Ambedkar in London by Gould William;Dass Santosh;Jaffrelot Christophe;

Author:Gould, William;Dass, Santosh;Jaffrelot, Christophe;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Published: 2022-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

7

THE AMBEDKAR MUSEUM, LONDON

Santosh Dass and Jamie Sullivan

In a beautiful tree-lined street in a village like-area in North London is a museum dedicated to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. Located in a four-storey terraced house at 10 King Henry’s Road, London (hereafter 10KHR), that we now know Ambedkar lodged at from 1920 to 1922 (see William Gould’s Chapter 1). The house is a short walk from Primrose Hill—a highly desirable area that boasts panoramic views over Regent’s Park and beyond, and on which once lived the poets Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Dylan Thomas. The Ambedkar Museum in London is the first official museum in Dr Ambedkar’s name outside of India. What makes this so special is that it is located in the house where Ambedkar lodged and worked.

The Museum took nearly six years to become a reality. First there was a written proposal on 1 September 2014 from the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations UK (FABO UK) to the Government of Maharashtra (GOM) in India that they give a one-off grant of £4 million to FABO UK to buy 10KHR so they could turn it into a memorial. This was followed by a year’s worth of lobbying of the GOM by FABO UK, Ambedkarites, and politicians in India. FABO UK’s written proposal—submitted weeks before the announcement of the state election in Maharashtra—proved extremely timely. This helped secure commitments and public announcements by politicians, and others, to the media on an issue that may otherwise have been dragged out by GOM. A year later in September 2015, within two months of being handed the keys to 10KHR, the High Commission of India (IHC) in London readied the ground floor, complete with a photo exhibition about Ambedkar, for the GOM and for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the memorial on 14 November 2015. A few years later, Camden Council refused museum status for the memorial developed by the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Advisory Committee London. This was the background to the drama of the two-day Public Inquiry into the appeal in 2019, replete with impassioned statements by local residents, Ambedkarites, and activists.

In this chapter, Santosh Dass MBE, President of FABO UK, and Jamie Sullivan MRTPI, Director of Planning at Iceni Projects, share their accounts of the lobbying involved in securing 10KHR for the public; the house’s refurbishment; and the painstaking preparation for the Public Inquiry into GOM’s appeal against Camden Council’s planning decision. This account, based on personal recollections, correspondence, and media reports, gives a taste of the drive, determination, and lessons learnt in believing in an idea and making it a reality. It is not possible to mention every single person or organisation that may have lobbied GOM in India, or supported the Public Inquiry—but an attempt has been made to recall as many of the key players in this narrative as possible. Finally, discussed here are the opportunities that should be seized upon to make the Ambedkar Museum something really special and long-lasting. It has the potential to become a beacon for generations of visitors whether they are Ambedkarites or not.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.