India wins Ambedkar House case in UK

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 14

The Government of India has won the historic property row for turning Ambedkar House in London into a museum.

The Public Inquiry Chair and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, have given their approval, overturning the London Borough of Camden’s rejection of an application for a memorial dedicated to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.

The decision has come as a huge relief to Ambedkar’s followers and London residents fighting for the house to remain open as a memorial for the public. 

While the Indian Government had acquired the property in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself visited the place during its inauguration. However, it had been facing an imminent shutdown after the Council of Camden rejected a planning application, seeking its conversion from a residential property to a museum. However, the Maharashtra Government, through the High Commission in London, had appealed against the London Borough of Camden’s opposition to convert the property into a museum. During a public hearing in September and October 2019- the London Borough of Camden — citing reasons against the property’s conversion — had stated it didn’t want to give up the property’s residential floor space, also saying Dr Ambedkar’s status wasn’t well enough known in Britain to be a person of wider interest.

However, the Chair of the Public Inquiry Chair, Inspector Keri Williams, and Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government ruled in favour of evidence and testimonies in support for the memorial on March 12.

In his report to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Public Inquiry Chair KL Williams, said, “There is ample evidence to demonstrate the stature of Dr Ambedkar. It is derived from his work to enshrine human rights for Dalits and women in the Constitution.”

Originally from Shahkot, Punjab, Santosh Dass, MBE, president of the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations UK (FABO UK), had proposed to the Government of Maharashtra the purchase and refurbishment of the then-dilapidated house’s purchase.