|
Visit By Dr. B. L. Mungekar
LEHMAN LIBRARY, Friday, December 1, 2000 Dr. Bhalachandra L. Mungekar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Mumbai (India) visited Lehman Library today to view the bust of
Columbia alumnus Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Ambedkar (1891-1956),
renowned freedom fighter for the untouchables of India and father
of the Indian constitution.
Dr. Mungekar was visiting Columbia to meet with President Rupp
and with members of Columbia's
Southern Asian
Institute, including Professors Gauri Viswanathan (Director),
Phil Oldenburg (Associate Director), Jack Hawley and Dr. David
Magier (Columbia Libraries' Director of Area Studies and South
Asia Librarian). In addition to being a scholar of development
economics and serving in India's Ministry of Agriculture,
Vice-Chancellor Mungekar has been very active in the Ambedkarite
movement to end the economic and cultural oppression of the
untouchables.
The
bronze bust of Dr. Ambedkar was donated to Columbia in 1995 by
the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organizations, UK, and
ever since its permanent installation in the main lobby of Lehman
Library, has attracted numerous visitors from around the world, who
revere Ambedkar as a moral and religious leader and an examplar of
political action on behalf of the powerless in India. (See also the
news
article in the Columbia Record.)
Above:
(l. to r.) Prof. Phil Oldenburg (Associate Director, Southern
Asian Institute), Dr. Varhade, Dr. Mungekar, Prof. Jack Hawley
(Dept. of Religion, Barnard), Prof. Gauri Viswanathan (Director,
Southern Asian Institute), and Dr. David Magier (South Asia
Librarian).
Above:
Dr. Mungekar (r.) viewing the bust of Ambedkar with Dr.
Yogesh Varhade, President of the Abmedkar Center for Justice and
Peace, Ontario.
|
