Arundhati Roy's new book launched in the Capital

Celebrated author Arundhati Roy's new book 'Ek Tha Doctor Ek Tha Sant' was launched on April 5, at the Constitution Club, by a noted panel of writers, journalists and activists including Urmilesh Urmi, Dilip Mandal, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Anita Bharti, Manisha Bangar, Sunil Sardar and Anil Yadav.

This book is a translation of The Doctor and the Saint: Caste, Race, and Annihilation of Caste - The Debate Between B R Ambedkar and M K Gandhi, written by Arundhati Roy. The Hindi book was translated by Ratan Lal and Anil Yadav 'Jai Hind'.

Talking about the book, Roy insists readers must examine both the political development and influence of M K Gandhi, and also why B R Ambedkar's brilliant challenge to his near-divine status was suppressed by India's elite. In Roy's analysis, we see that Ambedkar's fight for justice was systematically sidelined in favor of policies that reinforced caste, resulting in the current nation of India: independent of British rule, globally powerful, and marked to this day by the caste system.

Both Ambedkar and Gandhi were their generation's emissaries of a profound social, political and philosophical conflict that had begun long ago and has still by no means ended. The debate between Ambedkar and Gandhi is not new but the book gave a perspective to the difference.

The panel discussed Ambedkar's arguments in their vital historical context— namely, as an extended public political debate with Mohandas Gandhi. They also discussed some uncomfortable, controversial, and even surprising truths about the political thought and career of India's most famous and most revered figure.