बहुजन नायक कांशीराम
जन्म:15 मार्च 1934 परिनिर्वाण: 9 अक्टूबर 2006
Bahujan Nayak Manyvar Kanshiram Ji was born in his maternal village Pirthipur Bunga, Rupnagar district of Punjab on 15th March 1934. In 2002, he announced his intention to convert to Buddhism on 14th October 2006, the 50th anniversary of Ambedkar's conversion. He intended for two crores of his supporters to convert at the same time but he had received nirvana forever on 9th October 2006 in Delhi. His mother was Bishan Kaur and his father Sardar Hari Singh belonged to Scheduled Caste ‘Ramdasia Sikh’ community of Punjab and was some extent literate but his all children were educated. Saheb Kanshi Ram’s parental village was Khawaspur, he had two brothers and four sisters, out of them all, he was the eldest and most highly educated with a BSc degree. He completed his bachelor's degree in Science (B.Sc) from the Government College at Ropar affiliated with Panjab University. In 1958, after completing his graduation, Saheb Kanshi Ram joined the Department of Defence Production and took up the position of scientific assistant in Pune, Maharastra.
Now his thoughts and movement remain a asset for us. He was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans including 1500 Scheduled Castes, 1000 Scheduled Tribes and 3743 castes of Other Backward Class. He believed that the untouchables at the bottom of the present caste system in India. Towards this end, he formed the All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees' Federation (BAMCEF) in 1973 on December 6, Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4) in 1981 on December 6, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984 on 14th April. He ceded leadership of the BSP to his disciple Mayawati who has served 4 terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He contested from East Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency) in 1991 and came at fourth position. Then he represented the 11th Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur in Punjab and was also elected as member of Lok Sabha from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.
In 2001 he publicly announced Ms Mayawati as his successor. In 2002, Saheb Kanshi Ram, announced publicly that she will be as his successor. Ms Mayawati had declared that "Saheb Kanshi Ram had decided that they will convert and adopt Buddhism when they will get "absolute majority" at the Centre but it couid not be achieved due to untimely death of Manyawar Kansi Ramji.
According to his wish, last ritual was performed as per Buddhist tradition and his ashes were placed in Urn and kept at “Bahujan Prerna Sthal” 12 Gurudwra Rakabganj Road, New Delhi.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has described in his condolence message that "Shri Kanshira Ji was one of the greatest social reformers of our time...his political ideas and movements had a significant impact on our political evolution." "He had a larger understanding of social change and was able to unite various underprivileged sections of our society and provide a political platform where their voices could be heard," Singh said. Under Ram's leadership, the BSP won 14 parliamentary seats in the 1999 federal elections.
आज दिनांक 9 अक्टूबर 2016 को मान्यवर साहब कांशीराम जी की 10वीं पुण्य तिथि है, इस अवसर पर हम सभी उनके संघर्ष को सलाम करते हैं, तथा उनके बताये हुए रास्ते पर चलने का संकल्प लेते हैं।
संकल्प: “राष्ट्रीय समग्र विकास संघ”(RSVS)
The 9th October, 2016, New Delhi.
