KISS Deemed to be University celebrated the birth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on 14th April 2023 under the aegis of Dr. BR Ambedkar Research Chair.
Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Professor Deepak Kumar Behera, KISS-DU and Shri Sakaldeep Rajbhar, Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha, Ballia, UP and Esteemed Registrar, KISS-DU garlanded the statue of Ambedkar in the presence of staff and students.
A special wall magazine was unveiled by Dr. Kanhu Charan Mahali (Director General, KISS-DU) on the occasion. The wall magazine contained stories, poems and essays on the thoughts of Dr. Babasaheb by the students. Dr. B.R Ambedkar Chair, KISS-DU and the School of Tribal Legal Studies and Tribal Rights had organized a seminar on the occasion.
The seminar begun with a Welcome Address by Ms. Aliva Hansada, a Ph.D. research scholar of Sociology Programme. Dr. Kanhu Charan Mahali (Director General, KISS-DU) in his inaugural address discussed the importance of the Constitution referring to Babasaheb’s final speech. He highlighted the contributions and accomplishments of Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Krupasindhu Nayak (Dr. Ambedkar Chair (I/c) deliberated on how Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s works reflected in social democracy by establishing equality, liberty and fraternity in Indian Democracy, which has also been introduced as a Value-Added course at KISS-DU.
Professor N.C. Dash (Professor Emeritus) ruminated about his fleeting encounter with Ambedkar in his school days and how Dr. Ambedkar is discussed widely in contemporary times. He pointed out the fact that Ambedkar’s Mahad Satyagraha for water precedes Gandhi’s salt Satyagraha. The Director Academics, Professor Sthabir Khora, cited examples of the intellectual honesty of Dr. Ambedkar. He explained how Dr. Ambedkar compared the caste system with slavery and based on his analysis, he opined that slavery is worse than the caste system in theory.
Professor Brahamanda Satapathy pointed out that Dr. Ambedkar can be called as ‘Modern Manu’ only in a changed sense of Manu. He pointed out that Dr. Ambedkar’s philosophy was ‘parity not charity’. On behalf of the students Mr. Doud Gamango (Research Scholar, Sociology) and Miss Sanjukta Bhoi (P.G first year, Sociology) dwelled on the life and teachings of Dr. Ambedkar. Miss Sanjukta spoke introspectively the fine-grained view of Dr. Ambedkar on independence – उस आजादी का ही क्या महत्व हे जिसमे समानता न हो.
The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Ms. Tanni Chakraborty (Assistant Professor, Anthropology), KISS-DU.