshi Ram who was able toorganize them and his leadershipemerged as a result of Backward andMinority Communities EmployeesFederation (BAMCEF). Even theemerging middle class in the Dalitcommunities is a consequence ofPoona Pact. The government em-ployees are giving their children agood quality education. Conse-quently they either get good employ-ment or start their own smallbusinesses which help them to im-prove the economic condition oftheir families which raise their socialstatus in the society.

With the introduction of pri-vatisation, liberalisation, globalisa-

tion and disinvestments, many gov-ernment industries and public sectorundertakings have already been soldoff. As a result, thousands of jobs inthe public sector have been lost. Thetechnology has also reduced the jobmarket. Privatisation has an adverseeffect on Dalits. There is no clausefor reservation being added into thedisinvestment deals struck betweenthe government and the private sec-tor. It is a clear subversion of caste-based reservation and keep theDalits away from jobs. Reservation inthe government service is not onlythe way for empowerment; Dalitsmust think and act beyond that. Itdoesn’t matter how much we op-pose globalisation and privatisation,it is going to stay in future and wewill have to adjust ourselves into thenew system. We have to change ourstrategy and adapt ourselves accord-ingly. In the latest study, 97% of ex-ecutives or board members in thelisted companies belong to the uppercastes. Private companies are eitherowned or managed by the familymembers or a particular caste group,Dalits have no chance to get oppor-tunity in those positions.

Educated Dalit intellectualsare beginning to realise that Dalitswill have no place in the marketeconomy. To find a new strategy toovercome this situation, in January2002, a Dalit conference was held inBhopal. Over 300 Dalit intellectualsunanimously adopted the BhopalDeclaration containing 21 pointsidentifying the area of interventionfor uplifting of ScheduledCastes/Tribes and their participationin the public and private sector. On26th January 2002, in his RepublicDay address to the nation, the thenPresident of India, Mr. K.R.Narayanan endorsed this declaration,which generated a serious debatethroughout the country. The conceptof diversity came into forefront forthe first time. The main theme of theBhopal Declaration is that there mustbe an equal participation of all sec-tions of the society in the activitiesof all key institutions be it gover-nance, education, institutions andtrade. Every government and privateorganisation must implement Sup-plier Diversity from socially disadvan-taged businesses and DealershipDiversity in all goods and services.The reservation must be compulsoryin the private and corporate sector inthe same proportion as in the publicsector and in the government insti-tutions and develop the capacitiesand skills of Dalits to help them copeup with the demands of these differ-ent sectors.

To accelerate this momen-tum, another International Dalit Con-ference took place in Vancouver,

Canada on 16-18 May 2003. En-dorsing the Bhopal Declaration, theConference asked for rightful andproportionate share of Dalits inIndia’s national institutions, wealthand capital. The community shouldhave equitable access to means ofproduction and economic empower-ment. Because of the Bhopal andVancouver Declarations, the reserva-tions to Dalits in the private sectorwere given prominence in the mini-mum common programme of UnitedProgressive Alliance (UPA) but unfor-tunately it remained in the mani-festo. Most of the industry housesopposed and gave emphasis on qual-ity education to Dalits so that theyare able to compete with others. ButDalit intellectuals such as ChanderBhan Parsad, Mr. D. Shyam Babuand others were also stressing uponthe need to implement contract/sup-pliers/dealership diversity, giving sur-plus land to landless labourers anddiversity into educational institu-tions. Some of the Dalit entrepre-neurs came together and establishedtheir own Dalit Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (DCCI). On thedemand of DCCI the Central govern-ment decided that all ministrieswould make 4% of their annual pur-chase from micro, small and mediumenterprises run by SCs/STs. Dalit ac-tivists believe that mandatory pur-chases from Dalit units would boostentrepreneurship among poorclasses with assured state clienteleand without the fear of competitionfrom entrenched businessmen. Dal-its are well under represented in themain stream media. There is hardlyany recognisable Dalit face on tele-vision, films or in English nationalnewspapers. Poona Pact has helpedin many ways but there is lot to bedone to alleviate poverty, eradicatecaste and set up society based onequality, liberty, fraternity and equaljustice-the dream of BabashaebAmbedkar. Dalits must give impor-tance to education, organising them-selves and struggle for their rights.Unfortunately, a lot of Dalits givefirst priority for organising and hencejump into the process of organisingthemselves at the cost of their edu-cation. This will impact the growthof the community. Education shouldbe the top priority for them.

Since the introduction of In-dian Constitution, a number ofamendments are made for the em-powerment of Dalits, but these pro-visions are never implemented. It isonly possible if Dalit representativecapture the temple of power, Parlia-ment and state assemblies and en-force laws enshrined in theconstitution. Poona Pact has servedits purpose and now it is our duty towork beyond that.

Vol-4 Issue-7

The Untouchables were forced to signthe Poona Pact under the impact ofthe coercive fast of Gandhiji. Dr.Ambedkar denounced it the very nextday expressing his views, “the Un-touchables were sad. They had everyreason to be.” He kept denouncing ittill the end of his life in 1956. He de-nounced it in private discussions, pub-lic meetings, relevant writings, in facton all the occasions that demand de-nunciation.

As an illustration of the de-nunciation by Baba Saheb Dr. Ambed-kar, some quotations from his twobooks (1) What congress and Gandhihave done to the Untouchables, pub-lished in 1945 & (2) States and Mi-norities, published in 1947, are givenbelow:-

1- “There was nothing noblein the fast. It was a foul and filthy act.The fast was not for the benefit of theUntouchables. It was against themand was the worst form of coercionagainst helpless people to give up theconstitutional safeguards of whichthey had become possessed underthe Prime Minister’s Award and agreeto love on the mercy of the Hindus. Itwas a vile and witched act. How canthe Untouchables regard such a manas honest and sincere?”

2- The Communal Awardgave the Untouchables two benefits:-

(i) A fixed quota of seats tobe elected by separate electorate ofUntouchables and to be filled by per-sons belonging to the Untouchables.(ii) Double vote, one to be usedthrough separate electorates and theother to be used in the general elec-

torates.Now if the Poona Pact in-

creased the quota of seats for the Un-touchables it took away the right tothe double vote given to them by theCommunal Award. This increase inseats can never be deemed to be acompensation for the loss of the dou-ble vote. The second vote given bythe Communal Award was pricelessprivilege. Its value as a politicalweapon was beyond reckoning.

3- Today the Untouchableshave a few more seats than weregiven to them by the communalAward. But this is all that they have.Every other member is indifferent, ifnot hostile. If the Communal Awardwith its system of double voting hadremained, the Untouchables wouldhave had a few seats less but everyother member would have been amember for the Untouchables. The in-crease in the number of seats for theUntouchables is no increase at all andno recompense for the loss of sepa-rate electorate and the double vote.

4- Clause (5) of the PoonaPact has limited the system of primaryelection to ten years which meansthat any election taking place after1947 will be by a system of joint elec-torates and reserved seats pure andsimple.

Things will be much worseunder the system of joint electoratesand reserved seats, which will here-after become operative under theterms of the Poona Pact. This is nomere speculation the last election hasconclusively proved that the sched-uled Castes can be completely dis-

franchised in a joint electorate. 5- “The Poona Pact had pro-

duced different reactions. The Un-touchable were sad. They had everyreason to be -”

6- In the light of these consid-erations, it cannot but appears thatthe Poona Pact was only the firstblow inflicted upon the Untouchablesand that the Hindus, who disliked itwere bent on inflicting on it otherblows as and when circumstancesgave them an occasion to do so.”

7- After having accepted thePoona Pact, why did not Mr. Gandhikeep faith with the Untouchables bytelling the Congress not to despoil thepolitics of the Untouchables by con-testing the seats reserved for the Un-touchables by getting suchUntouchables elected as were pre-pared to become the tools of the Hin-dus?

8- After having accepted thePoona Pact why did not Mr. Gandhikeep up the gentleman’s agreementand instruct the Congress High Com-mand to include representatives of theUntouchables in the Congress Cabi-nets?

9- This shows that Mr.Gandhi not with standing his being aparty to the Poona Pact is determinednot to allow the Scheduled Castesbeing given the status of a separateelement and that he is prepared toadopt any argument however desper-ate to justify his attitude of opposition.”

10- In short Mr. Gandhi is stillon the war path so far as the Un-touchables are concerned. He may

start the trouble over again. The timeto trust him has not arrived. The Un-touchables must still hold that thebest way to safeguard them is to say‘Beware of Mr. Gandhi.’11- The second misdeed of the Con-gress was to subject the UntouchableCongressmen to the rigours of partydiscipline. They were completelyunder the control of the CongressParty Executive. They could not ask aquestion which it did not like. Theycould not move a resolution which itdid not permit. They vote as theywished and could not speak whatthey felt. They were there as dumbdriven cattle. One of the objects ofobtaining representation in the Legis-lature for the Untouchables is to en-able them to ventilate their grievancesand to obtain redress for their wrongs.The Congress successfully and effec-tively prevented this from happening.

12- To end this long and sadstory the congress sucked the juiceout of the Poona Pact and threw therind in the face of the Untouchables.

13- The Poona Pact has com-pletely defranchised the ScheduledCastes in as much as candidateswhom they rejected in the Primaryelection-which is a true index of theirwill-have been returned in the Finalelection by the votes of the Castes Hindus.

14- The Poona Pact is thusfraught with mischief. It was ac-cepted because of the coercive fast ofMr. Gandhi and because of assurancegiven at the time that the Hindus willnot interfere in the election of Sched-uled Caste.

On 15th March 1947, on behalf of the ScheduledCaste Federation, Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar sub-mitted a lengthy Memorandum to the constituent As-sembly which was to draft the future constitution ofIndia. The memorandum demanding the safeguards forthe Scheduled Castes was quite long and exhaustive.One of the chapters of the Memorandum dealt withthe Poona Pact, especially the disadvantages of thePoona Pact. It being most relevant to this book, (THECHAMCHA AGE (An Era of the Stooges) expressingBaba Saheb Ambedkar’s views 15 years after PoonaPact, it therefore reproduced below: 1- The Poona Pact was intended to devise a methodwhere by the Scheduled Castes would be able to re-turn to the Legislature representatives of their choice.This intention has been completely nullified as will beseen from the following series of statistics. The serieshave been constructed from the results of the lastelections, which took place in February, 1946. 2- The statistical data is arranged in four series of ta-bles:

First series show the votes secured by thesuccessful Caste Hindu candidate and the successfulScheduled Caste candidate in the Final election.

Second series show in how many cases didreliance on reservation clause become necessary forthe success of the Scheduled Caste candidate in theFinal election and in how many he succeeded without

the benefit of reservation.Third series show the relative voting strength

of the Caste Hindus and the Scheduled Castes in con-stituencies in which seats are reserved for the Sched-uled Castes.

Fourth series show the position in the Primaryelection of the Scheduled Caste Candidates who be-came successful in the Final elections.

3. The conclusions that follow from these fig-ures will not escape those who care to examine them.The figures prove the following propositions:

(i) That every of the Scheduled Caste candi-date, who became successful in the Final election,owed his success to the votes of the caste Hindus andnot of the Scheduled Castes. A great many of themcame to the top of the poll and secured votes equal toand in some cases larger than those obtained by CasteHindu candidates (See Tables in the First Series). Sec-ondly, in very few constituencies was the successfulScheduled Caste candidate required to rely on reser-vation (See Tables in the Second Series). This is amost unexpected phenomenon. Anyone who com-pares the voting strength of the Scheduled Casteswith the voting strength of the Caste Hindus in thedifferent constituencies (See Tables in the Third Se-ries) would realize that the voting strength of theScheduled Castes is so small that such a phenomenoncould never have occurred if only the Scheduled

Castes voters had voted for the Scheduled Castescandidates.

That they have occurred is proof positive thatthe success of the Scheduled Caste candidate in theFinal election is conditioned by the Caste Hindu votes.

(ii) That comparing the results of the Primaryelection with those of the Final election the ScheduledCaste candidate who was elected in the Final electionwas who had failed in the Primary election (if the Pri-mary election be treated as a Final election and theconstituency be treated as a single-member con-stituency).

(iii) Owing to the extreme disparity betweenthe voting strength of the Hindus and the ScheduledCastes- Disparity, which will not disappear even underadult suffrage system of joint electorates will not suc-ceed in giving the scheduled castes the chance of re-turning their true representatives.

(iv) The Poona Pact has completely disfran-chised the Scheduled Castes in as much as candidateswhom they rejected in the Primary elections-which isa true index of their will have been retuned in the Finalelection by the votes of the Caste Hindus. The PoonaPact is, thus, fraught with mischief. It was acceptedbecause of the coercive fast of Mr. Gandhi and be-cause of the assurance given at the time that the Hin-dus will not interfere in the election of the ScheduledCastes.

AMBEDKAR ON POONA PACT SAHIB SHRI KANSHI RAM JI, THE CHAMCHA AGE (An Era of the Stooges)

DISADVANTAGES OF THE POONA PACT

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 6 September 21, 2012

DENUNCIATION OF THE POONA PACT SAHIB SHRI KANSHI RAM JI THE CHAMCHA AGE (An Era of the Stooges)

Vol-4 Issue-7

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 7 September 21, 2012Vol-4 Issue-7

By Dr. Harmesh Kumar, on behalf of Interfaith Council of Contra Costa CountyMaking Sense of Wisconsin Massacre

We all have been struggling to cometo grips with the Wisconsin shoot-ing last Sunday at the Sikh Gurd-wara and less than a month ago inColorado Theater by James Holmes.Last year it was Laughner of Arizonawho wounded congresswoman Gif-ford's and many others, and manymore such individuals before that.

I have been reflecting onthese recent incidents and was im-mediately hijacked on a tragic mem-ory lane and started thinking aboutthe incident at Columbine HighSchool on April 20th in 1999 wheremany children were murdered bysome teenagers. What can we makeout of these senseless killings andthe people who were behind thesekillings? Who can we blame as acommunity? How can it happenwhen we have the best and highlypaid police force and other intelli-gence agencies? Are our leaders re-sponsible for these incidents? Areour mental health professionals toblame or are our mental health pro-fessionals are not doing enough topredict the violence? Some of thefollowing thoughts come to mymind that I am going to share withall of you.

We cannot escape as a so-ciety, community, nation, and evenat the global level from these violentincidents. However, we all need tofind some answers together to deal,cope and prevent these incidentsfrom happening. It is not the re-sponsibility of the police depart-ment alone, but who should we lookup to help us? We need to help our-selves, as Benjamin Franklin said,that, “God helps those who helpthemselves.”

Do we understand the impli-cations of our daily duties andchores we do in raising our kids

supporting our families, in the busy-ness of making our livings to sus-tain our lives, how our policy makerscontribute to making our systemmore functional or difficult?

I have beenobserving theworld we havearound us and inour living roomsthrough TV and inour work environ-ment through theinternet.

There hasbeen a lot of con-centration in someportions of themedia about wars,currently Syria,Afghanistan andthere is talk aboutattack by Israel onIran. Some of our role-models andleaders have spoken about makinganother country’s infrastructure likea medieval age or stone-age era.There is constant talk about the waron terror and display of killing ma-chines used to sustain that war. Thewords we use even in our daily lifeeither playing sports like “go and killthat guy” etc. Are we paying atten-tion? When President Clinton wasasked about the connection be-tween Columbine and Kosovobombing, he told the reporter he didnot want to think about Kosovo andwanted to focus on Columbine.

Is our formal education sys-tem failing us in our attempt to liveas one community? Is it dividing usbetween different classes or seg-ments? Is this the goal of currenteducation systems? My thinkingwas that the goals of our educationsystem is to create an enlightenedindividual who would serve the less

fortunate who did not have theemotional, financial, social, or spiri-tual resources to get enlightened. Ifthis is not the case, then the lessenlightened will not understand the

enlightened.Sometimes I

wonder who weare fighting with?Who is responsi-ble for creatingthe so calleddemons likeJared Lee Lough-ner, Jeffrey Dah-mer, Theodore(Ted) Kaczynski,T i m o t h yMcVeigh, OsamaBin Laden? Whichreligion or socialgroup is immunefrom producing or

manufacturing such hateful minds? We have heard many times

from our media about their con-cerns about the Pakistani madrassas– or schools teaching hatred toyoung minds. I want to ask our lead-ers in the USA, can they deny suchmadrassas or schools in America?Many of my friends including theson of Satwant Singh Kaleka, pres-ident of Wisconsin Gurdwara, talkedabout the soft attacks on his com-munity members including himselfin Georgia by white supremacists.The history is replete with such softattacks either based on race, caste,religion, sexual orientation, or onpeople whose souls are broken dueto wars like PTSD. These groups arein every country on the face of theearth. What are our governmentsare doing to stop this, or can theydo something to stop prejudice orhatred? Or is it our duty at individ-ual levels to practice within our-

selves the ways to create peacewithin and then spread that peacearound our surroundings? Did weever imagine what emotional andpsychological scars these peoplehave suffered which led them to in-dulge in such gruesome crimes?

The other dangerous fuelwe use is commercial games (virtualor real) in America and it is spread-ing to other countries like India andChina where we teach kids how to"kill or hate" their enemies. Theypractice it in their own homes withcomputers, iPads, iPhones andtablets etc. Our leaders also providewonderful role-models by demoniz-ing their opponents as we haveseen in recent political campaigns.

We need to focus on re-spect, dignity, respect and love forall. We need to reflect what it takesto stop the hurt and pain for our-selves and the same thinking weneed to apply for others.

We have similar groups inSikhism, Islam, Christianity, andHinduism; their main motive is toshow their superiority over other re-ligious groups even though it isevery religion's core value to spreadthe message of hope and respectfor everyone and serve the human-ity with love. Are we listening andapplying that message in our indi-vidual lives? Saint Kabir said manycenturies ago, “when your enemydies do not celebrate because yourfriend will die too.” The only way tosave the world and younger genera-tions from violence is to understandand accept the people as part ofyour extension.

I will end with a quote fromGuru Nanak Ji," Accept all peopleas your equals and let them be youronly sect; conquering ourselves, weconquer the world."

MR. SURINDER MAHEY HONOREDO.P. Balley: General Secretary, Supreme Council Shri Guru Ravidass Sabhas USA

We take this opportunity to empha-size the importance of a social get-together with Mr. Surinder Mahey,former Mayor of city Corporation ofJalandhar, Punjab on Saturday 25thof August, 2012 in Roseville (Califor-nia). It was an exhilarating experi-ence to attend this meeting whichprovided a very healthy and construc-tive forum for many prominent per-sons of our community to share theirviews with Mr. Mahey on many vitalissues and concerns of the commu-nity. Mr. Mahey in his speech demon-strated his versatile ability inhighlighting the missions of our sav-iors, Guru Ravidass Ji Maharaj and

Bharat Rattan Babasaheb Dr. B. R.Ambedkar who in their spirit and na-ture struggled to rid the society ofman -made divisions and discrimina-tions. Mr. Mahey was given a stand-ing ovation on his arrival for themeeting hosted under the auspicesof Supreme Council, Shri Guru Ravi-dass Sabhas, USA. He was also hon-ored on behalf of the council with aplaque for his achievements and con-tributions to the community.Mr. Par-mjit Bhutta initiated the meeting withpersonal introduction of all who at-tended the meeting and Mr. TavinderKazla did a good job in coordinatingthe flow of questions and answers

with Mr. Mahey during the meeting. Mr. Parmjit Bhutta also ap-

preciated Mr. Prem Kumar ChumberEditor-In –Chief, “Ambedkar Times”(In English) and “Desh Doaba” (InPunjabi) for running as a sole mediain USA to voice the concerns of thecommunity in a very responsible andundaunted manner. We appreciateMr. Chumber for providing profes-sional coverage to the meeting in hisNews Papers along with pictures. Weappreciate the initiative and effortstaken by M/S Tavinder Kazla, ParmjitBhutta, Hans Raj Kajla, Rakesh Chan-der and Kewal Bolina for organizingthis event successfully. Copies of“Desh Doaba”, Ambedkar Times

(Punjabi) and Ambedkar Times (Eng-lish) were presented to Mr. SurinderMahey by M/S O. P. Balley, GeneralSecretary of the Council, Ram MurtiSaroay, Chairman, Shri Guru Ravi-dass Sabha (Bay Area) and AmrikChand C.P.A, respectively.

The presidents of Shri GuruRavidass Sabhas – California alsorepresented their respective GuruGhars to participate in the proceed-ings. It was also resolved in themeeting to hold such productivemeetings more frequently tostrengthen the fiber of our sustainedand continuous efforts to amelioratethe lot of the under-privileged seg-ments of society.

Ambedkar Times

THE STORY OF SB1540 (HANCOCK) www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 8 September 21, 2012

Onkar S. Bindra

It came to my attention in 2001that the California State UniversitySacramento (CSUS =Sac-State) didnot include Sikhism in their courseHRS140: Exploring World Religions,which was taken by 450-500 stu-dents every year. Repeated requestsfor inclusion of Sikhism in the saidcourse were rejected by the depart-ment’s faculty, mentioning that thecourse was already too heavy anddifficult to complete during theavailable time. I was asked, if I hadcontacted the California Depart-ment of Education regarding teach-ing of Sikhism at the school level.

Thereupon, I met Dr.Thomas Adams, Director of the Cur-riculum Frameworks and Instruc-tional Resources (CFIR) division ofthe California Department of Educa-tion (CDE). He gave me a copy ofthe “2001 updated Edition withContent Standards of the History-Social Science Framework for Cali-fornia Public Schools” (Framework).It did not include the Sikhs, nordoes its current (2005) edition.

My contact with Dr. Adamsresulted in an invitation to serve onthe Legal and Social ComplianceCommittee that met on June 24-25, 2005, for reviewing the text-books submitted by publishers forthe 2005 textbook adoption. Soon,I learnt that in addition to Instruc-tional Resources (IR), i.e. textbooks,the teachers could use Supplemen-tal Instructional Materials (SIM). So,I got the following approved by theCDE as SIM: 1) The Sikh NextDoor, 2) The Boy with Long Hair; 3)videos Meet the Sikhs, 4) Under-standing Sikhism, 5) Sikhs in Amer-ica, and 6) Cultural Safari, includingthe accompanying Sikh Studies Unitand the Teacher Resource Guide.

Revision of the Frameworkwas started in 2008 in accordancewith CDE’s long-term program. FourFocus Groups (FG) met in Sacra-mento, San Jose, San Diego andLos Angeles. I attended the Sacra-mento FG meeting, and all subse-quent relevant meetings held atSacramento. Recommendations ofthe FG were discussed, and guide-lines recommended by the Curricu-lum Commission were adopted bythe SBE on Nov. 5, 2008.

The guidelines included, “Bealigned to the state-adopted His-tory-Social Science Standardsadopted by the SBE in October1998.” The revision of the Frame-work was to be done during sixmonthly meetings of 2-day each, bya 20-member Curriculum Frame-work and Evaluation Criteria Com-mittee (CFCC). My request to

include in the CFCC at least oneperson knowledgeable about Sikhreligion, culture and history was ac-cepted. The person selected wasMrs. Mohani Thiara, a practicingSikh who teaches history. She dida good job.

I invited Mrs. PushpinderSingh to plead for inclusion of hercoloring book, “The Boy with LongHair.” Prof. Jeffrey Brodd, nowChair, Department of Humanitiesand Religious Studies at CSUS, andMrs. Yvonne Taylor of the ModestoCity School District (Now retired)

came at my urging and supportedmy request for inclusion of Sikhismin the 9th grade elective Survey ofWorld Religions. Many others camefrom Fresno, Stockton, Yuba City,Oroville, Bay Area and GreaterSacramento to one or more meetingof the CFCC. They testified aboutbullying in schools, discrimination inemployment and hate crimes, andpleaded for inclusion of Sikh culture,history and faith in the Framework.

The CFCC prepared the2010 Draft History-Social ScienceCurriculum Framework(http://www.cde. ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/index. asp). This draft in-cluded Sikh items at six places inthe K-12 framework. The draft wasapproved on July17, 2009 for thenext step, viz. a 60-day public re-view. However, the Public Reviewwas yet to be started when the2009-10 state budget bill signed byGovernor Schwarzenegger sus-pended all further action for fiveyears. The suspension period wasextended by two years when thepresent Governor signed SB70, abudget bill. Thus, the law requiredthat the draft Framework would notmove forward until 2015-16. Weneeded legislation to allow SBE toresume work on the draft Frame-work. AB2069 (Carter), SB1278(Wyland) and AB1033 (Feuer) didnot bear fruit. Effort at inclusion of

History-Social Science into AB250(Brownley) did not succeed. Han-cock’s SB300 of 2011 included His-tory-Social Science (H/SS) besidesScience. However, H/SS wasamended out from that bill at thelast moment. This history caused allbut me to be dejected and pes-simistic and unwilling to try again.However, I preached the famousquote, “If at first you do not suc-ceed; try, try, try again.”

As a regular visitor to themeetings of the Curriculum Com-mission and the SBE, I was at the

Nov. 9, 2011 SBE meeting. Duringbreak-time, Mr. Tom Torlakson, Su-perintendent of Public Instructions(SPI) and Secretary of the SBE, rec-ognized me since I had testifiedmultiple times in support of hisAB97 in 2010. He knew of my keeninterest in inclusion of Sikhs in theFramework, and right awayarranged my meeting with Dr.Adams, Director CFIR and Ms. Jean-ice Warden Washington of CDE’sLegislative Affairs Division. I askedthem and Mr. Craig Cheslog, Princi-pal Adviser to the SPI, to look intothe possibility of the Governor issu-ing an executive order for resumingwork on the Framework. I addedthat introduction of a bill should bea second choice. Governor’s officedid not like to issue an executiveorder. I followed up with the CDEand SPI and found that the onlychoice available was to introduce abill. As in 2010, Mr. Pashaura SinghDhillon, Coordinator SCCC Educa-tion Committee, invited me to speakat the educational seminar atCaruthers on Nov. 19, 2011, in cel-ebration of Guru Nanak’s birthday.Among the resolutions passed wasone to request the local Assembly-man Henry Perea to sponsor an As-sembly Concurrent Resolution(ACR) to declare November as SikhAmerican Awareness and Apprecia-tion Month every year. Mr. Perea

agreed to do so. There, I met Mr.Perea and his close friend Mr.Amarpreet Dhaliwal, Mayor of SanJoaquin. As soon as I learnt that theACR work had been assigned to Mr.Stephen Francis in Mr. Perea’s Capi-tol office, I started following it up onbehalf of the SCCC. Stephenworked on ACR97 (Perea) very dili-gently, and got it approved as earlyas May 17, 2012.

During a visit to the capitoloffice of Mr. Perea, I pointed out toMs. Celia Mata, his Legislative Di-rector, virtual absence of Sikh-American history in schooltextbooks. Also, I explained to herthat we needed a bill to allow com-pletion of the revision of the H/SSFramework. She agreed to work onit when Mr. Perea gives her a greensignal. At my request, conveyed byMayor Dhaliwal, AssemblymanHenry Perea agreed to author thebill. To get her started on the proj-ect, I gave her, on Dec. 22, 2011,the first draft of the bill that I hadprepared with the help of Dr. Adamsof the CDE.

Assemblyman Manuel Perezalso agreed to author the bill.Thanks to Amy Wilson of his staff.In the meanwhile, I met about adozen legislators or their staff forsupport. They all agreed to help. Atthis stage, Sen. Loni Hancockagreed to author a bill. Sen.Wyland and Assembly-MembersMike Eng, Luis Alejo and Mariko Ya-mada agreed to become co-authors.Staff members of all legislatorshelped, but special thanks are dueto Rebecca Bauman, EducationConsultant of Sen. Hancock, for theday-to-day information and sugges-tions for action. Sen. Loni Hancockintroduced SB1540 on Feb. 24,2012 with five coauthors, whowere joined later by three others. Atmy urging, Manbeena Kaur of TheSikh Coalition, New York; MirinPhool of Kaur Foundation of Mary-land; Pashaura Singh Dhillon of theSikh Council of Central California,Fresno; Balbir Singh Dhillon of theSikh Temple Sacramento, and MarryConnor of Korea Academy of Edu-cators of San Marino, whom I firstmet at the 2009 CFCC meetings,registered the support of their or-ganizations through their letters.

Before each meeting of theSenate/Assembly committees forEducation/Appropriations, I met thestaff of each member with a letterrequesting for support of their leg-islators, and reminded them byphone a day before the meeting.Committee membership rangedfrom 9 to 17, and totaled 48.

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