Indian expats in UAE celebrate Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s 130th birth anniversary

Dubai: Indian community members in the UAE recently took part in an event to mark the 130th birth anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, known as the architect of the Constitution of India. His birth anniversary fell on April 14.

Popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, he was also a renowned social reformer and a celebrated Dalit icon.

The event to commemorate Ambedkar’s 130th birth anniversary, which included a webinar, was organised by Ambedkar Global, an international organisation formed by Dubai-based Indian expat Ravi Chand, to spread the teaching of Ambedkar across the world. “Thoughts of Dr Ambedkar do not belong to one section of the society but to all,” said Ravi Chand, who is known in the expat community for arranging several COVID-19 repatriation flights to India.

“He is an ideal leader for all Indians. Our vision is to speared awareness all over the world and we are working towards a curriculum on Ambedkar and an Ambedkar Chair in various universities in the world,” he added.

Santosh Kumar Suman Manjhi, minister of Minor Irrigation and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Welfare in Bihar, Rajiv Shukla, vice-president of Board of Control for Cricket in India and former Union minister, KC Tyagi, general secretary of political party Janata Dal Union were the chief guests. They spoke about the relevance of Ambedkar’s teachings and principles in today’s world and encouraged expats to help propagate them.

A group of social leaders from India, who have been working for the uplift of the society, were also felicitated on the occasion.