LR Balley, a passionate Ambedkarite

Lahori Ram Balley, who passed away on July 6, was a household name among the Scheduled Castes of Punjab, a state known for the largest concentration of SC population in the country. He was equally known in many other states as well as among the SC diaspora. Born on July 20, 1930, to Premi Devi and Bhagwan Dass at Nawanshahr, he inherited political activism from his grandfather, Chaudhary Inder Ram, who was associated with Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia, founder of the Ad Dharm movement. It had helped generate social and political consciousness among the so-called lower castes in Punjab in the late 1920s. Balley traced the Ad Dharm Mandal report, a rare primary document, from the scattered papers of his grandfather and gave it to American academic Mark Juergensmeyer for his work on Punjab Dalits. It was, however, his paternal uncle, Hakim Gurcharan Dass, who ignited his interest in the Ambedkar mission. His uncle was an admirer of Dr BR Ambedkar and a close associate of Seth Kishan Dass, founder president of the Punjab Scheduled Caste Federation (SCF), the maiden Ambedkarite political party in Punjab.

After qualifying his matriculation examination in 1947, Balley shifted to Delhi in search of a job. In 1948, he started working as a copy holder in the state press. It was here that he got an opportunity to meet Dr Ambedkar. Balley also attended the ceremony in which Dr Ambedkar laid the stone of the Ambedkar Bhawan at Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi, in 1951. “Though I got the opportunity to meet Dr Ambedkar thrice and listened to him many times, but September 30, 1951, proved to be a historic day in my life,” Balley wrote later.

It was on this day that he made the promise to Dr Ambedkar: “I will dedicate my entire life for the fulfillment of your mission.” This was the time when the Ambedkar mission had almost come to a standstill in Punjab. Many leaders of the SCF had joined the Indian National Congress. Seth Kishan Dass distanced himself from active politics and settled in Calcutta. KC Sulekh, general secretary of SCF, who had conducted the stage at Ramdaspura during Dr Ambedkar’s visit to Jalandhar on October 27, 1951, became absorbed in a full-time job, which prevented him from devoting time to the mission.

Balley kept his promise. After the parinirvana of Dr Ambedkar on December 6, 1956, he quit his job. He reorganised the SCF with the support of Charan Singh Nidharak and soon after established the Punjab unit of the Republican Party of India as envisioned by Dr Ambedkar. He got Ambedkar Bhawan constructed at the place where Dr Ambedkar had delivered his historic address in 1951. He also founded the Ambedkar Bhawan Trust, Ambedkar Mission Society, Punjab wing of the All India Samata Sainik Dal, and the Buddhist Society of India. He led them from the front till his last breath.

He took Jaswant Rao Ambedkar, son of Dr Ambedkar, on a whirlwind tour of Punjab during the General Election in 1957, and persuaded him to contest the 1962 parliamentary election from Hoshiarpur. Balley himself contested in 1957 against Swaran Singh, the then Cabinet minister in the Congress government. To spread Dhamma and streamline the Ambedkar mission in Punjab, he embraced Buddhism in 1963.

During the agitation for the acquisition and distribution of evacuee land among the landless SC communities of Punjab, Balley went to jail in 1964. In his absence, his wife Bibi Ajit Balley took over command of the agitation. Soon after, she was also arrested and sent to jail, along with their two small children, Rahul and Sujata.

Among his most significant contributions was the establishment of Bheem Patrika, a monthly Urdu and Punjabi publication, in 1958. Since 1965, the magazine has been published in Hindi, besides carrying articles in English. Bheem Patrika also began publishing the writings and speeches of Dr Ambedkar, much before his collective works were published by the Maharashtra government. It also published booklets on the Ambedkarite literature, including books authored by Balley. A prolific writer and eloquent orator with an equal command over Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and English, Balley minced no words and was blunt in his speech and writing. Several cases were registered against him for his radical writings. Some of his booklets were also banned. I had the privilege to interact with him many a time. He was a true karamyogi who lived a dedicated and meaningful life.

— The writer is Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor at

Panjab University, Chandigarh