D R Balli was born in a village near Phillor in Punjab on April 12^th, 1953. His father Sant Ram used to do leather work in Punjab and did not have enough land to feed the family hence he migrated to England in the late fifties or early sixties and started working in a foundry along with his elder brother. When Bali Saheb was in his 9^th standard, his father called him to England in 1968. On December 27^th, 1975 he got married to Balbir Kaur who had arrived in the UK from Punjab. She flew from Delhi to London via Frankfurt all alone during her maiden journey out of India. Her father was an army person and wanted to educate his children but since the school of Balbir Kaur was not in her village, she had to abandon her studies after 9^th Standard. Those were the days when the families would not risk the safety of their daughters if they were going outside their village for studies. The result was that Balbir had to leave her education. It was this time that her father engaged her with Daulata Ram Balley, who too belonged to Jalandhar and was working in a foundry in England. As young Daulata was unable to come to Jalandhar for marriage, Balbir travelled on her own to London and they got married there. He started working the foundry which was extremely hard. It was more manual work and because of his strong body structure he was always given tough work. Most of the time it was 12 hours work for seven days and he used to get BP 4.50 a week which was considered to be a fairly good amount. His brother used to get around 9 Pound a week. Once a person was confirmed in the job then he would get 8.50 pound a week.

Their hard work paid when all the three members, his father, brother and he got the job. They would go together and come back home. Things were damn cheap that time. On weekends they would go to the pub to have beer and also go to watch movies. The labour work was mainly confined in the midland areas such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Derby. ‘He says, ‘the work given to us was mostly heavy iron work which was done mostly by the Punjabis and because they all worked heavily over time too they became economically ‘well off’’. ‘All the Indians loved heavy work because it had more money’ says Balley.  He was part of the labour movement but he felt that the labour organisations rarely spoke about the caste discrimination. After work, they would come and go to have beer as it was cheaper than water. They were a close family and took care of their three sisters. Two of them are no more now.

He also invested in business with a friend and started a general store for nearly 10 years. With steady income, he was able to get a good house for him in Birmingham nearly 35 years ago. In 1969, he thought of embracing Buddhism but did not get an opportunity but in 1974 he took ‘Deeksha’ at a special ceremony organised in his house by well-known Bhikhu of that time H. Sadatissa who was a close associate of Baba Saheb and had come from Sri Lanka. He says, ‘my brother opposed my decision. He was respectful to Baba Saheb but not keen on Buddhism. All my relatives opposed my decision and stopped speaking with me’. Many of the Ravidasis opposed me and actually offered me to become General Secretary of the Ravidas Mahasabha’’. When everything failed then one day he was attacked with ox but he survived.’ The fact of the matter is that a person faced the biggest challenge from his own community and relatives when an act is considered as a challenge to traditional values and the hierarchical system with in the community or family.

Actually, his father was fond of veteran Ambedkarite and founder editor of Bhim Patrika, Shri L R Balley and hence Ambedkarism was part of their upbringing for long but most of the family was not inclined to embrace Buddhism. This is a normal difference which happened in the Ambedkarite families as many went to Buddhism while a number of others felt no need to convert and retained their original identity as Ravidasis.

He remembers many veteran Ambedkarite of his period in England who contributed immensely for the growth of the movement there. The most important among them was Khush Ram Jhummat, who had passed his M A from DAV College Lahore and was the most educated among his peers at that point of time. The other such eminent persons were Sansari Lal, Malook Chand, Keru Ram, Darshan Ram Sarhare who were responsible for Buddhist Society of Birmingham since 1960s and they used to organise Buddha Purnima and other celebrations here every year.  In June 1973, he went to the town hall for the conversion ceremony in which over 500 people participated. There was a lot of discussion regarding it. It was the first conversion in UK of the Ambedkarites into Buddhism and those who made it possible were Mr Bishan Das Mahay, Ratan Lal Sampla, Paramjeet Rattu alias Pahalwan, Deburam Mahay, Surjeet Singh Mahay, Gurmukh Anand and Fakir Chand Chauhan. Buddhist Society people also helped.  The first programme that he attended was in 1968 in Glasgow organised by Ratan Lal Sampla.  And the second was organised in Birmingham. Eminent Ambedkarite Mr Bhagwan Das came here in 1975 and stayed here for over a month and spoke at various functions in Birmingham, Bedford and Wolverhampton.

Many people came here, he informs me adding that the most prominent among them were Mr B P Maurya, RPI leader, Dr Gurusharan Singh Punjab, Veteran Ambedkarite Dr Suresh Anjat came twice. Waman Rao Godbole, Prakash Ambedkar and Kanshiram also came there. L. R Balley has been a very popular figure here. During emergency time he was here.  Indian workers association and Ambedkarites protested against Indira Gandhi when she came to Birmingham in 1975.

I ask him the most important question which always comes to our mind about the situation in England and whether there was discrimination in society. Whether he has your ever-faced caste discrimination personally?

‘We had a mixed team of both the upper caste Sikhs as well as Hindus. There was a good relation among them but caste minds too were there. During the Kabaddi game they used to call me Chamar and yet I used to call my Sikh friend Bhai Saheb but I got offended with his statement and decided to be put off from the team. I told my brother that I can’t do it. I wanted to resign and leave the foundry but the manager did not accept his resignation. Balley informs that the upper caste Sikhs used to tease him in the village. He was a hockey player and a Jat Sikh pushed him with his bamboo stick meant to lash at the cattle, he retaliated with his Hockey. He never accepted any caste slur and responded in the same language.

Balley ji says that he is upset that people don’t follow Ambedkarism with culture and continue to keep their women subjugated. He says that when he was getting married, he was asked to follow a tradition of Punjab where the veil of the wife is lifted by the elderly people of the family like father in law and brother in law. Balley says he refused to accept this practice despite a number of his relatives getting highly upset with his decision. His wife Balbir Kaur came to the UK on her own. She had to leave her studies after 9^th standard as the school for the girls was far away from her village and it was highly unsafe for the Dalit community girls to go to other villages for studies. Though her father was in the army who wanted to educate his daughter, he decided to get her married because of the caste based insecurity prevailing in the village, particularly with the safety of the women folk.

Both Balley Saheb and his wife worked together to strengthen their family. They had two daughters and one son. Both the daughters opted for their own marriage. I asked whether he ever felt disturbed or uncomfortable when their son in laws who are white Englishmen. Both Balley Saheb and his wife were categorical that they respected their daughter’s choice and were happy with it.

He is concerned about Bodh Gaya and feels that it is the rightful place of the Buddhist and must be handed over to them. He feels that Ambedkarites must concentrate on cultural aspects by strengthening Buddhism and liberating Bodhgaya. A couple of years back, Balley Saheb had some health issues but with his strong will he recovered well and now dedicating his time to Ambedkarism and Buddhism. Watch the video ‘In Conversation with D R Balley’ here https://youtu.be/61-G4UHIg48

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Former DGP, Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, in a letter to Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel calls for an end to the criteria of born Brahmins alone being appointed as priests in government managed temples in Gujarat..

In a detailed letter addressed to Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel, the former DGP, RB Sreekumar has pointed out that by appointing Brahmins only in nearly 80 state-managed temples as staff engaged in ceremonial, ritualistic and religious functions, the government is violating the Indian Constitution and making a mockery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of being “A torch bearer to carry on the work and principles of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar”.

Making references to Dr BR Ambedkar’s writings (’Annihilation of Caste’, ’Riddles of Hinduism’, The Untouchables’, ’Buddha and Karl Marx’) the letter points out that, “Ambedkarism is not a set of metaphysical concepts or dogmatic socio-political theories. It is a product of application of lofty Indian spiritual ethos of Buddhism, and liberal western political ideas from the days of the French Revolution (1789), the anti-colonial struggles and upheavals for establishment of representative democracy guaranteeing fundamental human rights, inclusive distributive justice and equitable service delivery to the people by the State”.
 
The letter notes with regret that “those engaged in performing ritualistic worship and ceremonial duties along with temple staff employed for auxiliary services like providing articles of worship, preparation of prasad etc, are appointed to those posts exclusively from certain families from the caste of Brahmins”. What’s more, “Many devotees complain that some priests do not know and comprehend the conceptual, metaphysical and spiritual import of many Vedic Suktas and Slokas from Tantra Samucchaya of Parashurama, chanted during pooja (worship)”.

Citing slokas from the Vedas , Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagwat Gita and other Hindu scriptures, the letter argues that no one is born a Brahmin but becomes one through acquiring education and culture.

Maintaining that “the present system of illegal monopoly of one caste in temple worship service is obnoxiously obscurantist, besides being repugnant of basic structure of the Indian Constitution and pre eminent Hindu scriptures”, the letter urges the Gujarat chief minister to “constitute a Gujarat Temple Service (GTS), on the pattern of any self-contained government service cadre” and to ensure that “qualified women should also be inducted as priests in GTS”.

 The full text of the former DGP’s letter may be read here.

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Nearly 2000 temples in Kerala are administered by semi-governmental bodies—Devaswam Boards—constituted under the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950.  It must be remembered that the administrative bureaucracy of these bodies are appointed by the state government, and therefore  have to adhere to the Constitution, especially the principals enshrined in the Preamble, Part-III (Fundamental Rights) and Article 51(a) on Fundamental Duties.
 
Article 13 of the Constitution has declared that all laws which are inconsistent with the provisions of the Fundamental Rights be declared void;such laws include ordinance, order, bylaw, rule, regulation, notification, as well as any custom and usage in force in India. Recently, information about rules and regulations governing the appointment of chief and junior priests in temples under the administrative control of Travancore Devaswam Board was obtained through the RTI Act, 2005 by the author of this article. The data indicated that the posts of priests are exclusively reserved for Malayalee Brahmins. The post of the chief priest of Sabarimala temple is exclusively reserved for a Brahmin family from Chengannoor.  No foolproof, transparent or systematic selection procedure is reportedly followed for the selection of priests in temples. The same for promotions and other professional aspects of the cadre of priests performing poojas.
 
Similar unjust and illegal procedures and practices are followed throughout India in practically all temples and shrines governed by state and central governments or trusts constituted by them. To name a few:Somnath Shiva, Dakor Krishna, Ambaji Devi, and Shymlaji Krishna temples in Gujarat; Kamakhya temple in Assam; NathDwaratemple in Rajasthan; Vaishnav Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir; Kali/Durgatemples in West Bengal; Jagannathtemple in Puri, Orissa; Meenaxi Devi temple in Tamil Nadu; TirupatiBalajitemple in Andhra Pradesh, Siddhi Vinayakatemple in Mumbai.
         
This discriminatory system also goes against specific stipulations in the core scriptures of the Rigveda, the Upanishads, and the Bhagvad Gita. 
 
A few relevant extracts from the holy texts are:
 
“May you move together, speak together in one voice.  Let your minds be of one accord; and like the ancient sages, may you enjoy assigned share of fortune”.
 
“May our counsel or the public prayers be common, and common be our assembly.  May our minds move in accord; May our thinking be in harmony, – common the purpose, and common the desire.    May our prayers and worship be alike, and may our devotional offerings be one and the same.
 
“May your resolves be one; May your hearts feel alike; May your thinking be one; and thus may all of you live happily with thorough union.” (Rigveda, Mandala, 10, Sukta, 191(2 to 4)
 
“Men of self-knowledge are same-sighted on a Brahmana, imbued with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste”. (Bhagvad Gita, Adyaya -5, Sloka 18)
 
“He, who sees Me (universal soul/God) everywhere and sees all in Me, He never becomes lost to me, nor do I become lost to him” (Bhagvad Gita, Adyaya -6, Sloka 30)
 
 

 
The superiority of an individual solely based on his birth (the basis for jati or caste) is unscientific, illogical and unreasonable.  The Sanskrit etymology of the word ‘jati’ is in ‘janmanajati’ that is, caste is based on birth. Since 300 CE (Common Era), the caste system has blocked socioeconomic, educational and cultural mobility in Indian society, thus keeping India backward in most fields.
 
One way to bring about change as envisaged by Ambedkar would be for the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to introduce suitable legislation for the constitution of a state-wise temple service cadre (for instance, a Gujarat State Temple Service, a Kerala State Temple Service, a Central Temple Service) on the pattern of existing state and all-India services.  Those currently serving as priests could suitably be absorbed in the proposed service structure.
 
Allowing all qualified Hindus to enter the priestly order in temples will be in line with the direction in the Rigveda which recommends sticking to the path of justice. The Vedic Sukta exhorts, “Oh men! Just as the sun and the moon move on the prescribed path with regularity, similarly men also should go on the path of justice”. (Rigveda, Mandala-5, Sukta-51-Sloka-15).The Bhagvad Gita (Adyaya -16, Sloka-24) says, “Let the Shastras (laws) be your authority in deciding what you should do and what you should desist from doing.  Having understood what is ordained by the laws, you should act accordingly.”
 
Ambedkar had spoken against exactly the sort of inequality that is prevalent in the country’s temples in his concluding speech in the Constituent Assembly after the adoption of the Constitution on November 25, 1949. He said, “Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it, social democracy, that is, a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as principles of life.  They form a union or trinity.  Without equality, liberty would produce supremacy of the few over the many.  Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative.  Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things…
 
The Sanskrit etymology of the word ‘Jati’ is “JanmanaJati”, that is, caste is based on birth only.  This social construction is devoid of any appraisal of physical, psychological, emotional, mental, intellectual and spiritual dimensions of an individual personality.

“We have a society based on the principle of graded inequality, means elevation of some and degradation of others.  We are entering into a life of contradictions.   We have political equality; but in social and economic life, we will have inequality.  In politics, we follow one man, one vote and one vote one value.  In society and economics, we deny principle of one man, one value…
 
“Those who suffer from inequality, will blow up the structure of democracy…Fraternity envisages a common brotherhood of all Indians—being one people—giving unity and solidarity to social life.  (Casteism is) anti-national, (castes) bring about separation in life, generate jealousy and antipathy between caste and caste.  Without fraternity, equality and liberty will be no deeper than coats of paint…
 
“Many in India are beasts of burden, but also beasts of prey.  The downtrodden classes are tired of being governed.  People are tired of government by the people.  They are prepared to have government for the people and are indifferent whether it is government of the people and by the people.  If we wish to preserve the Constitution in which we have sought to enshrine the principles of government of the people, for the people and by the people, let us resolve not to be tardy in the recognition of evils that lie across our path and which induce people to prefer government for the people, to government by the people, nor to be weak in our initiative to remove them.  That is the only way to serve the country, I know of no better.”
 
It would be more productive to pursue this line of thinking rather than retrogressive and counterproductive programmes like ‘GharVapasi’ ( reconversion of Christians and Muslims)  and the controls being exercised on food preferences of citizens by  banning the consumption of beef. These are a distraction from the effort to remedy discriminative practices in the social, religious and cultural lives of Hindus. 
 
By absorbing the ideas of Ambedkarin public life, the country’s elite can liberate itself, as envisaged in the Vedic prayer, “Oh Lord! We have fallen in a dark cave.  In this severe darkness, many demons are harassing us.  We pray to you to destroy this darkness and bless us with donation of brightness, so that we can be liberated from these enemies”. (Rigveda, Mandala-1, Sukta-86, Sloka-10)
 
(The author, a retired IPS officer, is a former DGP of Gujarat)
 

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