NEW DELHI – October 12, 2010. (PCP) John Dayal, Secretary General of the All India Christian Council (aicc), released a letter today urging the President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama, to “salute the Emancipator, Ambedkar” after he pays “homage to the Liberator, Mahatma Gandhi.” Mr. Obama is expected to visit India from November 5-8, 2010. In the last few weeks, Dayal, and numerous Dalit-Bahujan and minority leaders, have requested a verbal or ceremonial acknowledgement of Ambedkar, a key author of India’s Constitution and hero to the untouchables. During visits by previous American Presidents, other influential Indians were lauded including Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Rabindranath Tagore. The aicc and others have asked Mr. Obama to consider laying flowers at Ambedkar’s monument (Deeksha Bhoomi) in the city of Nagpur, at Ambedkar Parinirvan Bhoomi in New Delhi, or Ambedkar’s statue in Parliament House in New Delhi. Dayal appealed, “We request you…to record your acknowledgement of the peaceful contribution to world civilization by Ambedkar. He follows the tradition of Abraham Lincoln in emancipating an entire race. He is worthy of the homage of Heads of State, and the adulation of all people of goodwill.” Dayal told Mr. Obama that Ambedkar “…studied in London, and your own Columbia University, and returned to fight India’s struggle for freedom. His finest hour was in writing free India’s Constitution, making it a modern document of freedom and liberation far removed from the documents of tradition and culture. The Constitution liberated the Untouchables. Much has to be done, but the yoke is broken.” The aicc networks with numerous Dalit-Bahujan groups and, since 2001, has focused on advocacy for improving their plight within India and abroad. Last week the aicc sent a similar letter to key Members of Parliament in New Delhi. The aicc President co-wrote a editorial column in the Deccan Herald newspaper on September 25, 2010 urging Mr. Obama to make history and acknowledge the multi-cultural tradition of India by paying homage to Ambedkar. The following is the text of John Dayal's letter to President Obama: 12 October 2010 His Excellency President Barack Obama The White House, Washington DC, USA A letter from India: After homage to the Liberator, Mahatma Gandhi, time to salute the Emancipator, Ambedkar. Dear President Obama, Greetings, and welcome to India. We assure you a people’s reception unprecedented in its warmth, and perhaps never seen before by a visiting head of state. This is because we see in your ascension to the Presidency of the United States of America the story of the struggles of our own people, who call themselves Dalits and are described as Scheduled Castes in the Indian Constitution, but have been known for three thousand years as “untouchables’. Once their shadow was thought to pollute “superior” human beings. The Colonial English regime, which initiated many reforms including a ban on sati, the burning alive of young widows, could do little to end this traumatic social practice. Sixty years after Independence, it bursts forth with repeated fury not just in our villages, where occasionally families are still burnt alive, but even in our finest universities where the caste divide pits student against fellow student. It can be, and often is, a life of indignity which, if challenged, can end up in violence and extreme discrimination despite the laws on the rule books. Two men in our long history challenged this unholy tradition. The first was the Lord Buddha who rejected all that was anti-human in the Codes or the Shashtras, India’s ancient texts. That was 500 years before Christ. The second was Babasaheb B. R. Ambedkar, building on the work of two other savants, the Saint-Poet Kabir and the path- breaking thinker Mahatma Phule. Each one of them articulated Christ’s message, enshrined in your own statutes and your life experience, that all people are born equal, equipped by their Maker with all that is noble and pure. Ambedkar, born an untouchable, defied the fate that was destined for him by his society. He studied in London, and your own Columbia University, and returned to fight India’s struggle for freedom. His finest hour was in writing free India’s Constitution, making it a modern document of freedom and liberation far removed from the documents of tradition and culture. The Constitution liberated the Untouchables. Much has to be done, but the yoke is broken. But you, as scholar of world history and the struggles of the people, know all this. I write to you to support the continuing struggle against caste in India, the yearning of the Dalits-Bahujans to fully realise the guarantees Ambedkar has assured them in the Constitution of India. You will, as protocol dictates, pay homage at the Samadhi, the shrine, of Mahatma Gandhi. That is as is proper. He led a peaceful struggle for Independence. We request you to also take some time to record your acknowledgement of the peaceful contribution to world civilization by Ambedkar. He follows the tradition of Abraham Lincoln in emancipating an entire race. He is worthy of the homage of Heads of State, and the adulation of all people of goodwill. A flower from you at the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at Parliament House in New Delhi will further encourage the civilizational and emancipation movement. Thank you, And God Bless. John Dayal The All India Christian Council (www.christiancouncil.in), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.