At UN, Haryana's IAS officer revives Ambedkar’s global vision

Haryana’s senior IAS officer and noted Ambedkar scholar, Dr. Raja Sekhar Vundru, delivered a keynote address at a commemorative event to mark the 135th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at the United Nations Headquarters.

The Permanent Mission of India had organized the event on April 14. The theme was ‘Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Vision of Constitutional Morality and its Relevance for Multilateralism.’

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Vundru said that Article 51 of the Indian Constitution reflects the spirit of multilateral cooperation, respect for global norms, and peaceful resolution of conflicts—core elements of the UN Charter (1945), which India signed as a founding member.

Article 51 says, “The State shall endeavour to— (a) promote international peace and security; (b) maintain just and honourable relations between nations; (c) foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another; and (d) encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.”

Vundru added, “Through Dr. Ambedkar’s leadership, multilateralism was embedded as a foundational state obligation in Article 51 for India. It committed independent India to cooperative internationalism, respect for global law, and peaceful relations—principles that continue to influence India’s role in the UN and world affairs today. This provision complemented the Constitution’s domestic focus on justice, equality, and fraternity.”

He pointed out that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, while playing the central role in shaping the Indian Constitution, was aware of the development of UN ideals embodied in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and made a significant and well-documented influence on key parts of the Constitution. “This occurred during a period of remarkable historical overlap: India was a founding member of the UN (joined October 30, 1945), and the Constituent Assembly debates ran parallel to the global post-WWII push for universal human rights.”

Vundru added, “The UDHR was drafted between 1947 and 1948, exactly as India’s Constitution was being finalized. Indian representatives, including Hansa Mehta, a Constituent Assembly member who also served on the UN Commission on Human Rights, contributed to the equality, non-discrimination, and women’s rights. The UDHR provided moral and international legitimacy to India’s own nationalist demands for civil liberties and social justice.”

He further said, “Fundamental Rights in India’s Constitution are the most enforceable and justiciable provisions, including equality and non-discrimination; abolition of untouchability; the right to life and personal liberty; freedoms of speech, assembly, and association; the right against exploitation; and the cultural and educational rights of minorities. Dr. Ambedkar repeatedly defended the justiciability of these rights in the Constituent Assembly, insisting that they must be enforceable against the State to be meaningful—directly aligning with the UN’s vision of rights that are real, not merely aspirational.”

While discussing constitutional morality, Vundu informed that while introducing the draft Constitution in the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948, Ambedkar had said that the “constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil which is essentially undemocratic.”

Vundru said, “The connection between constitutional morality and this multilateral vision is a philosophical identity for Ambedkar, resting on the same foundational aspect that formal institutions are insufficient without a cultivated moral outlook. Its international disposition is that the genuine internalization of multilateral norms by states is what makes the international order real rather than nominal.” He added, “The UN Charter and the Indian Constitution are remarkable documents. The question in both cases is whether the social and moral infrastructure required to make it operative has been built, and as Ambedkar would say, it has to be cultivated. It is not a natural sentiment among states any more than it is a natural sentiment among citizens.”

Vundru commented, “Ambedkar’s demand for constitutional morality domestically and his constitutionalizing of multilateral commitment internationally grew from the same lived experience—his understanding, formed through decades of engagement with the Depressed Classes question, that formal equality is meaningless without the social conditions that make it real.” ‘

He added, “The relevance of this vision for multilateralism today is not historical—it is urgent. The multilateral order constructed after 1945 is under greater stress than at any time since its foundation. Open, just, and honourable relations between nations that Ambedkar constitutionalized as India’s aspirations.”

Earlier, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni noted that Dr. Ambedkar’s ardent advocacy for instilling the spirit of constitutional morality among Indian citizens was very significant and unique. He outlined the striking characteristics of India’s democracy and constitutional values and identified common strands between the Constitution of India and the UN Charter.