Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Apr, 17:
Special lecturers by Dr Dipanker Sengupta, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Jammu; Dr Satinder Bhagat, Associate Professor, Department of Law, University of Jammu; and Special Invitee Er H.R. Phonsa described Babasaheb Dr B.R. Ambedkar as a ‘global icon’ for the marginalised people of India.
To mark the important anniversary of Babasaheb, the Jammu University SC/ST Employees Association organised special lectures on him in the Seminar Hall of Department of Computer Science & IT where a considerable number of University teachers, scholars, students, employees and eminent persons from all walks of life participated. Assistant Professor Dr Jaspal Barwal who acted as Stage Secretary welcomed the participants to the function and said that Dr B.R.Ambedjkar started his social work and spread the importance of Education. He helped the people fight for their rights and stand up to eradicate caste system. He even wrote a book on the ‘Annihilation of Caste’ wherein he discussed about the serious concern that plagued India, i.e. discrimination on the basis of caste, class, race and gender. It is due to his active participation in the social work that people began addressing him as ‘Babasaheb. He is also popularly known as the father of our Indian Constitution as he played the important role in framing the Constitution of India.
Dr Satinder Bhagat while listing the achievements of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, said he from the very student days had absorbing interest in developing and understanding of the ancient and modern laws of India and the world. With time, he became an expert on different aspects of law and forged ahead of his contemporary jurists. What is noteworthy is that with his two doctorate degrees in economics and Bar-at-Law, Ambedkar had the highest qualification among the Indians and Asians of his time. Professor Dipanker Sengupta said Dr Ambedkar began his career as an economist, making important contributions to the major economic debates. Under British rule when India Govt. was struggling with falling value of India rupee, Ambedkar wrote ‘The Problem of Rupee, its origin and solution’. He focused his research on the condition of Indian currency during British India. He wrote research thesis on it. In his thesis, he argued that the gold exchange standard does not have stability.
The developing countries like India cannot afford gold exchange standards, and besides this, it also increases the risk of inflation and price rise. He proved with statistics date and reasons how the Indian Rupee has lost its value and hence the purchasing power of Rupee is falling. He suggested that Govt. deficit should be regulated and money should have a circular flow. He also suggested more attention should be given on price stability that exchange rate stability. This book eventually led to the establishment of ‘Reserve Bank of India’.
Er H.R.Phonsa in his lecture, said that at the most basic level, a woman in India was not allowed to choose whom she would marry and after marriage, she could not decide how often or when and how many children to have. She was conditioned to believe that male children were more important for the family than girl children. Despite the condition of her body she was forced to become pregnant and deliver a male child. When a woman failed to deliver a son she was not only looked down, but her husband would threaten to divorce her if she did not give consent to his second marriage, ostensibly to beget a male child who was supposed to perpetuate the dynasty? Promises made at the time of marriage by the bride’s parents and the greediness of the bridegroom and his family for more money often resulted in the harassment of the bride and her subsequent suicide or murder. Another form of victimisation was childlessness, a condition always attributed to women. For want of a child, the whole family influenced her to accept her husband’s second marriage. Strangely this happened not only with the in-laws but she often faced pressure from her parents too. After attaining Independence, there were many leaders who fought for women’s Rights. Most of them failed in their action but Dr Ambedkar was the only person who changed the effort via Law.
After the lectures concluded, the Jammu University Teachers Association President Professor Kuldeep Singh Charak and the Jammu University SC/ST Employees Association President R.L.Kaith jointly presented Shawls to Professor Dipanker Sengupta and Er H.R.Phonsa as a token of respect.
R.L.Kaith thanked all participants for gracing the occasion with their distinguished presence and making the programme a grand success.
Prominent among those who participated in the programme included Dr Anupama Vohra, Dr Vijay Shivgotra, Dr Rakesh Atri, Dr Tirath Ram, Dr Varinder Koundal, Dr Som Nath Kundal, Dr Tarsem Lal, Dr Tirath Raj, Dr Vijay Sehgal, Surjeet Singh Heer, B.R.Angral, Pardeep Shavotra, Manzoor Mohd Malik, Ishtiaq Hussain, Sunil Bassa and Vijay Kumar.
