Ambedkar's Legacy Inspires Roma School in Hungary as Political Change Dawns
Tibor Derdak, speaking from Miskolc, a city two hours from Budapest, describes Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as a "gypsy icon in Hungary" just before heading out to vote on a pivotal Sunday. Twenty years ago, Derdak co-founded the Dr. Ambedkar School in this unlikely location, honoring a figure who never set foot in the country. Today, an Ambedkar statue stands proudly near the school's light-blue building, symbolizing a deep connection that has transformed lives.
A Fairytale for the Oppressed
"Ambedkar's life story is a fairytale for the Roma community," says Derdak, referring to the long-oppressed ethnic group in Eastern Europe that the school serves. The narrative of a man denied school admission who studied abroad, became a barrister, fought caste oppression, and drafted a nation's constitution has taken root here. It began around 2005 when Derdak—a sociologist and former Hungarian parliament member—and Roma activist János Orsós were invited by the Triratna Buddhist Organisation to visit Dhamma retreats in Maharashtra.
What they witnessed was transformative. "Similar complexion, similar stories of being othered," Derdak recalls. "Yet, we saw people from oppressed communities reach important positions in society. We thought we, too, can." This realization was bolstered by the historical link: the Roma originally emigrated from north India nearly 1,000 years ago, making the recognition in Maharashtra visceral and the inspiration practical.
Building a Pilgrimage Site Through Translation and Education
Upon returning, Derdak embarked on translating Ambedkar's texts into Hungarian, including stories like Prakriti's from Chandalika and the entire Pune Pact, a foundational document for reservation policies. "We wanted to reproduce the impact he had on his people," he explains. The Dr. Ambedkar School that emerged has since become a pilgrimage site for Roma activists across Europe.
Each morning, 125 students in classes 9-12 enter beneath a brass plaque inscribed in Hungarian and Hindi, closing with a line that would have startled Ambedkar: "He is a Buddhist saint." Artist Akshay Mahajan, who visited in 2013, remembers students eagerly learning Hindi numbers, thrilled by shared words like chhora for boy and chhori for girl. The historical debts run deep, Mahajan notes, pointing out that without the Roma, Europe might never have had the guitar, as they carried string instruments westward from Persia.
Parallel Narratives of Oppression and Resilience
Inside the school, students prepare for Hungary's national exams while studying Ambedkar's speeches alongside Roma history—two narratives of oppression with striking parallels. Roma children have long faced segregation in underfunded schools, often labeled "mentally challenged" and placed in special institutions, with nearly 90% of such students reportedly from the community. Derdak recalls separate cups and plates for Roma children in schools as recently as a decade ago, bluntly calling it "untouchability, just with different words."
In Miskolc, where 15% of the population is Roma, public spaces largely ignore their existence. The 16-year regime of Viktor Orban, Hungary's longest-serving prime minister, tested the school's resilience. It once operated as a Buddhist church high school for legal protection, but Orban's government moved to deregister churches it deemed insufficiently established, leading to 15 years of financial precarity.
Graduates as Proof of Progress
The school's graduates stand as a testament to its impact. Kuru Janos arrived at 16 with only a Class 6 education, graduated five years later, attended university in Budapest, and returned as a local leader. A teenage girl became a social worker, and Melinda Erdei Nagi—raised in a Methodist home—graduated and came back as the school secretary. Derdak quotes Ambedkar unprompted: "I measure the progress of a community by what women have achieved." In villages where the school has worked, young girls now see education as a real possibility, and the demographic explosion has slowed.
A Symbolic Wheel and a Turning Tide
One poignant detail Derdak shares is the Roma flag—blue above, green below, with a red wheel at its center—adopted at the first World Roma Congress near London in 1971, partly funded by the Indian government. The wheel, a dharma chakra proposed by an attaché from the Indian High Commission, symbolically binds the Roma to the subcontinent they left centuries ago. "It was meaningful for illiterate gypsy people," Derdak says. "They did not know the word. But they chose the wheel."
As election results emerge and Orban is ousted, Derdak rejoices: "The dictatorship has fallen." The wheel, as ever, has turned, bringing hope for a brighter future through education and cultural reconnection.
