SAMAJ WEEKLY UK
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
The death of Mr Ram Pal Rahi, President, Federation of Ambedkarite Buddhist Organisation ( FABO) UK and Ambedkar Mission Society, Bedford, UK on May 8th, 2026 has shocked his Ambedkarite Buddhist friends and admirers both in India, Europe and UK. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons. Bedford is considered to be the ‘source’ of Ambedkarite movement in the United Kingdom and Mr Ram Pal Rahi was continuously strengthening the legacy of veteran Ambedkarite late Channan Chahal whose anti caste work in UK has been well known.
Mr Ram Pal Rahi was a self-made man who worked extremely hard and established himself in Bedford but his life journey was not so simple. He was born on January 25th, 1954 at Guru Ravidass Nager, Nawanshehar (Now Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar), Punjab which was the place of his maternal uncles but his parental village was in district Phagwara. His father served in the Indian army which broadened his understanding of India as he got his education in different places, where his father got transferred during his military service. He was comfortable in understanding and speaking Marathi, Gujrati, Hindi and English. He graduated from Phagwara. To study further he went to Vienna, Austria but could not afford to remain there due to extremely tight resources. He decided to leave Austria and try his luck in London.
I had an opportunity to not only speak to him several time but also stay at his house in Bedford. He hosted me and took me in his car and showed the city. Speaking with him was always a great joy. He would narrate his personal story and was extremely proud of his achievements. At his home, in his office, one replica of the famous red coloured public Telephone booths of London, would always be dear to his heart. He had immense love with it and he shared with me the importance of it and that showed his strength and determination. I was curious to know as why he loved this Public Telephone Booth replica so much and he narrated his story with a deep breath. He was in Vienna but unable to carry it forward and hence decided to come to UK and one snowy winter night of December he landed up in London. He had no address and no place to go. It was dead cold and he did not have money to opt for a hotel. Tired and exhausted, he decided to give it a try. He was in front of a Telephone booth, probably, trying to call to someone and felt that probably he could stay inside the booth comfortably. And that night, he told me, the public telephone booth, saved him as living outside would have been extremely dangerous for him. His life journey in UK remained inspiring for all as despite all hardship he continues to focus on his work and succeeded.
So after reaching England in 1975 and doing all kind of jobs he made Bedford his home to settle. He never thought any work was inferior and as everyone know coming from India and that too from the most marginalised community, one does not expect any financial help from home and hence need to do all kind of menial jobs that strengthen the financial condition. He worked at the Vauxhall Motors, Luton as a production operator. He also worked as security guard and taxi driver in the evenings. Later he started teaching driving at different motor driving schools. He took me out to take a round around Bedford in his Mercedes and shared his success story. He owned numerous properties in Bedford and he was proud of it as he earned through by dint of his hard work. He told me that no work was smaller one and that is why at that age when he had everything with him and need not to do any work, he was still taking the motor training classes and earning a handsome amount of money while remaining completely free rest of the time.
He took me to the ‘Supermarket’ i.e. (groceries and other essential commodities store), being run by his wife. He proudly mentioned how his wife has been a strong pillar and looking after everything. He started this in 1985. He helped many other individuals particularly those coming from Punjab but merely earning money was not his aim of life and since 1976, he started associating with Ambedkarite and Buddhist organisations in Bedford and other parts of UK, particularly in association with another veteran Ambedkarite Chanan Chahal. Both of them embraced Buddhisim along with their families in 1986. Though conversion to Buddhism has been a regular feature in UK particularly among Ambedkarites yet this event became a major story in the British national media. Afterwards, he would attend various functions particularly Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations as well as Buddha Purnima celebrations.
In the 1990s Ambedkarite movement was spreading its wings in various parts of the world including Europe, America as well as Asia. Ambedkarite Intellectuals, activists and political leaders had organised many such important meetings in Malaysia, France, Japan, Canada, Italy etc. He travelled extensively in India and beyond including Portugal, Italy, France, Belgium, Canada, America, Malaysia and Japan to participate in the Ambedkar and Buddhist related events.
Bedford based Ambedkarite and a friend of Mr Ram Pal Rahi, Mr Arun Kumar says, ‘After the untimely demise of Chanan Chahal in 2009, Ram Pal pledged himself to carry on Chanan’s legacy to promote Babasaheb’s mission. As the President of Punjab Buddhist Society, UK, Rahi was instrumental in completing the Takshashila Buddha Vihara (TBV) in Ludhiana. It was inaugurated by Mr Ram Vilas Paswan who was very active with Ambedkarites world over. I had an opportunity to visit the Takshshila Buddha Vihar and can say that it was wonderful feeling there. The gate of the Buddha Vihar look like that in Sanchi Stupa. That apart, the iconic statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar near the main is simply inspiring and gives you a feeling of being at a place which emerged from Ambedkarite perspective.
It was an honor to visit not only his house in Bedford but also the Gurudwara that he helped built in Phagwara known as Takshshila Buddha Vihar. Mr Ram Pal Rahi was associated with many other Ambedkarite organisation, encouraged and promoted people and helped the needy through financial support also. He was helping many other charity and welfare organisations in Punjab and elsewhere.
Mr Ram Pal Rahi was deeply dedicated to the cause of Ambedkarite Buddhist movement and served in various capacities. At the moment, he was serving as President of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisation (FABO) UK as well as Ambedkar Mission Society, Bedford.
I had opportunity to roam around Bedford with him and participate in several panel discussions organised by the local channels in Bedford. Thanks to our friends Devinder Chander ji in Birmingham and Arun Kumar ji at Bedford, I got the opportunity to learn a lot from the inspiring life of Shri Ram Pal Rahi. His untimely death is a big blow to Ambedkarite and Buddhist movement in England but I sincerely hope friends will carry his legacy further and the movement will not only grow but will widen its horizon. Our condolences to the family of late Ram Pal Rahi.
