New Delhi: Alleging that Union home minister Amit Shah’s remark on BR Ambedkar in Parliament on Tuesday hurt the sentiments of crores of Dalits, AAP on Wednesday led a protest near the BJP headquarters demanding “strict action” against him.
Leading the protest, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said his party would go door to door ahead of the assembly polls due in Feb to tell the people about the “grave insult” of Ambedkar by the BJP leader. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva called the demonstrations “laughable” and an “attempt to gain electoral mileage”.
Kejriwal charged that the way PM Narendra Modi defended Shah, it appeared like a “pre-meditated conspiracy” of BJP. “Shah made fun of Ambedkar in a way,” Kejriwal alleged.
Claiming that Shah’s remark hurt the crores of followers of Ambedkar like him, former Delhi chief minister demanded that strict action be taken against Shah “so that the anger of the people subsides even though it will not go away completely”. He added, “The leadership of BJP has now made it clear that it is against Ambedkar. It is now the time for BJP supporters to decide whether they are with the party or with Ambedkar.”
On Tuesday, Shah said in Rajya Sabha, “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai — Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata.”
Kejriwal said, “We cannot say if one reaches heaven after death, but here on earth, millions of underprivileged people owe their dignity and rights to Dr BR Ambedkar, who gave them the Constitution.”
Senior AAP functionaries such as CM Atishi, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were also present at the protest. AAP tried to march towards the BJP headquarters on DDU Marg, but was stopped by police.
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav termed Shah’s statement “deplorable”. “The statement was a validation of the antipathy in the DNA of BJP and RSS towards him and the Constitution,” Yadav said.
Sachdeva said despite being in govt for 12 years, Kejriwal neither launched any welfare scheme in Delhi in Babasaheb’s memory nor developed any memorial for him. “No significant steps have been taken for the education or empowerment of the Dalit community. Delhi is a state where Dalit students receive the least number of scholarships,” he alleged.
