Historic hotel to become memorial

After his house in London, a hotel in Nagpur where the father of Indian Constitution Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar stayed for six days in 1956, during which he converted to Buddhism, will be converted into a national memorial.

Prof Jogendra Kawade, the president of Peoples Republican Party, raised the issue in the Upper House on Friday. Following this, revenue minister Eknath Khadse assured that that before April 14, 2016, the hotel would be acquired.

Mr Khadse said, “The proposal will be sent to Union government through department of culture very soon and the procedure to acquire the hotel will be finished.”

Dr Ambedkar stayed at Hotel Shyam located in Sitburdi area of Nagpur from October 11 to 16, 1956. During his visit, he converted to Buddhism. Since several years, his followers have been demanding that the defunct hotel be converted into a memorial.

They have placed a proposal with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) that the adjacent land where the Anand Talkies once stood should also be acquired to create an aesthetic memorial, a seminary for Buddhist monks and a research centre for the propagation of Buddhist philosophy. The Anand Talkies building itself is in a continuous state of construction.

A recent resolution passed by the NMC to convert Hotel Shyam into a fitting memorial of Dr Ambedkar has generated a wave of excitement among his followers.

The lease of the hotel was transferred on October 10, 2003 by the legal heirs of Shyamji Kheta, the original owner of the property, through a sale deed to Aaswad Restaurants Pvt Ltd.

Its managing director Pramod Laxminarayan Jaiswal is the legal owner of the property as on date and holds the lease till April 15, 2034.

Professor Jogendra Kawade, the president of Peoples Republican Party who is demanding that Shyam Hotel be converted into the Centre of Dhamma Kranti Smruti Smarak, said, “18 October 1956 was the day of bloodless revolution on which day, Dr Ambedkar brought about revolution in the backward classes by converting them into Buddhism. That’s why we are demanding to have a Dhamma Kranti Smruti Smarak being established in Nagpur.”