A Troubled Preamble

An Ambedkar Museum runs into a disapproving London council.

- Pranay Sharma

A £3 million property bought by India some years back in a posh London corner to convert the building into a memorial for India’s iconic social justice crusader, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, is now in serious jeopardy. Following complaints of alleged violation of building guidelines by some local residents, a hearing now awaits at the Camden Council that would decide the fate of the memorial.

The picturesque neighbourhood of Primrose Hill in upscale Camden in north London has been a favoured residential address for a string of celebrities, from chef Jamie Oliver to Hollywood A-listers Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig. In the past, too, it attracted well-known personages, from political philosopher Friedrich Engels and historian A.J.P. Taylor to poets Sylvia Plath and W.B. Yeats. Nearly 100 years back, it was also home to one of India’s most venerated social reformer and its tallest Dalit icon—Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Ambedkar lived in the house between 1921-22 when he was doing his DSc at the London School of Economics and appearing for his bar exam at Gray’s Inn.