In India there is competition among all political parties to claim that they are the only one following ideals of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who was the Law Minister in the Indian Cabinet headed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1946. The present Indian Constitution was drafted by a committee headed by Dr. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly of India. Dr. Ambedkar was born on 14th April 1891 in a Schedule Caste family.
Dr. Ambedkar wanted the Schedule Caste population, which was the part of the Hindu population, to get better treatment in society. For that purpose he was convinced that only by converting to some other religion would they get proper treatment and respect in society. For this purpose he started negotiations with various religious leaders including the Sikhs.
I have recently read the biography of S. Atma Singh, Former Punjab Minister and a prominent leader of the Akali Dal written by Dr. Harvinder Singh Khalsa. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's dialogue with the Sikhs has been described in details to the extent that Khalsa College was built in Mumbai in 1937 on the request of Dr. Ambedkar. S. Atma Singh was then on the staff of Nankana Sahib Gurdwara Committee and S. Narayan Singh was the Manager.
In January 1936, a delegation of the Shrimoni Gurdwara Management Committee led by S. Narayan Singh went to Mumbai and had talks with Dr. Ambedkar and the representatives of various Schedule Castes communities like Muhar, Mang, Chamar and Bhangi etc. Literature on Sikhism and tracts in Marathi language were distributed. A big gathering of the Schedule Castes communities was held in Pune on 11 January 1936 and the Gurdwara Committee arranged there a proper langar. People sat in rows and enjoyed the food. The Sikhs who were serving there were mostly from the Backward Classes. This created a great impact on everyone. On 13 April 1936, the Sarbhind Sikh Mission was established to propagate the philosophy of Guru Nanak in the country. An impressive conference was organised in Amritsar which was attended by Dr. Ambedkar and leaders of various other communities. Bawa Harikishan Singh gave a speech in English. The visitors were astonished to see that people irrespective of caste and creed were sitting together in Golden Temple. Dr. Ambedkar at that time had relinquished the post of Principal of Law College, Mumbai.
Later on Dr. Ambedkar sent many of his associates to Amritsar who stayed there for many days. On Ambedkar's demand, to provide education facilities to weaker sections it was decided to open a Khalsa College in Mumbai for which the entire expenses were to be borne by the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara Committee. S. Kehar Singh, Head Master was made Incharge of this project and S. Atma Singh was appointed Manager. Dr. Ambedkar selected the site in Matunga where a 2742 square yards plot was purchased at the rate six rupees per yard. S. Gurdit Singh Sethi, President of Gurdwara Singh Sabha Mumbai also provided help. As per the book Dr. Ambedkar had taken Rs. 5000 from S. Kehar Singh for a foreign trip. Dr. Ambedkar brought a design of a German Educational Institution for the College building. Dr. Ambedkar used to visit the site every third day to see the progress of the works and gave necessary suggestions. Laboratories furniture, library etc. were purchased as per his advice. A printing press was also installed for the newspaper "Janta" published by Ambedkar. The classes in the college were started on 20 June 1937 and S. Kashmira Singh was appointed the first Principal.
At that time, there was a stir all over the country about the possibility of the scores of Schedule Caste Hindus adopting Sikhism. To shelve this move, leading Hindu Millioners and many organizations approached Dalit Leaders. Even Mahatma Gandhi the leader of the Congress Party offered his services for the safeguards of Hindu population. Dr. Chanda Chatterjee, a Professor in Santi Niketan University has sent me a book “ The Mahatma and the Poet” written by Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya which contains the letter from Sh. Mahadev Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi addressed to Sh. Rabindernath Tagore written on 20 December 1936 from Wardha, headquarter of Mahatma Gandhi. “A number of people have been quoting your opinion on die question of the conversion of Harijans to Sikhism in support of their own contention that to embrace Sikhism is the only way to retain Hindu Culture and yet renounce Hinduism. Bapu could not believe that you could ever have given your assent to a proposition like this. I need not bother you with the political aspect of the question, for the very insistence on conversion to Sikhism must take a political colour, for the converts will vote not as Hindus but as Sikhs! This political motive vitiates the whole question. Would you mind setting out your considered opinion on the matter?” wrote Mahadev
Gurudev Rabindernath Tagore sent a lengthy reply to him from Santi Niketan on 4th Jan. 1937. He wrote, “ Hinduism is a just a way of life but it divides society into so many graded groups and those at the bottom are made to feel themselves as less than human. It was indeed a great day not only for the whole of Indian Sikhs but also for the whole of India when Guru Gobind Singh, defying the age long convention of the Hindu Society, made his followers one, by breaking down all barriers of caste and thereby made them free to inherit the true blessings of a self-respecting manhood. Sikhism has a brave message to the people and it has a noble record.”
With the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi and others Hindu leaders the whole plan of Dr. Ambedkar had to be postponed. A new Harijan organisation was formed which issued statements against conversion. A deputation of the Sikh leaders met Dr. Ambedkar on 23rd May 1937. He disclosed to them the difficulties and his helplessness to take any further action. He clearly mentioned that not large scales Harijans but a few could go with him. The deputation was consisting of Bawa Harikishan Singh, Kashmira Singh Principal, Master Sujan Singh Sarhali, Jathedar Teja Singh Akrapuri and Ishar Singh Majhael. They fully realized his compulsion but decided that Khalsa College, Mumbai would continue functioning. Since then the College is serving the students of Maharashtra especially the Harijans and Minorities. Recently, Khalsa College Mumbai is in news when G.S. Bawa, Chairman announced opening of MRI Centre for the poor people.
Dr. Ambedkar remained firm of his ideas, stood by his conviction and ultimately announced joining the Budhism at a huge gathering of Harijans on 14th October 1956 in Nagpur before his passing away.
