A. Raja
Andimuthu Raja | |
---|---|
Deputy General Secretary of DMK | |
Assumed office 9 September 2020 | |
Minister of Communications and Information Technology | |
In office 16 May 2007 – 14 November 2010 | |
Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
Preceded by | Dayanidhi Maran |
Succeeded by | Kapil Sibal |
Minister of Environment and Forests | |
In office 23 May 2004 – 17 May 2007 | |
Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
Preceded by | Ramesh Bais |
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare | |
In office 30 September 2002 – 21 May 2004 | |
Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
Minister | Shatrughan Sinha Sushma Swaraj |
Minister of State for Rural Development | |
In office 13 October 1996 – 24 May 1998 | |
Prime Minister | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
Member of the Indian Parliament for Nilgiris | |
Assumed office 18 June 2019 | |
Preceded by | C. Gopalakrishnan |
In office 2009–2014 | |
Preceded by | R. Prabhu |
Succeeded by | C. Gopalakrishnan |
Member of the Indian Parliament for Perambalur | |
In office 1999–2009 | |
Preceded by | P. Raja Rethinam |
Succeeded by | D. Napoleon |
In office 1996–1998 | |
Preceded by | A. Asokraj |
Succeeded by | P. Raja Rethinam |
Personal details | |
Born | Sathyaseelan 26 October 1963 Chatramanai velur, Madras State, India (present-day Perambalur District, Tamil-Nadu, India) |
Political party | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Spouse | Parameshwari Raja (d. 2021) |
Children | Mayuri Raja |
Occupation | Politician, Lawyer |
Andimuthu Raja (born Sathyaseelan; 26 October 1963) is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, who serves as Member of Parliament for the Nilgiris constituency and deputy general secretary for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu and had been elected to house four times since 1996. Raja is an advocate by profession and he did his masters from Government Law College in Tiruchirappalli.
Raja was first elected to Parliament as a member of Lok Sabha in 1996 from the Perambalur constituency and was reelected from the same constituency in 1999 and 2004 elections and from Nilgiris constituency in 2009. He was Minister of State for Rural development from 1996 to 2000, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare from September 2000 to May 2004 and a cabinet minister for Environment and Forests from May 2004 to May 2007. He became the cabinet minister for Communication and Information Technology from May 2007, following the resignation of Dayanidhi Maran. Raja was investigated in the 2G Spectrum case, along with two other members of the DMK, Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. All three were acquitted in 2017. Raja was re-elected as Nilgiris MP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and was elected Deputy General Secretary of the DMK in September 2020.
Early life
Raja was born to S.K.Aandimuthu and Chinnapillai Ammal Andimadam of the day Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu. His grandparents, who belong to a Dalit community, went from Velur in Perambalur district to Sri Lanka to work on the tea estates. They returned to India in the 1950s, and Raja's father returned in 1961. In high school in Perambalur, Raja was first introduced to Periyar and Dravidar Kazhagam. He quickly became interested in the atheistic, rationalistic Dravidian ideology, along with those of Ambedkar and Marx. He did his B.Sc. in Mathematics from the Government Arts College in Musiri, but was disinterested in the subject, and was drawn to politics and writing instead. He completed his graduation in law from the Government Law College in Madurai and his masters from Government Law College Tiruchirapalli. He was married to M. A. Parameswari and the couple have a daughter named Mayuri. Parameswari died of cancer on 29 May 2021.She was aged 54.
Political career
Raja started his political career in his final year of undergraduate, when he joined DMK students wing, and quickly rose through party ranks. When Vaiko was expelled from DMK, Raja was recommended by Rajya Sabha MP S Siva Subramaniam and KN Nehru for the DMK's candidature in Perambalur for 1996 Lok Sabha elections. He won, and entered Parliament.Positions held
- 1996: Elected to Lok Sabha (Eleventh) for the 1st time
- 13 October 1996-29 September 2000: Minister of State, Rural Development
- May 1999: Elected to Lok Sabha (Thirteenth) for the second time
- 30 September 2000-21 May 2004: Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare
- May 2004: Elected to Lok Sabha (Fourteenth) for the third time from Perambalur
- 23 May 2004-17 May 2007: Cabinet minister for Environment and Forest
- 18 May 2007-31 May 2009: Cabinet minister for Communication and Information Technology
- May 2009: Elected to Lok Sabha (Fifteenth) for the fourth time from Nilgiris
As a minister
Raja was deputed as the Minister of State, Rural Development on 13 October 1996 and he continued to retain the post till 29 September 2000. On 30 September 2001, he was deputed as the minister of state for Health and Family welfare during the National Democratic Alliance. In December 2003, the DMK pulled out of the alliance and Raja resigned his minister's post along with his other DMK colleagues. He continued with the same ministry after the 2004 elections which was won by the Congress led alliance, which included the DMK. His tenure as an Environment ministry came under intense scrutiny in 2011 during the 2G Spectrum case. His association with the key accused in the 2G case, Unitech and DB Realty, was rooted to 2004 when he was the Environment minister. One of the key points out of the CBI is the approval of 2016 clearances given by his ministry in a span of two years from 2006 to 2008, some of which were associated with the trading of hazardous waste. The other issue raised was about the large majority of Raja's supporters in the expert appraisals committee (EAC), responsible for granting clearances to various sectors.
In 2007 May, Dinakaran, the newspaper run by Kalanidhi Maran, the elder brother of Dayanidhi Maran who was the central minister for IT and Communication, ran into a controversy when it published the results of a series of opinion polls which showed M. K. Stalin, the second son of Karunanidhi, having more approval (70%) than his elder brother M. K. Azhagiri (2%) as the political heir of Karunanidhi. It also showed others as 20%, possibly indicating Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. The Madurai office of Dinakaran was fire bombed by supporters of Alagiri and three employees were killed. The Sun TV office in Madurai was also attacked by the perpetrators. A day after the incident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi came to Chennai for felicitating Karunanidhi for 50 years in legislative assembly. Dayanidhi Maran, who usually accompanies Karunanidhi at every function, discarded the event as a mark of protest. On 13 May, the DMK administrative committee empowered Karunanidhi to remove Dayanidhi from the party. This subsequently led to his resignation from the central ministry. Following his resignation, the IT portfolio was allocated to Raja on 16 May 2007. On 17 October 2008, he submitted his post-dated resignation to the DMK party chief, M. Karunanidhi, in protest of the killings of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.
2G spectrum case
The 2G spectrum financial scandal involved the alleged corrupt sale in 2008 of telecommunications bandwidth to selected organizations at prices that understated the real market value of the asset. The sale is claimed to have occurred when Raja headed the Telecommunications and IT Ministry; it has been considered the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to around ₹1,766.45 billion (US$22 billion) of lost income for the Government of India. It is alleged that the sale should have been put under a transparent auction system.
A first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims that the allocation was not done as per market prices. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) holds Raja personally responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum at 2001 rates in 2008. In August 2010, evidence was submitted by the CAG showing that Raja had personally signed and approved the majority of the questionable allocations.Although the political opposition was demanding his resignation over the 2G spectrum case, Raja initially refused to resign, stating his innocence, and this view was backed by his party president M. Karunanidhi. He eventually resigned on 14 November 2010.
In 2011, the results of an investigation by retired judge Shivraj Patil, who was appointed by then telecom minister Kapil Sibal, also found Raja to have been directly responsible for "procedural lapses" regarding the sale. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate estimated that Raja could have made as much as Rs 30 billion from the alleged bribes.
In January and February 2011, Raja's houses and offices were raided by the CBI, who seized computers as potential evidence. On 2 February 2011, the CBI arrested Raja with his aide, R. K. Chandolia, and Siddharth Behura, the former telecom secretary and placed them in Tihar jail. Raja and R.K. Chandolia are heard in conversation with Niira Radia in the released Radia tapes.
Subsequent to his arrest, the DMK supported him on the basis that he was innocent until proven guilty.
On 6 June 2012, Delhi court permitted Raja to visit Tamil Nadu between 8 and 30 June, on grounds of discharging his previous duties in the state.
On 15 May 2012, he was granted bail by the Supreme court under a condition that he would not visit the Department of Telecommunications nor his home state Tamil Nadu. He stayed in Tihar jail for fifteen months. The Enforcement Directorate grilled Raja on 10 July 2012 for four hours, to ascertain his role in grant of 2G licenses especially to Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless.
Delhi court on 21 December 2017 acquitted all accused, including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case and held that the 2G spectrum scam never happened in the first place.
Involvement in real estate
Sadiq Batcha, a close friend of Raja's, shifted his base to Chennai from his hometown of Perambalur, after Raja became a central minister in 2004. He started a real estate firm called Green House Promoters, which had Raja's nephew Paramesh Kumar as joint managing director and Raja's brother A Kaliyaperumal and Raja's wife Parameswari as directors. Parameswari resigned from the post on account of investigations. Batcha started another real estate firm in 2008 called Equals Estates Pvt Ltd, which had Parameswari as a director. The firm had a turnover of 755 crores in two years, mainly attributed to the association of Raja. Batcha was put under the CBI scanner during the 2G spectrum case as they believed him to be the conduit for Raja. On 16 March 2011, Batcha was found dead in his Chennai residence. Police found a suicide note that read the reason as the excessive media coverage that maligned his image. Police registered a case under suspicious circumstances under Section 174 of the IPC.
Controversies
Separate nation for Tamil Nadu
On 3rd July 2022, A Raja said that the Union government is not giving the state autonomy and the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should not force them into demanding a "thani nadu" (separate nation) while speaking at a meeting held for DMK local body representatives, in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin.
DMK immediately distanced itself from the comments and said that the comments made in support of a separate nation is not the stand of the party.
Anusuiya Uikey (born 10 April 1957) is a politician from Bharatiya Janata Party and currently serving as the governor of Chhattisgarh. She was appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh on 16 July 2019.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former nominated MP of the Rajya Sabha
In office
22 March 2010 to 21 March 2016
Preceded by
Dara Singh, BJP
Personal details
Born : 2 March 1946
Deogad, Sindhudurg district
Political party
Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)
Leena Bhalchandra Mungekar
Children 3
Bhalchandra Laxman Mungekar (born 2 March 1946) is an Indian economist, educationist, social worker and Rajya Sabha member. He specialises in agricultural economics and is an expert on B. R. Ambedkar.
Early life
Mungekar was born in Munge village, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra.
Career
He has been Vice-Chancellor of the Mumbai University and has served in the Planning Commission, the Agricultural Price Commission of India. Mungekar has also been the Chairman and President of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla.
Personal life
He is an Ambedkarite and Babasaheb Ambedkar is an influence in his life. Mungekar is a Buddhist
Faguni Ram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Faguni Ram
Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
In office
3
Constituency Aurangabad, Bihar
Personal details
Born 2 January 1945
Gaya Bihar
Died 25 February 2018 (aged 73)
New Delhi
Political party Indian National Congress
Spouse(s) Dr. Sushila Das
Dr. Faguni Ram (2 January 1945 - 25 February 2018) was an Indian politician. He was a minister of state, Bihar and member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India representing Bihar as a member of the Indian National Congress for three terms.
Dr. Faguni Ram, whose father was Baijnath Ram (Freedom Fighter), was born on 2 January 1945. He obtained BA and MA degrees in Geography, as well as a Ph.D., and married Dr. Sushila Das.
He had four sons and three daughters.
Ram was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Bihar between 1972-77 and served as a minister of state in the Government of Bihar in 1973, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1985-1988, 1988-1994 and from 2000.
He and his wife were among the first members of a Scheduled Caste in the state to hold a Ph.D. degree. They always stressed education as a means to self-development and the development of people they served. He served in Bihar State Administrative Services but left to become MLA from Aurangabad.
Ram breathed last on 25 February 2018 in Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. He was cremated in Nigambodh Ghat.
Outside politics, Ram wrote Development of Irrigation and its Impact on Agriculture and was co-author of the 25 volumes of Instant Encyclopaedia of Geography.
Awards and recognition
National Integration Award, 1987-88
Citizen of India, 1992
Several colleges and schools named after him in his home town and state.
George Gilbert Swell
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office
1969–1977
Preceded by R.K.Khadilkar
Succeeded by Godey Murahari
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1962–1977
Succeeded by Biren Singh Engti
Constituency Autonomous District, Assam
In office
1984–1989
Preceded by Bajubon Kharlukhi
Succeeded by Peter G. Marbaniang
In office
1996–1998
Preceded by Peter G. Marbaniang
Succeeded by Paty Ripple Kyndiah
Constituency Shillong, Meghalaya
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
1990–1996
Constituency Meghalaya
Personal details
Born 5 August 1923
Laitkynsew, Khasi Hills, Assam, British India
Died 25 January 1999 (aged 75)
Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Scottish Church College
University of Calcutta
George Gilbert Swell (5 August 1923 – 25 January 1999) was a college professor, an Indian politician, an ambassador to several countries, a former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and its member from Shillong in Meghalaya. Over a span of more than 35 years, he represented India at high levels nationally and internationally. Though arising from a modest and rural background in far Northeast India, Swell quickly rose to prominence in every field he entered.
Early life
He was born at Laitkynsew Village near Cherrapunji in the present-day state of Meghalaya. He completed his earlier years of schooling at the Ramakrishna Mission School at Cherrapunji. After passing the Bachelor of arts examination from the Scottish Church College, Kolkata, he completed his Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Calcutta in 1946. Within months thereafter, he married a Shillong beauty, Lajopthiaw ("Victorious Conqueror") Lyngdoh, second daughter of Phrolibon Lyngdoh and Wellington Kearney. Soon after, their first child, Lakyntiew ("She Who Has Uplifted Us"), was born (1947), followed by a son, Sanbor, in 1950. In 1952, they moved to Ethiopia, part of a cadre of instructors recruited to teach in Ethiopia in the early nineteen fifties. Swell taught English at the high school level. They returned to Shillong in 1956, and G. G. Swell threw himself into his new positions as a professor of English at several Shillong area colleges. It wasn't long before he entered into the political world of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. His contribution to the formation of the state of Meghalaya, breaking away from the parent state of Assam, is incontrovertible. He, with his wife's uncle, Brington B Lyngdoh, and Stanley Nichols Roy, as well as other community leaders, conducted a fierce campaign for the separate identity of their proposed state which would combine the peoples of the Khasi and Janintia Hills and other tribes from the Garo Hills and adjacent areas. To their credit, the campaign was bloodless, nonviolent and successful. It was not long before G. G. Swell moved into national politics, having earned recognition for his intellect and passion for leadership, and for his principled and ethical way of life.
Political career
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Autonomous Districts (Lok Sabha) constituency in 1962, 1967 and 1971 and from the Shillong (Lok Sabha) constituency in 1984 and 1996. He was the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 9 December 1969 to 27 December 1970 in the 4th Lok Sabha and again 27 March 1971 to 18 January 1977.
Swell served as India's ambassador to Norway and Iceland from 1977 to 1980 (appointed by PM Moraji Desai), and Burma, 1980 to 1984 (appointed by PM Indira Gandhi). Subsequently, he was appointed as ambassador-designate to Canada, then Spain, but instead chose to return to national political life in India. In 1985, as a member of parliament, he served as the head of the Indian delegation to the United National General Assembly, New York. In 1992 he contested the Indian presidential election as a joint opposition candidate against Shankar Dayal Sharma but lost. He was member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) from Meghalaya during 1990-1996.
The worsening health of his wife, Lajopthiaw, who passed away in early 1998, was a factor in his withdrawal from political life.
Death
He died on 25 January 1999. To honor his many years of public service, his daughter, Lakyntiew Lyngdoh Watrous, and his granddaughter, Yarissa Lyngdoh Sommer, established a museum in the town of his birth, Laitkynsew, in 2016. Through photography, artifacts, and documentary films it depicts the chronology and achievements of his lengthy career.
JV Pawar interview: ‘The government is saying that anyone who supports Dalits will be jailed’
The BJP government wants to teach a lesson to Dalit activists and their supporters, says the co-founder of the Dalit Panther party.
Ajaz Ashraf
JV Pawar/Facebook
On May 29, 1972, a group of young men in Bombay established the Dalit Panther, a social and cultural organisation. Until it was disbanded five years later, the organisation blazed a trail, organising protests against the atrocities committed on Dalits, and fighting pitched street battles against the state. Its combative approach inspired Dalits to demand the rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution.
Among the Dalit Panther’s founders was JV Pawar, whose recent book, Dalit Panthers: An Authoritative History, narrates the story of the Dalit movement that he and others spearheaded. Pawar is now 75 years old and is advisor and spokesperson of the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, an outfit headed by Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of BR Ambedkar.
Pawar has dedicated his entire life to the Dalit movement. It provided him a perch to track the changing nature of both Dalit assertion and the Indian state’s tactics to tackle it. In an interview with Scroll.in, Pawar deciphered what the arrest of human rights activists in June and August implies for society in India at large and Dalits in particular. Do Dalits need a new movement to address the problems and aspirations that are different those they encountered in the 1970s?
Five human right activists were arrested in June and another five in August. Their arrests have been linked to the Elgaar Parishad, which was held on December 31, 2017. The police hold the Parishad responsible for the violence in Bhima Koregaon village on January 1, and claim it was part of a Maoist strategy to overthrow the Narendra Modi government. What implications does this accusation have for Dalits and their politics?
The 10 who have been arrested are not known to me personally. I am only acquainted with Anand Teltumbde, who was raided but not arrested. He is a Maharashtrian and writes for the Economic and Political Weekly. But if you were to identify [the ideological orientation of] the 10 through [their association with] Teltumbde, you cannot but conclude that their aim could not have been the destruction of the country.
Why do you say that?
Teltumbde is an Ambedkarite. The raid on him was part of the action the state took against the other 10. This can only mean that they too subscribe to Teltumbde’s line. Teltumbde works for the social reconstruction of India, not its destruction.
Why do you think the police have linked all of them to a Maoist conspiracy against the Indian state?
All of them, regardless of whether they were arrested or merely raided, believe in the Constitution. This means they believe in democracy and value equality. Those opposing them are not democratic. They do not subscribe to democracy’s essence – which is equality. No Hindu can be democratic and no democratic man considers himself a Hindu.
Why do you say that?
I say it because Hinduism is based on the inequality [of the caste system]. On the other hand, the Constitution is based on the principle of equality. The current government considers itself as a Hindu government. The people who run this government belong to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Since its establishment in 1925, its goal has been to establish a Hindu Raj. So the human rights activists are paying a price for being democratic.
Will the crackdown on them have an impact Dalit politics?
They have not come from or belong to Dalit politics as, for instance, I do.
Sure, but the crackdown on them is linked to the Bhima Koregaon violence. It consequently does become an attack on Dalit politics, doesn’t it?
Listen brother, I was there on the stage on December 31 when the Elgaar Parishad was held. I did not hear the [compere announce the] names of any of these 10 people. Even Teltumbde was not there. I know him. I would have identified him. What I am trying to say is that there is absolutely no link between the Elgaar Parishad and the violence on January 1.
The police are saying just the opposite.
On the night of December 31, I stayed at a friend’s place in Pune. Early morning on January 1, I started for Bhima Koregaon. I am now 75 years old. I was thirsty. Not a single hotel was open. I had run out of water. I could not get water to quench my thirst. It was all pre-planned – it was ensured that those going to Bhima Koregaon should not get food to eat or water to drink.
Are you suggesting that it was the state government that had planned the shutdown?
The government knew there would be a shutdown on January 1. The gram panchayats had passed resolutions to keep business establishments closed. This they did to create difficulties for visitors to Bhima Koregaon. No amenities were provided. In the melee caused by stone throwing, I saw someone with a bottle of water. I requested him to give me a gulp.
I say it was pre-planned for another reason – there were helicopters flying over the road to Bhima Koregaon. Why were the helicopters flying? Who were the people inside the choppers? Were they ministers? These questions have not been asked, nor any inquiry done.
So if it was all planned, what do you think was the motive behind arresting human rights activists five months later, in June, and then another five in August?
What is the history of Bhima Koregaon? Five-hundred Dalit soldiers defeated an army of 25,000 caste Hindus. Lakhs visit Bhima Koregaon. The caste Hindus want to avenge that defeat – the defeat of their ancestors.
There is also the angle of Sanatan Sanstha, whose members have been apprehended for storing arms and bombs. Its members are also alleged to have been involved in the murder of intellectuals. The Sanatan Sanstha members who have been arrested are all caste Hindus. Their possession of bombs and arms suggests the danger they pose to the nation. It is to divert the nation’s attention from them that the theory of Maoists hatching a conspiracy to recruit Dalits for overthrowing the Modi government was hatched.
What message does the arrest of human rights activists convey to society at large and Dalits in particular?
Since the arrested human rights activists believe in the Constitution, the message being conveyed is that they [the Bharatiya Janata Party government] do not recognise the Constitution and, yes, will take revenge for the defeat of Bhima Koregaon.
Isn’t it also like telling people that anyone who supports Dalits will meet the same fate as the 10 human rights activists?
I believe that anyone who has faith in the Constitution and democracy, regardless of which caste or religion he belongs to, is also a Dalit supporter. By arresting the 10 activists, the government is saying that anyone who supports Dalits will be jailed, that their Constitutional rights will be curtailed.
Is there a difference in the nature of atrocities committed against Dalits in the 1970s, when the Dalit Panther surfaced, and what we see today?
The atrocities against Dalits have been continuing for the last 3,000-3,500 years. But what began happening in the 1970s was that some newspapers, not all, began reporting these atrocities. No doubt, the atrocities that the newspapers reported constituted just the tip of the iceberg. But it had an impact – democratic people thought it was unacceptable that such atrocities should be committed against Dalits. For instance, in one particular case the eyes of Dalits were gouged out.
Are you referring to the Gavai brothers, whose eyes were gouged out in Dhakli village in Akola district in 1974?
Yes, you are right. I raised the issue of Gavai brothers. I took them to [then Prime Minister] Indira Gandhi. On seeing them, her eyes welled up with tears. I told her, “Look at the atrocities committed under your rule.”
Are the atrocities against Dalits any different now?
Atrocities against Dalits were committed before the 1970s, during the 1970s and continue even today. But the crucial difference was that in the 1970s, regardless of whether there were Congress or non-Congress governments in the states or at the Centre, those in power believed in democracy, accepted it and consequently gave importance to it. By the way, the BJP did not have a government of its own in any of the states then.
We would take out protest marches and present memoranda to the government, which would accept it. They did not give us bullets in return. The governments of the 1970s also filed cases against us. But they did not invoke laws to prevent us from getting bail. We did not languish in jail for six, eight months – yeh nahin ki, aap jail gayein to gayein. [Not that if you go to jail you would be gone for good.]
But the BJP government is non-democratic. It wants to teach a lesson to Dalit activists and those who support them. They want to teach a lesson to them not of the court and law – that lesson we were given earlier.
But in your book you write that you were beaten by police after the riots in Worli, Bombay, in 1974.
Yes, I was beaten. There were young boys around me. In the melee of protests the police would react instinctively, at times violently. But it was not the case that they would impose an IPC [Indian Penal Code] provision because of which I could not get out of jail for seven or eight months. They would arrest you and you would soon get bail.
Take the five activists who were arrested in June. It just seems they are doomed to stay in jail. This government is scary, this government is revengeful.
Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of power similar to that of Indira Gandhi?
Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, who admired Buddhism, applied the principles of Panchsheel, and was a democrat. Indira Gandhi, too, believed in democracy in the initial years of her political career. But when she grew in strength and acquired greater power, she turned against democracy.
By contrast, Modi acquired great strength at the very beginning of his tenure and consequently became undemocratic at the very inception of his government.
But Gandhi imposed Emergency.
At least, she imposed the Emergency. There was a provision in the Constitution for imposing an Emergency. But these people do not talk of imposing an Emergency. Yet they work against people in a far worse way than what happened during Emergency.
Ideologically, Mrs Gandhi was against democracy. Yet she would sit in Parliament, which also used to function. But Parliament does not even function now. Modi goes to Parliament sirf safai dene ke liyen [to justify his actions]. For Modi, democracy means holding elections every five years.
Has the Dalit mindset changed from what it was in the 1970s?
When [the poet Namdeo] Dhasal and I formed the Dalit Panther in 1972, even people in cities would live in jhuggi-jhopris. They were poor and uneducated. Over the last 40-50 years, they educated their children, some of whom even became IAS officers. So those who were in jhuggi-jhopris moved to chawls, those in chawls shifted to flats and some to bungalows. These are the people who do not face the problems of the 1970s.
What kind of problems do they face now?
Yes, their problem is what I call the white-collar problem. He has a government job, but his service record is spoilt so that he does not get a promotion. Earlier, untouchability was visible. Today, untouchability has become invisible. It has not disappeared, mind you. It means the non-Dalit’s mindset has not changed – what he or she used to think of Dalits he or she still does.
Has not this changed the outlook of Dalits towards politics?
The Dalits I have described to you constitute about 5%-10% or so. They do not readily join street-protests or a movement. In the 1970s, when I was the secretary of the Dalit Panther, I would give a call that we have to go to so and so village. There were no mobiles then. Yet thousands would come. People had problems. They were [economically] insecure. Life has now become relatively secure. People do not wish to risk the security they have achieved. It is not that the percentage of Dalits whose lives have become secure is high. It is not. Yet you do not find the kind of street protestors and fighters the 1970s produced.
However, when a problem that is historical in nature surfaces, the Dalit community unites. Bhima Koregaon is an example. Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh gave a call to observe Maharashtra bandh on Jan 3. Whether a Dalit Brahmin…
...Dalit Brahmin?
People who no longer face the daily problems of life, who do not come out on the street to protest, who do not always support those engaged in the Dalit movement.
So when the call was given to observe the Maharashtra bandh on January 3, Brahmin Dalits and ordinary Dalits united to ensure its success. Maybe some of them did not come out on the street, but they supported us in other ways.
If the life of Dalits has changed from the 1970s, what shape should their politics take?
We want all people to come together to save the Constitution. If we do not save the Constitution we will even lose the right to raise our voice [against injustices], you will not able to write and I will not able to speak to you. We will not have democracy.
Saving the Constitution is not just the responsibility of Dalits, although the entire world knows its architect was Dr BR Ambedkar. It is the responsibility of everyone. Democracy in India is dying. Dalits and others must come together to save it.Support our journalism by subscribing to Scroll+. We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Khatu Mal Jeewan
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
2011–2013
In office
1990–1999
Personal details
Born October 1, 1956
Umerkot District, Sindh
Nationality Pakistani
Political party Pakistan Peoples Party
Khatu Mal Jeewan is a Pakistani politician who served as member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and member of the Senate of Pakistan.
Early life and education
He was born on 1 October 1956 in Umerkot, Sindh.
He is a doctor by profession and hold MBBS degree. He graduated from the Dow University of Health Sciences.
Political career
He began his political career after joining the student wing of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the 1980s.
He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh in 1988 Pakistani general election as a candidate of PPP[3] on a minority seat.
He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PPP for the first time in 1990 Pakistani general election. He was disappeared during his tenure in 1991 and was forced to quit PPP.
He was elected to the National Assembly for the second time in 1993 Pakistani general election and for the third time in 1997 Pakistani general election. In 1998, he became federal Parliamentary Secretary for Population Welfare.
After PPP formed government following 2008 election, he was made advisor to Chief Minister of Sindh for Mines and Minerals Development Department in 2008.
He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 2009 as a candidate of PPP where he continued until his resignation in 2011.
He was re-elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan on a seat reserved for minorities as a candidate of PPP in 2011.
He is the only Hindu Dalit politician in Pakistan who elected as a public representative for seven times.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kailash Chandra Meghwal
Speaker of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
In office
22 January 2014 – 15 January 2019
Preceded by Deependra Singh Shekhawat
Succeeded by C. P. Joshi
Constituency Shahpura, (SC)
Union Minister of State, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
In office
2003-2004
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Home Minister, Government of Rajasthan
In office
1993 - 1998
Member of Parliament
for Tonk
In office
2001-2009
Member of Parliament Lok sabha
In office
1989 to 1991
Constituency Jalore
Member of Legislative Assembly
In office
2008 to incumbent
Constituency Shahpura
Personal details
Born 22 March 1934 (age 86)
Udaipur, Udaipur State, British India
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Website http://rajassembly.nic.in/KailashMeghwal.htm
As of 14 September, 2006
Kailash Chandra Meghwal (born 22 March 1934) was former Speaker of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, former union minister of state in Government of India and a national vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party. He represents MLA of Shahpura, Bhilwara constituency of Rajasthan in 14th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly & Ex-MP Tonk constituency of Rajasthan in 14th Lok Sabha. He was minister of state for social justice and empowerment from 2003 to 2004.
Born in 1934 in Udaipur District he did MA and LLB from University of Rajasthan. He was imprisoned in emergency in 1975 and released in 1977. He was president of Udaipur Bar Association and a member of senate of Udaipur University.
Membership
1977-1985 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (two term)
1989 Elected to 9th Lok Sabha from Jalore
1990 Member, Rajasthan Lagislative Assembly (3rd term)
1993-1998 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (4th term)
22 Sept. 2001 Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (in by-election, 2nd term)
2004 Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha, (3rd term)
2013 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (5th term)
2018 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (6th term)
Positions held
1962 Joint Secretary, Praja Socialist Party. Rajasthan
1969-1975 Joint Secretary,Bharatiya Jansangh, Rajasthan
1977 Minister of State with Independent Charge of Ministry of Mines & Geology, Panchayati Raj & Sheep and Wool, Government of Rajasthan
1978 Cabinet Minister, Sahakarita and Mines and Geology, Government of Rajasthan
1980-1982 Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajasthan
1981-1984 Member, Public Accounts Committee, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
1982-1985 General Secretary, B.J.P., Rajasthan
1987 onwards Vice-President, B.J.P., Rajasthan
1991-1992 Cabinet Minister, Irrigation and Relief, Government of Rajasthan
1994-1998 Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Home, Mines and Printing, Government of Rajasthan
2003-2004 Union Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment
Cabinet Minister of Mines and Geology,Government of Rajasthan (20.12.2013-21.01.2014)
Speaker of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
Madhusudan Das
Utkala Gouraba Madhusudan Das
Born 28 April 1848
Satyabhamapur, Cuttack district, Bengal Presidency, Company rule in India
Died 4 February 1934 (aged 85)
Cuttack, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India
Occupation Lawyer, social reformer, minister, industrialist
Education M.A, B.L.
Alma mater Calcutta University
Period 1848–1934
Spouse Soudamini Devi
Children Sailabala Das, Sudhanshubala Hazra
Relatives Choudhury Raghunath Das
Parbati Debi (parents)
Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Orissa along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the main persons, helping in the creation of Orissa Province (present-day Odisha, India), which was established on 1 April 1936. He was also the first graduate and advocate of Orissa. He is also known as Kulabruddha (Grand Old Man), Madhu Babu, and Utkala Gouraba (Pride of Utkal). In Odisha, his birthday is celebrated as the Lawyers' Day on 28 April.
Family
Madhusudan Das was born to a Zamindari (Karan Kayastha ) family in 28 April 1848 at Satyabhamapur, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Cuttack during the Company rule in India. His father was Choudhury Raghunath Das and his mother, Parbati Debi. They had initially named him Gobindaballabh. He had two elder sisters and a younger brother named Gopalballabh. Gopalballabh was a Magistrate at Bihar Province and the father of Ramadevi Choudhury. He was converted to Christianity that caused him boycotted in the village which he had to quit to erect a small house at the end of the village. The house was known as ‘Madhukothi’ or ‘Balipokharikothi’, later on used as the state office of the Kasturba National Memorial Trust, in a part of which was running the Anganabadi, Balbadi. Madhusudan had adopted two Bengali girls; Sailabala Das and Sudhanshubala Hazra. Sailabala was an educationist who had been trained in England, and in whose name the famous Sailabala Women's College of Cuttack was founded. Sailabala was Bengali, and her parents had left her in the care of Madhusudan Das and his wife Soudamini Devi at Calcutta. In 1864, he passed Matriculation from Cuttack and thereafter he was inclined to become a teacher and began his career as a teacher at Balasore for three years. The year 1866 was the year of a acute famine in Odisha, called the "Naanka Durviksha" When more than one lakh people died of hunger. This year he converted himself to Christian and changed his name as Madhusudan Das from his earlier name of Gobinda Ballav Choudhury. Sudhansubala Hazra was also Bengali and she was the first female lawyer of British India. Madhu babu was the resident tutor of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University in Calcutta and Janakinath Bose, father of Subhash Chandra Bose at Ravenshaw College.
Early life and education
After his early education, he moved to Cuttack High School (later known as Ravenshaw Collegiate School) which offered English education. In 1864, he passed the entrance examination and went to Calcutta University. In spite of extremely challenging conditions he lived in Calcutta for almost fifteen years, from 1866 to 1881. In 1870, he became the first Odia to complete his B.A. He continued his studies at Calcutta and earned his M.A. in 1873, and an LL.B degree in 1878, thus becoming the first scholar from Orissa to be thus educated.
Professional life
Statue of Madhu babu
After returning to Orissa from Calcutta in 1881, he started his legal practice. His insight knowledge on this field helped him to earn sufficiently and spend for the common man. He handled some important cases of his times such as Puri temple administration case, Keonjhar Riots Case etc. He was a source of inspiration for the lawyers in Orissa and in India. His birth anniversary is observed as Lawyers' Day in Odisha.
Political career
Known as 'Madhu Babu' by the common people, he worked for the political, social and economical upliftment of the people of Orissa and worked as a lawyer, journalist, legislator, politician and social reformer. He founded Utkal Sammilani which brought a revolution in the social and industrial development of Orissa. He was elected as a member of the legislative council of Bihar and Orissa Province and under the Diarchy scheme of Government of India Act, 1919, he was appointed as Minister for Local Self-Government, Medical Public Health, Public Works in 1921.
He was the first Odia to become a member of both the legislative council and the Central Legislative Assembly of India. He founded Utkal Sammilani (Utkal Union Conference) which laid the foundation of Odia nationalism. Utkal Sammilani spearheaded the demand for unification of Odia speaking areas under a single administration.This led to the formations of state of Odisha on 1 April 1936. He was also the first Odia to travel to England. He founded the Utkal Tannery in 1905, a factory producing shoes and other leather products. In 1897 he founded the Orissa Art Ware Works. With his support, the Tarakasi(filigree) work of silver ornaments achieved commendable feet.
Contribution to literature
As a writer and poet, patriotism was always at the forefront of his mind, and that was reflected in all of his literary works. He penned a number of articles and poems in both English and Odia. Some of his important poems are "Utkal Santan", "Jati Itihash" and "Jananira Ukti". He was also an influential speaker in Odia, Bengali and English.
Last years
He died on 4 February 1934 at the age of 85.
Mangu Ram Mugowalia
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Mangu Ram Mugowalia
Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office
21 March 1946 – 4 July 1947
Personal details
Born 14 January 1886
Muggowal, Hoshiarpur, Punjab Province, British India (now India)
Died 22 April 1980 (aged 94)
Political party Unionist Party (Punjab) (1946–1947)
Other political
affiliations Ghadar Party (Before 1946)
Mangu Ram (14 January 1886 – 22 April 1980), known popularly as Babu Mangu Ram Chaudhry, was an Indian freedom fighter, a politician from Punjab and one of the founder members of the Ghadar Party.
In 1909, he immigrated to the United States and there became associated with the Ghadar Party. Upon his return to India in 1925, he became a leader of the low-caste people, organising them in opposition to the system of untouchability that oppressed them. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Ad-Dharmi Movement, an organisation dedicated to attaining equality for Untouchables. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1946 and in 1972 received recognition in the form of a pension and an award from Indira Gandhi for his work towards Indian independence.
Personal life
Mugowalia was born to Harman Dass and Atri in a Chamar family of Muggowal village, Hoshiarpur district, Punjab Province, British India. His father Harman Dass left the traditional Chamar Caste occupation of Leathercraft. His mother Atri died when he was three. Harman Dass faced discrimination at every step of his life thus did not want his son to face the same problems and enrolled him in school for early education.
Education
Initially Mangu Ram was taught by a village saint (Sadhu) till the age of seven. He attended schools in Mugowal area and Dehradun. In most of the schools Mangu ram was the only Dalit Student. He was forced to sit in back of the classroom, or even in separate room, and had to listen through the open door. When he attended high school in Bajwara, he was forced to stay outside the building and had to listen to the classes through the windows. Once when he came inside during a heavy hailstorm, the Brahman teacher beat him and put all the classroom furniture, which he had "polluted" by his presence, outside in the rain to be literally and ritually washed clean. Nonetheless, Mangu Ram was a good student, he came third in his class in primary school. While the other students were encouraged to become patwaris (village record-keeper) or to seek higher education, Mangu Ram was encouraged to leave school and help his father at a more proper "Chamar task".
Ad-Dharmi movement
In 1925, after returning from US, Babu Mangoo Ram started teaching in a primary school in his home village of Mugowal, A school which he named Ad Dharm School. It was the same school where Babu Mangu Ram first convened the meeting that formally launched the Ad Dharam Movement. The establishment of movement was the voice against the brahminical society which put Dalits at bottom of the social structure. It was the glorious step by Dalits to attain the equality in caste laden society. Through the Ad dharm Movement, babu Mangu Ram pioneered Dalit movement in North India.
He succeeded remarkably well in creating awareness and awakening among the people. His path was beset with difficulties, and he had to work against the odds and trying circumstances. The message brought by Babu Mangu Ram was new and inspiring. It was aimed at awakening the untouchables. The message called upon them to know and realize themselves as they had forgotten their true selves due to hostile influences in which they had been living for thousands of years. It caught imagination and hearts of downtrodden people, soon Babu Mangu Ram became household name.
Death
Mangu Ram died on 22 April 1980
Wikipedia
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
Postage stamp issued in honor of Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
President of Indian National Congress
Birth 25 December 1880
Yusufpur, Mohammadabad, Ghazipur British India
The death 1936 ( Age : 56 years) in train between
Mussoorie - Delhi , British India
the nationality Indian
Political party Indian National Congress and Muslim League
Learning earnings Madras Medical College
London Lock Hospital
The business Doctor, freedom fighter
religion Islam
DR. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari ( Hindi : Mokhtar Ahmad Ansari , Urdu : مختار احمد انصاری )during the Indian Independence movement with an Indian nationalist and political leader of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League of former president. He was one of the founders of Jamia Millia IslamiaUniversity, he was also its Chancellor from 1928 to 1936.
Early life and medical career
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was born on 25 December 1880 in the city of Yusufpur-Mohammadabad in North-Western Provinces (now a part of Uttar Pradesh ).
He attended Victoria High School and later he and his family moved to Hyderabad . Ansari received a medical degree from Madras Medical College and went to England to study on a scholarship . He did M.D. And MS Acquired the titles of He was an upper-class student and worked at the Lock Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital in London . He was India's pioneer in surgery and today an Ansari ward is present in Charing Cross Hospital to honor his work .
Nationalist activities
Dr. Ansari joined the Indian independence movement during his stay in England. He returned to Delhi and joined both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League . He played an important role in negotiating the 1916 Lucknow Treaty and served as the league's president from 1918 to 1920. He was an outspoken supporter of the Khilafat Movement and brought together the government's Khilafat body, the League and the Congress Party at issue against Mustafa Kamal's decision to oust the Khalifa of Islam , the Sultan of Turkey , and the recognition of Turkish independence by the British Empire Worked to protest.
Dr. Ansari served as AICC Secretary General several times, as well as President of the Indian National Congress during the 1927 session. Dr. Ansari became closer to Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party as a result of internal fighting and political divisions within the League in the 1920s and later the rise of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Muslim separatism.
Dr. Ansari ( Foundation Committee of Jamia Millia Islamia ) was one of the founders and shortly after the death of its primary founder, Dr. Hakim Ajmal Khan in 1927, he also worked as the Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi . Did it
Personal life and perceptions
Dr. Ansari's wife was a very religious woman who worked with him to uplift the Muslim women of Delhi. [ Citation needed ] Ansari family lived in a palatial home that Urdu in the Darus Salaam or Adobe of Peace was called. Whenever Mahatma Gandhi came to Delhi, the Ansari family often welcomed him and this house was a regular basis for the political activities of the Congress. However, he never stopped practicing medicine and often came to the aid of Indian politicians and the Indian royal system.
Dr. Ansari was one of a new generation of Indian Muslim nationalists, including Maulana Azad, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and others. He was very passionate about the issues of common Indian Muslims but, unlike Jinnah, was strongly against separate voters and opposed Jinnah's view that only the Muslim League could be representative of India's Muslim communities.
Dr. Ansari was very close to Mahatma Gandhi and favored Gandhism with his major teachings of non- violence and non-violent civil resistance . He had an intimate friendship with the Mahatma.
Dr. Ansari died of a heart attack in a train en route from Mussoorie to Delhi in 1936 , he is buried in the premises of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi.
P. Theagaraya Chetty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pitti Theagaraya Chetty
Born 27 April 1852
Died 28 April 1925 (aged 73)
Madras, British India
Occupation lawyer, businessman, politician
Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty KCSI (27 April 1852 – 28 April 1925) was an Indian lawyer, industrialist and a prominent political leader from the erstwhile Madras province. He was one of the founders of the Justice Party in 1916 along with C. Natesa Mudaliar, Dr. T. M. Nair. T.Nagar is a locality in Chennai which is named after him. On 1919 January 1, the title Dewan Bahadur was awarded to him
Theagaraya Chetty was born in Madras Presidency. After graduating from Presidency College, Madras he served as a corporator and legislator. He had an avid interest in politics and served as a member of the Indian National Congress before founding the South Indian Liberal Federation in 1917. He served as the President of the federation from 1917 till his death in 1925.
Early life
Chetty was born to a Devanga family in Egathur, Madras Presidency on 27 April 1852 He did his schooling in Chennai and graduated in law from Presidency College, Madras. On graduation, he entered public life and served as a member of the Corporation of Madras from 1882 to 1922. He also served terms as the President of the Corporation of Madras, and then as a Councillor till 1922. He was the first non-official President of the Madras Corporation.
He was one of the founder-members of the South Indian Chamber of Commerce and served as its President. from 1910 to 1921. When the Industrial Conference came to Madras, Theagaraya Chetty was the Chairman of the Reception Committee. Theagaraya Chetty fought on behalf of the Indian Patriot newspaper and its editor Karunakara Menon against Dr T. M. Nair who later became his close associate.
The Dravidian Movement
The Madras Non-Brahmin Association was formed in 1909 by two lawyers from Madras city, P. Subramanyam and M. Purushotham Naidu. Sir Theagaroya Chetty did not involve himself in the movement until 1912, when the Madras United League (Later renamed as Madras Dravidian Association) was formed.
At a meeting held in Madras in November 1916 by a group of about thirty people, including Theagaraya Chetti and Dr. T. M. Nair, it was resolved to start a company for publishing newspapers advocating the cause of the non-Brahmin community. The newspaper was named Justice and started publishing from 26 February 1917 onwards. Dr. T. M. Nair was its first Editor.
A political party was organised by the South Indian People's Association under the leadership of Sir P.Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair and was named the South Indian Liberal Federation. It later came to be popularly known as the Justice Party after the English daily Justice which the party published. The Federation was organised in October 1917 and its objectives were defined as :
to create and promote the education, social, economic, political, material and moral progress of all communities in Southern India other than Brahmins, to discuss public questions and make a true and timely representation to Government of the views and interests of the people of Southern India with the object of safeguarding and promoting the interests of all communities including Dalits and to disseminate by public lectures, by distribution of literature and by other means sound and liberal views in regard to public opinion "
Early Years of the Justice Party
Theagaraya Chetty was elected the first President of the Justice Party and served as President until his death in 1925. A constitution was drawn on 17 October 1917. District and city boards were established all over the Presidency.
In the initial stages, the Justice Party concentrated its energies on work of a social character than political. During this period, the Justice Party held all-India conferences to unite SCs and Its all over the country. The Justice Party argued for separate electorates and reservations in government jobs and civil service for Dalits, at the British Parliament in London. In 1919, Dr. T. M. Nair, the President of the Justice Party and leader of the delegation died in London at the age of fifty-one and was succeeded as President by Theagaraya Chetty.
1920 elections
When elections were held in December 1920 in the Madras Presidency as per the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, the Justice Party obtained a comfortable majority by winning 63 seats out of 98. The Governor of Madras invited Theagaraya Chetty to form the Government. However, Theagaraya Chetty refused on account of the ethical rule that head of a political party can't hold a post in the cabinet too. As a result, A. Subbarayalu Reddiar was appointed Chief Minister. He served for a few months before being succeeded by the Raja of Panagal.
Attitude towards Brahmins
In his speech as the President of the Reception Committee of the First Non-Brahmin Confederation, Theagaraya Chetty spoke:
Towards the Brahmins, we cherish no feelings of bitterness. If we have to fight them we do so in the interests of truth and justice, and we shall be prepared to extend to them too the right hand of fellowship, when they shall see the wrongs inflicted upon us and repent. Ours is essentially a movement of love and not of hate, or love based upon a sense of what is due to the various classes which constitute the population of this vast and ancient land
Death and legacy
History holds the fact that the credit of demolishing the influence of brahminism against the other communities belongs to the Justice Party and its successor party Dravidar Kazhagam. Theagaraya Chetty died on 28 April 1925 and was succeeded by the Raja of Panagal as the President of the Justice Party. He is usually credited for the victories of the Justice Party in the 1920 and 1923 elections and for turning the Justice Party into a formidable force in the Presidency that continued to be so for a couple of decades.
The locality T Nagar in Chennai is named after him. It is an important commercial centre today.
Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar
From Wikipedia
Prakash Ambedkar
Member of the Indian parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004
Succeeded by Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre
Constituency Akola
In office
10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999
Preceded by Pandurang Pundalik Fundkar
Constituency Akola
Member of the Indian parliament of Rajya Sabha
In office
18 September 1990 – 17 September 1996
Constituency Maharashtra
Personal details
Born 10 May 1954 (age 66)
Bombay, Bombay State (now Mumbai, Maharashtra), India
Nationality Indian
Political party
Republican Party of India
(before 1994, 1998 – 1999)
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh
(1994 – 2019)
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi
(since 2019)
Spouse(s)
Anjali Ambedkar
(m. 1993)
Relations
B. R. Ambedkar
(grandfather)
Anandraj Ambedkar
(brother)
Anand Teltumbde
(brother-in-law)
See also Ambedkar family
Children Sujat Ambedkar (son)
Parents
Yashwant Ambedkar
Meera Ambedkar
Residence • 129, Rajgruha, Hindu colony, Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• B-17, Patil Heritage Bhosale Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra
• Akola, Maharashtra
Education Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Laws
Alma mater St. Stanislaus High School
Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai
Profession Advocate, Politician, Social worker
Website PrakashAmbedkar on Facebook
Nickname(s) Balasaheb Ambedkar
Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (IAST: Prakāśa Yaśavanta Āmbēḍakar) (born 10 May 1954), popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, social activist, writer and lawyer. He is the president of political party called the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He is a three-time Member of Parliament (MP). He is the grandson of B. R. Ambedkar. He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha Akola constituency of India. He has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
Personal life
Prakash Ambedkar is the eldest grandson of B. R. Ambedkar and Ramabai Ambedkar. His father's name is Yashwant Ambedkar (Bhaiyasaheb) and mother's name is Meera. The Ambedkar family are followers of Navayana Buddhism. He has two younger brothers Bhimrao and Anandraj, and a sister Ramabai who is married to Anand Teltumbde. Prakash Ambedkar is married to Anjali Maydeo, with whom he has a son.
Early life and education
Prakash Ambedkar was born on 10 May 1954 in Bombay (now Mumbai). In 1972 he completed his higher secondary education from St. Stanislaus High School, Mumbai. In 1978, he received Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Siddhartha College of Arts, and in 1981 he got Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai.
Political career
On 4 July 1994, Prakash Ambedkar established the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh. This party was a splintered group amongst other factions of the Republican Party of India which was constituted on directions of his grandfather after his death. The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha contested established political parties like Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party in the Akola municipal elections, emerging victorious. The success was gained through the new social engineering brought by Prakash Ambedkar which later known as "Akola Pattern". The expansion of the party continued after 1995, that some of the non-Dalit parties and organisations have joined the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.
Ambedkar was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1990 - 1996. He was elected in the 12th Lok Sabha elections from Akola Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 as a candidate of the Republican Party of India. Second time from the same constituency in 1999, he was elected as the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh's candidate for the 13th Lok Sabha elections and he was a member of the Lok Sabha till 2004.
Ambedkar followed a policy, on the one hand, of regrouping the Dalits, and on the other of following a moderate line seeking alliance with those opposition parties which sympathised with the Dalit cause. It was with their support that he twice contested elections to the parliament from non-reserved constituencies. Though not successful in getting elected, he polled a sizeable number of votes on both the occasions.
The RPI organised a march from Nashik to Mumbai to press its demands, prominent among which was the transfer of vatan lands to their Dalit cultivators. (Both before and after the British Raj, certain lands were given to people for services rendered by them to the government or to the community or to both. These lands are also called "watan lands" in local legislation and in Maharashtra many of the watans were abolished between 1950 and 1960.)[citation needed] In response, the government appointed a committee with Prakash Ambedkar as a member.
The RPI's greatest success was in 1988 when Ambedkar, in alliance with other Dalit organisations, took out a massive demonstration in Mumbai. The occasion was the controversy regarding a move to delete from the official publication of B. R. Ambedkar's writings a portion called Riddles of Hinduism. The deletion move was supported by Shiv Sena which by this time was emerging as a Hindu political organisation. To bring all Dalit organisations together for this purpose, Prakash Ambedkar formed Ambedkar Vichar Samvardhak Samiti (AVSS). Under the leadership of Prakash Ambedkar, R. S. Gavai and others on 5 February 1988, Dalits put on a massive show of strength which brought more than four to five lakh followers of B. R. Ambedkar into the heart of Mumbai city from different parts of Maharashtra and also from Gujarat and other states. Within days of the Dalit demonstration in Mumbai, the 'Riddles' issue was resolved at a meeting on February 10 of representatives of the Shiv Sena, the Maratha Mahasangh and the various groups of the Republican Party of India and the Dalit Panthers called by the state chief minister. It was agreed at the meeting that the relevant appendix would be retained intact in the fourth volume of Ambedkar's works; only a line would be added to clarify that the Maharashtra government did not agree or disagree with B. R. Ambedkar's comments on the Hindu gods.
Bahujan Mahasangh, a political formation working in close association with the Bharatiya Republican Party led by Prakash Ambedkar, was formed in February 1993. In the summer of that year, its candidate won Kinwat legislative assembly seat in Nanded district, defeating Congress and BJP contestants. The alliance between Bharatiya Republican Party and Bahujan Mahasangh visualised a joint front of Dalits and OBCs whose cultural identity was essentially non-Brahmin. Bahujan Mahasangh argued that in the Brahminical social order, both Dalits and OBCs find themselves equally oppressed culturally. Bahujan Mahasangh had defined the Bahujan category to include Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Muslims, as well as caste groups such as Shudra (OBCs) and ati-Shudra (Dalits), tribes, women, poor Marathas, and poor Brahmins, thus including all those who are subjugated through caste, class and gender exploitation
In memory of Mahar soldiers who fought in the Battle of Koregaon, their descendants (Buddhists) visit Koregaon Bhima on 1 January every year to honor them. On 1 January 2018, Buddhists, as well as some Hindu dalit, OBC and Sikh people visited the 'Jay sthambh' (victory pillar) at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district, Maharashtra.Prakash Ambedkar accused Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote of seducing the invading Hindutva people and demanded the police investigation and strict action against the two. But the Maharashtra government and the state police did not take any action against the culprits. So on 3 January 2018, he called on the people of Maharashtra to call "Maharashtra Bandh". This call to shut down Maharashtra received a huge response from the people and the bandh was a success. The bandh was seen across Maharashtra including Mumbai. According to Ambedkar, more than 50% Maharashtrian people participated in the bandh. Earlier only Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena had the power to shut down Mumbai. Subsequently, Prakash Ambedkar's political power increased. He came to the center of Ambedkarite and Bahujan community. The youth group in particular became his supporters.
Prakash Ambedkar founded new political party the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi on 20 March 2018 with its ideology primarily emphasizing Constitutionalism, Ambedkarism, Secularism, Socialism and Progressivism. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi registered as a political party a year later on 15 March 2019, prior to the 2019 elections for Lok Sabha. It is supported by nearly 100 small political parties and social organizations. Prakash Ambedkar is the supremo of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
On 14 March 2019, Ambedkar has announced the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He said that, despite the 'Akola pattern' of social engineering through the success of the Bharipa-Bahujan Mahasangh, the word 'Bharipa' (RPI) had limited the expansion of the party. He said that after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharip-Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, because the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is acceptable in a broad sense.
Ambedkar contested and lost from both Akola and Solapur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Controversy
Prakash Ambedkar courted controversy by asking his supporters to resort to violence against trolls and those who criticised his statement asking for proof on surgical strikes conducted by Indian Air Force. Many critics called it militant Dalit politics.
Writings
Ambedkari Chalval Sampli Ahe (The Ambedkarite Movement Has Ended)
Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja
Maharashtracha Uddyacha Mukhyamantri Varkari ani Varkarich
Can It Be Stopped!
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Cha Vaicharik Bhrashtachar (Ideological Corruption of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)
Aetehasik Ambedkar Bhawanacha Varasa Aapan Japanar Ki Nahi ? (The Historic Heritage Of Ambedkar Bhavan Will We Preserve It?)
Positions held
Ambedkar has held following positions,
1990-96: Nominated Member, Rajya Sabha from 18 September 1990 to 17 September 1996.
1992-96: Member, Committee on Rules
1993-96: Member, Committee on Communications
1998-99: Elected to 12th Lok Sabha, (1st term) Leader, Republican Party of India Parliamentary Party
1998-99: Member, Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Human Resource Development
1999–2004: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term); Leader, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
1999-2000: Member, Committee on Energy
2000–2004: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways
पी॰ ए॰ संगमा
मुक्त ज्ञानकोश विकिपीडिया सेPurno Agitok Sangmaपी॰ ए॰ संगमापद बहाल25 मई 1996 – 23 मार्च 1998पूर्वा धिकारी शिवराज पाटिलउत्तरा धिकारी जी.एम.सी. बालयोगी
पद बहाल6 फरवरी 1988 – 25 मार्च 1990पूर्वा धिकारी विलियमसन ए संगमाउत्तरा धिकारी बी.बी. लिंगदोह
जन्म 1 सितंबर 1947चपाहठी, गारो हिल्स डिस्ट्रिक्ट, असम, पश्चिम गारो हिल्स जिला, मेघालय)मृत्यु 4 मार्च 2016 (उम्र 68)नई दिल्लीजन्म का नाम पूर्ण ऐजिटक संगमाराजनीतिक दल नेशनल पीपल्स पार्टी (2012—2016)अन्य राजनीतिकसंबद्धताऐं निर्दलीय (2012—2013)
(1999—2004; 2005—2012)सर्वभारतीय तृणमूल कांग्रेस (2004—2005)भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस (before 1999)शैक्षिक सम्बद्धता राष्ट्रीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान पटनाधर्म ईसाई धर्म
पूर्ण ऐजिटक संगमा (जन्म : 1 सितम्बर 1947, मेघालय, मृत्यु: 04.03.2016) भारत के एक राजनेता थे। वे मेघालय के मुख्यमंत्री, राष्ट्रवादी कांग्रेस पार्टी के सह-संस्थापक और लोकसभा अध्यक्ष रह चुके हैं। वे आठ बार लोकसभा-सदस्य रह चुके हैं। मृत्यु के समय वे तुरा (अनुसूचित जनजाति) लोकसभा सीट से सांसद थे।उन्हें मरणोपरांत वर्ष 2017 में भारत सरकार द्वारा पद्म विभूषण प्रदान किया गया। वे मेघालय से पद्म विभूषण के पहले प्राप्तकर्ता है।परिचय
पी ए संगमा का जन्म 1 सितंबर 1947 को पश्चिम गारो हिल्स, मेघालय के चपाथी ग्राम में हुआ था। शिलांग से स्नातक की डिग्री प्राप्त करने के बाद पी.ए. संगमा ने असम के डिब्रूगढ़ विश्वविद्यालय से अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संबंध में स्नातकोत्तर की उपाधि प्राप्त की। इसके बाद उन्होंने एल.एल.बी. की परीक्षा भी उत्तीर्ण की।
वर्ष 1973 में पी.ए. संगमा प्रदेश युवा कांग्रेस समिति के अध्यक्ष निर्वाचित हुए। कुछ ही समय बाद वह इस समिति के महासचिव नियुक्त हुए। वर्ष 1975 से 1980 तक पी.ए. संगमा प्रदेश कांग्रेस समिति के महासचिव रहे। वर्ष 1977 के लोकसभा चुनावों में पी.ए. संगमा तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र से जीत दर्ज करने के बाद पहली बार सांसद बने। चौदहवीं लोकसभा चुनावों तक वह इस पद पर लगातार जीतते रहे। हालांकि नौवीं लोकसभा में वह जीत दर्ज करने में असफल रहे थे।
वर्ष 1980-1988 तक पी.ए. संगमा केन्द्रीय सरकार के अंतर्गत विभिन्न पदों पर कार्यरत रहे। वर्ष 1988-1991 तक वे मेघालय के मुख्यमंत्री भी रहे। वर्ष 1999 में कांग्रेस से निष्कासित होने के बाद शरद पवार और तारिक अनवर के साथ मिलकर पी.ए. संगमा ने नेशनल कांग्रेस पार्टी की स्थापना की। शरद पवार के भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस की अध्यक्षा सोनिया गांधी से नजदीकी बढ़ जाने के कारण पी.ए. संगमा ने अपनी पार्टी का ममता बनर्जी की तृणमूल कांग्रेस पार्टी में विलय कर नेशनलिस्ट तृणमूल कांग्रेस की स्थापना की। 10 अक्टूबर 2005 को अखिल भारतीय तृणमूल कांग्रेस के सदस्य के तौर पर लोकसभा पद से इस्तीफा देने के बाद पी.ए. संगमा फरवरी 2006 में नेशनल कांग्रेस पार्टी के प्रतिनिधि के तौर पर संसद पहुंचे। 2008 के मेघालय विधानसभा चुनावों में भाग लेने के लिए उन्होंने चौदहवीं लोकसभा से इस्तीफा दे दिया। पी.ए संगमा एन.सी.पी. के महासचिव पद पर भी रहे।पदासीन1974 - मेघालय प्रदेश यूथ कांग्रेस के उपाध्यक्ष1975 - मेघालय प्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी के महासचिव1977 - सांसद, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र1980 - अखिल भारतीय कांग्रेस कमेटी के संयुक्त सचिव1980 - उद्योग के प्रभारी उप मंत्री1982 - वाणिज्य मंत्री, उप मंत्री1984 - फिर से निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा विधानसभा क्षेत्र1984 - वाणिज्य और आपूर्ति के राज्य प्रभारी मंत्री1984- गृह राज्य राज्य मंत्री1986 - स्वतंत्र प्रभार के साथ श्रम राज्य मंत्री1988 - सदस्य, मेघालय विधान सभा1988 - मेघालय के मुख्यमंत्री1990 - विपक्ष का नेता, मेघालय विधान सभा1991 - फिर से निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र1991-93 - केंद्रीय कोयला मंत्रालय राज्य मंत्री(स्वतंत्र प्रभार)1993-95 - केंद्रीय श्रम और रोजगार मंत्रालय (स्वतंत्र प्रभार)फरवरी-सितंबर 1995 - केंद्रीय श्रम और रोजगार राज्य मंत्री1995-96 - केंद्रीय सूचना और प्रसारण मंत्री1996 - पुनः निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र1996-98 - लोकसभा के अध्यक्ष1998- पुनः निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र1998 - सदस्य, विदेश मामलों की समिति और इसकी उप-समिति1998 - उपाध्यक्ष, भारतीय लोक प्रशासन संस्थान1998 - सदस्य, परामर्शदात्री समिति, विदेश मंत्रालय1999 - पुनः निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र1999 - सदस्य, श्रम और कल्याण संबंधी समिति2000 - सदस्य, संविधान के कार्य की समीक्षा करने के लिए राष्ट्रीय आयोग2002 - सदस्य, विदेश मामलों की समिति2003 - सदस्य, गृह मामलों संबंधी समिति2004 - फिर से निर्वाचित, संसद सदस्य, तुरा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र2004 - सदस्य, विदेश मामलों की समिति, सदस्य, निजी सदस्य विधेयक और संकल्प समिति, सदस्य, परामर्शदात्री समिति, गृह मंत्रालय2008 - सदस्य, मेघालय विधान सभाRam KinkarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaRam KinkarIn office1977-1984Preceded by Rudra Pratap SinghSucceeded by Kamla PrasadConstituency BarabankiMinister of State in the Ministry of Works and Housing and Supply and RehabilitationIn officeAugust 1977 to June 1978Constituency BarabankiMinister for Works and Housing and Supply and Rehabilitation
Assumed officeJuly 28, 1979, to January 13, 1980Constituency BarabankiPersonal detailsBorn 2 February 1922Sarai Rajai Village, Atarsan, P. O., Pratapgarh DistrictDied 12 September 2003 (aged 81)Political party Janata Party (Secular)Other politicalaffiliations Bharatiya Lok DalSpouse(s) Vimla DeviChildren 2 sons and 1 daughterResidence(s) Sarai Rajai Village, Atarsan, P. O., Pratapgarh District, Uttar PradeshEducation B.A., LL.B.Lucknow University
Ram Kinkar (1922-2003) was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh constituency of Uttar Pradesh as a member of the Janata Party. He was Deputy Minister for Education, Social Welfare, Food & Civil Supplies, Revenue etc. from February 17, to July 15, 1970 and the Cabinet Minister for Sales Tax in Uttar Pradesh Government from July to October, 1970 and for Forest, November, 1970 to March 1971.
He was Minister of State in the Ministry of Works and Housing and Supply and Rehabilitation in Morarji Desai Cabinet from August 1977 to June 1978. He resigned from the Government on June 30, 1978, and rejoined the Ministry on January 26, 1979, with the same portfolio but as Cabinet Minister for Works and Housing and Supply and Rehabilitation in Charan Singh Cabinet from July 28, 1979, to January 13, 1980.
Kinkar died on September 12, 2003, in New Delhi at the age of 82.Ramdas Athawale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramdas Athawale
Athawale addressing a press conference, in New Delhi on 24 November 2017.
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 July 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot (26 May 2014 – 7 July 2021)
Virendra Kumar Khatik (Incumbent)
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 April 2014
Preceded by Prakash Javadekar
Constituency Maharashtra
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 October 1999 – 16 May 2009
Preceded by Sandipan Thorat
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Constituency Pandharpur
In office
1998–1999
Preceded by Narayan Athawale
Succeeded by Manohar Joshi
Constituency Mumbai North Central
Cabinet Minister for Social Welfare,Transport,Sports and Youth Welfare,Employment Guarantee Government of Maharashtra
In office
1990–1995
Member, Maharashtra Legislative Council
In office
1990–1996
Personal details
Born
Ramdas Bandu Athawale
25 December 1959
Agalgaon, Sangli district, India
Political party Republican Party of India (A) (1990 - present)
Other political
affiliations Republican Party of India (before 1990)
Occupation Trade unionist, social worker
Ramdas Bandu Athawale (Marathi pronunciation: [äʈʰʋəle]) (born 25 December 1959) is an Indian politician and social activist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. Currently, he is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in Second Modi ministry and represents Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. Previously he was Lok Sabha MP from Pandharpur.
Early life
Athawale was born on 25 December 1959 in Agalgaon, Sangli district, Bombay State, which is now Maharashtra. His parents were Bandu Bapu and Honsabai Bandu Athawale. He attended Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai and married to Seema Athawale, on 16 May 1992. He has a son. Ramdas Athawale is a practitioner of Buddhism.
Athawale has been editor of a weekly magazine called Bhumika and is a founder member of Parivartan Sahitya Mahamandal. He has served as president of Parivartan Kala Mahasangha, the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Foundation and the Bauddha Kalawant Academy (Buddhist Artists Academy) and was founder president of Bauddha Dhamma Parishad (Buddhism conference). He played the title role in a Marathi film, Anyayacha Pratikar, and also had a small role in another Marathi film, Joshi ki Kamble, as well as roles in Marathi dramas such as Ekach Pyala.
Political career
Athwale was inspired by B. R. Ambedkar, the Indian polymath. Following a split in the Dalit Panther movement in 1974, Athawale joined Arun Kamble and Gangadhar Gade in leading a rump in Maharashtra. His involvement with a faction of the Republican Party of India, despite the Panther's general disdain for its leadership, eventually led to an association with the Indian National Congress (INC).
Athawale was member of Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 1996 and was Cabinet Minister for Social Welfare and Transport, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Prohibition Propaganda in the Government of Maharashtra between 1990–95.
He represented the Pandharpur constituency of Maharashtra and is the president of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) (RPIA).
Athawale represented Mumbai North Central in the 12th Lok Sabha during 1998-99 and was elected to serve a second term in the 13th Lok Sabha of 1999–2004. A third term, in the 14th Lok Sabha, followed from 2004–2009. Considered something of a lightweight in state politics, he has been courted at various times by various parties because of a perception that he might assist in mobilising the scattered Maharashtrian Dalit vote in their favour. He left the Nationalist Congress Party-INC alliance in 2011[citation needed] after having lost in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when he contested the reserved Shirdi constituency. This defeat was despite a subsequent report by Social Watch which ranked him as the second-best performing member of the 14th Lok Sabha, based on an analysis of various data points. Athawale led the RPI party, joined the alliance of Shivsena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2011 and contested Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections together.
In 2014, Athawale was elected to the Rajya Sabha, which is the upper house of parliament. He became Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 6 July 2016, working under Thawar Chand Gehlot.
His RPI(A) organisation is a part of the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.
Devyani Khobragade was proposed for the role of Personal Secretary to Athawale in July 2016 but the appointment was refused by Gehlot, who saw a conflict of interest because her father, Uttam Khobragade, was the national executive president of the RPI(A).[
When Athawale established a children's wing of the RPI(A) in September 2017, he appointed his son, then aged 12, to be its leader.
In May 2019, Athawale continued his position as Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.
In March 2020, a video of Athawale chanting ‘Go Corona!’ at a rally went viral and became a popular meme.
Social activism
Ramdas Athawale with Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari and Devendra Fadnavis paying tribute to B. R. Ambedkar.
In 2015, following attacks on Dalits in the state of Haryana, Athawale said that if the police were to continue turning a blind eye to their plight then special protection squads led by senior police officers should be formed from among members of the community and they should be granted firearms licenses so that they could protect themselves. In December 2017, he suggested that Dalits should renounce Hinduism in favour of Buddhism in order to stop being subject to "atrocities". He also criticised the record of the Hindu-centric BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in dealing with issues relating to discrimination of not only Dalits but also other disadvantaged communities in India. In March 2018, echoing remarks he had made soon after becoming Minister of State in 2016 and reacting in particular to recent atrocities against Dalits in Saharanpur, Unnao and Allahabad, Athawale advocated inter-caste marriage as the best way to minimise such events and noted that he had married a Brahmin "to set an example". As he had done in December 2017, he attacked Mayawati, a Dalit former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on this occasion for what he perceived as a lack of action to help Dalits during her four terms in office. He said that this had caused the community to shift their support to the BJP and RPI, while refuting charges that he was a puppet under BJP control.
Although described as a Dalit leader, Athawale has caused controversy among Dalits. In January 2018, around 130 people were arrested when some Dalit activists protested against him during a speech.
Aside from his involvement in Dalit affairs, Athawale has also advocated reservation for economically disadvantaged upper caste communities. He has said that the government of India should release the caste-based information collected during the 2011 Census of India, which is considered to be a politically sensitive dataset, in order to address inequities in the reservation system across the board. He rejects claims that doing so would lead to an increase in casteism.
Athawale has said that reservation quota of 25 percent for Dalits should be introduced to sports, including cricket, following India's defeat in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy Final against Pakistan, and that the armed forces should also be subject to a quota regime. He has also said that, just as the Lok Sabha has constituencies reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, so too should the Rajya Sabha and the Union cabinet. In addition, he favours increasing the prevailing 50 per cent quota that exists for government jobs and places at educational institutions to 75 per cent, stressing that this would apply to all castes that are recognised as economically disadvantaged, which includes those categorised at Other Backwards Classes.
Positions held
1990–96: Member, Maharashtra Legislative Council
1990–95: Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare and Transport, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Prohibition Propaganda, Government of Maharashtra
1998–99: Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha
1998–99: Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Industry
1999–2000: Member, Committee on Industry
1999–2004: Member, Thirteenth Lok Sabha (second term)
2002–2004: Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
2004–2009: Member, Fourteenth Lok Sabha (third term)
2004: Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture April
2014: Elected to Rajya Sabha
Aug. 2014-past: Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Sept.
2014-past: Member, Committee on Industry Nov.
2014-past: Member, Library Committee Freedom Fighter
2016–past: Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India
2020: Reelected to Rajya Sabha unopposed.
R. B. More
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramdas Athawale
Athawale addressing a press conference, in New Delhi on 24 November 2017.
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 July 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot (26 May 2014 – 7 July 2021)
Virendra Kumar Khatik (Incumbent)
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 April 2014
Preceded by Prakash Javadekar
Constituency Maharashtra
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 October 1999 – 16 May 2009
Preceded by Sandipan Thorat
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Constituency Pandharpur
In office
1998–1999
Preceded by Narayan Athawale
Succeeded by Manohar Joshi
Constituency Mumbai North Central
Cabinet Minister for Social Welfare,Transport,Sports and Youth Welfare,Employment Guarantee Government of Maharashtra
In office
1990–1995
Member, Maharashtra Legislative Council
In office
1990–1996
Personal details
Born
Ramdas Bandu Athawale
25 December 1959
Agalgaon, Sangli district, India
Political party Republican Party of India (A) (1990 - present)
Other political
affiliations Republican Party of India (before 1990)
Occupation Trade unionist, social worker
Ramdas Bandu Athawale (Marathi pronunciation: [äʈʰʋəle]) (born 25 December 1959) is an Indian politician and social activist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. Currently, he is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in Second Modi ministry and represents Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. Previously he was Lok Sabha MP from Pandharpur.
Early life
Athawale was born on 25 December 1959 in Agalgaon, Sangli district, Bombay State, which is now Maharashtra. His parents were Bandu Bapu and Honsabai Bandu Athawale. He attended Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai and married to Seema Athawale, on 16 May 1992. He has a son. Ramdas Athawale is a practitioner of Buddhism.
Athawale has been editor of a weekly magazine called Bhumika and is a founder member of Parivartan Sahitya Mahamandal. He has served as president of Parivartan Kala Mahasangha, the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Foundation and the Bauddha Kalawant Academy (Buddhist Artists Academy) and was founder president of Bauddha Dhamma Parishad (Buddhism conference). He played the title role in a Marathi film, Anyayacha Pratikar, and also had a small role in another Marathi film, Joshi ki Kamble, as well as roles in Marathi dramas such as Ekach Pyala.
Political career
Athwale was inspired by B. R. Ambedkar, the Indian polymath. Following a split in the Dalit Panther movement in 1974, Athawale joined Arun Kamble and Gangadhar Gade in leading a rump in Maharashtra. His involvement with a faction of the Republican Party of India, despite the Panther's general disdain for its leadership, eventually led to an association with the Indian National Congress (INC).
Athawale was member of Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 1996 and was Cabinet Minister for Social Welfare and Transport, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Prohibition Propaganda in the Government of Maharashtra between 1990–95.
He represented the Pandharpur constituency of Maharashtra and is the president of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) (RPIA).
Athawale represented Mumbai North Central in the 12th Lok Sabha during 1998-99 and was elected to serve a second term in the 13th Lok Sabha of 1999–2004. A third term, in the 14th Lok Sabha, followed from 2004–2009. Considered something of a lightweight in state politics, he has been courted at various times by various parties because of a perception that he might assist in mobilising the scattered Maharashtrian Dalit vote in their favour. He left the Nationalist Congress Party-INC alliance in 2011[citation needed] after having lost in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when he contested the reserved Shirdi constituency. This defeat was despite a subsequent report by Social Watch which ranked him as the second-best performing member of the 14th Lok Sabha, based on an analysis of various data points. Athawale led the RPI party, joined the alliance of Shivsena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2011 and contested Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections together.
In 2014, Athawale was elected to the Rajya Sabha, which is the upper house of parliament. He became Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 6 July 2016, working under Thawar Chand Gehlot.
His RPI(A) organisation is a part of the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.
Devyani Khobragade was proposed for the role of Personal Secretary to Athawale in July 2016 but the appointment was refused by Gehlot, who saw a conflict of interest because her father, Uttam Khobragade, was the national executive president of the RPI(A).[
When Athawale established a children's wing of the RPI(A) in September 2017, he appointed his son, then aged 12, to be its leader.
In May 2019, Athawale continued his position as Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.
In March 2020, a video of Athawale chanting ‘Go Corona!’ at a rally went viral and became a popular meme.
Social activism
Ramdas Athawale with Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari and Devendra Fadnavis paying tribute to B. R. Ambedkar.
In 2015, following attacks on Dalits in the state of Haryana, Athawale said that if the police were to continue turning a blind eye to their plight then special protection squads led by senior police officers should be formed from among members of the community and they should be granted firearms licenses so that they could protect themselves. In December 2017, he suggested that Dalits should renounce Hinduism in favour of Buddhism in order to stop being subject to "atrocities". He also criticised the record of the Hindu-centric BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in dealing with issues relating to discrimination of not only Dalits but also other disadvantaged communities in India. In March 2018, echoing remarks he had made soon after becoming Minister of State in 2016 and reacting in particular to recent atrocities against Dalits in Saharanpur, Unnao and Allahabad, Athawale advocated inter-caste marriage as the best way to minimise such events and noted that he had married a Brahmin "to set an example". As he had done in December 2017, he attacked Mayawati, a Dalit former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on this occasion for what he perceived as a lack of action to help Dalits during her four terms in office. He said that this had caused the community to shift their support to the BJP and RPI, while refuting charges that he was a puppet under BJP control.
Although described as a Dalit leader, Athawale has caused controversy among Dalits. In January 2018, around 130 people were arrested when some Dalit activists protested against him during a speech.
Aside from his involvement in Dalit affairs, Athawale has also advocated reservation for economically disadvantaged upper caste communities. He has said that the government of India should release the caste-based information collected during the 2011 Census of India, which is considered to be a politically sensitive dataset, in order to address inequities in the reservation system across the board. He rejects claims that doing so would lead to an increase in casteism.
Athawale has said that reservation quota of 25 percent for Dalits should be introduced to sports, including cricket, following India's defeat in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy Final against Pakistan, and that the armed forces should also be subject to a quota regime. He has also said that, just as the Lok Sabha has constituencies reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, so too should the Rajya Sabha and the Union cabinet. In addition, he favours increasing the prevailing 50 per cent quota that exists for government jobs and places at educational institutions to 75 per cent, stressing that this would apply to all castes that are recognised as economically disadvantaged, which includes those categorised at Other Backwards Classes.
Positions held
1990–96: Member, Maharashtra Legislative Council
1990–95: Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare and Transport, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Prohibition Propaganda, Government of Maharashtra
1998–99: Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha
1998–99: Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Industry
1999–2000: Member, Committee on Industry
1999–2004: Member, Thirteenth Lok Sabha (second term)
2002–2004: Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
2004–2009: Member, Fourteenth Lok Sabha (third term)
2004: Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture April
2014: Elected to Rajya Sabha
Aug. 2014-past: Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Sept.
2014-past: Member, Committee on Industry Nov.
2014-past: Member, Library Committee Freedom Fighter
2016–past: Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India
2020: Reelected to Rajya Sabha unopposed.
R. B. More
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