B R Ambedkar inspires oppressed Roma community in Hungary through dedicated school and translated texts.

Key facts

• Tibor Derdak co-founded the Dr Ambedkar School in Miskolc, Hungary, 20 years ago to serve the long-oppressed Roma community.
• The school operates under a brass plaque inscribed in Hungarian and Hindi, and an Ambedkar statue stands near its building.
• Derdak translated Ambedkar’s writings, including the Pune Pact and stories from Chandalika, into Hungarian to reproduce Ambedkar’s impact.
• The Roma flag adopted at the 1971 World Roma Congress near London features a dharma chakra proposed by an Indian diplomat, symbolically linking the Roma to India.
• Graduates like Kuru Janos, who arrived with Class 6 education and later attended university in Budapest, return as local leaders or school staff.
• In villages where the school works, girls increasingly view education as possible and early motherhood is declining.