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| Ambedkar House, London |
24th September was the opening of the hearing regarding an inquiry
into alleged breach of planning rules by the management of Ambedkar House in
London (AHL). I was at the inquiry on the first day of hearing and intending to
be there on the next hearing date, 11th October too. I am reporting events, in
the public interest, however I see them.
Since the purchase
of Ambedkar House by the Government of Maharashtra, it has always been referred
to as Ambedkar Memorial/Museum by its management team, although it did not have
the official museum status. It had, and still has, residential status. This
indicates that the government of Maharashtra was ill advised by the assigned
advisors. After complaints by local residents, the council issued an
enforcement notice. AHL management should have immediately stopped referring to
it as Ambedkar Memorial, instead an appeal was made against an earlier refusal
to grant it museum status.
At the hearing, Mr. Satpal
Muman, as third witness and Secretary of Ambedkar International Mission London,
gave written evidence requesting the council to grant the required permission
for AHL to remain open to public and be granted museum status. This request was
endorsed by multiple organisations and communities including the Sikh
Federation and Sikh Missionary Society.
Separate (similar) letters were also sent to Robert Jenrick, the SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HOUSING and SECRETARY FOR COMMONWEALTH sometime back requesting intervention. The same letters were then copied to the High Commissioner of India.(Letter requesting Hon Robert Jenrick MP intervention)
Minister Robert Jenrick says “Public
interest will be taken into account”
Minister Robert Jenrick says “Public interest will be taken into account”
There were several other supporting organisations too, but some were unable to send their endorsements on time. If required, they too could be mentioned on 11th October at the next hearing.
Mr. Muman, representing these communities and speaking in public
interest, made some powerful points backed with historical facts about Dr
Ambedkar’s contributions and relevance to the world at large, which I hope will
significantly affect the direction of the inquiry in our favour.
At the end of the first day of enquiry, Dr William Gould, the
academic witness, congratulated Mr. Muman and thanked him for highlighting and
filling gaps when council witnesses were cross examined and said Ambedkar was
only an economist and not a social revolutionary as depicted on blue Plaque.
At the inquiry, it was revealed that the Blue Plaque displayed in
front of the building near the entrance did not have English heritage sanction.
Nor is the place a listed building. Mr. Muman says, “Up until recently our
enquiries found that Indian government officials informed us that no other
organisation including FABO responded to Indian government official’s call for
help. As there was no help forthcoming from anyone, we stepped in to help but
it did not get us far as help sought was specific but we were never told by the
High commission official that other ‘types’ of witnesses could also be put
forward and kept impressing that a Lord, an MP an academic ONLY was required.
We put forward a Lord, MP declined (as it was not just an appeal but an
inquiry). We also forwarded the name of an academic from LSE which was suddenly
blocked to my consternation.”
The inquiry will continue 11th October. The planning inspectorate
will pass on his recommendation to the Secretary of state. This is a unique
case regarding ‘decision to grant planning permission’ in UK history, such that
the UK Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick will be the one
making the final decision instead of the council planning office.
Before the inquiry and raising his voice on behalf of the public,
Mr. Muman asked Mr. Jenrick for intervention via email. “Public interest will
be taken in consideration”, says the cabinet minister.
https://twitter.com/indiatoday/status/1176897619097870337
Note that third party witnesses should not be dismissed out of hand as they bring crucial input and perspective to the main witnesses. That is the reason why such witnesses are invited to speak otherwise whole exercise is waste of time. British justice system should be commended for this. So I request concerned individuals and organisations to write letters individually to Mr. Jenrick as that will concentrate his mind more to give the correct decision otherwise reliance will be placed on bilateral relations to do the job.
Due to overwhelming requests, after the second sitting, I will try
to update you with first hand account which will not affect the inquiry. Media
reports can be misleading and sometimes, very conveniently, miss out on the
really important bits
~Shekhar Bodhakar (AHL Forum)
 ASKS FOR GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE AMBEDKAR HOUSE INQUIRY.){kind=link}
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