Dalit rights committee to calls for nation-wide protests against Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr BR Amebdkar

The Committee demanded for Shah's resignation and an apology from him, calling all Dalit rights and democratic rights organisations to organise a nation-wide protest on Friday.

Hyderabad: The Coordination Committee for Dalit Rights and Social Justice condemned the derogatory comments by Union Home Minister Amit Shah against Dr BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The Committee demanded for Shah’s resignation and an apology from him, calling all Dalit rights and democratic rights organisations to organise a nation-wide protest on Friday.

In a statement on Thursday, Committee member Mallepalli Laxmaiah said the union Minister’s remarks were outrageous, made in an arrogant and dismissive tone. He said Shah attempted to ridicule the respect shown to the architect of India’s secular and progressive Constitution. He stated that Shah’s remarks were not only an affront to Ambedkar but also an insult to the millions of deprived individuals who celebrate the struggle for social justice led by him.

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The Coordination Committee for Dalit Rights and Social Justice, a platform representing hundreds of organizations working for Dalit rights, said these comments were made in the context of the ongoing resistance by the people of India against the BJP’s assault on the Constitution of India. “Ambedkar has inspired millions to fight for the preservation of affirmative action provisions enshrined in the Indian Constitution, which are under constant attack by forces of Hindutva. These forces are relentlessly working to impose a Manuwadi ideology on the people of India,” the Committee members said.

The Committee observed that the derogatory remarks confirmed that Shah and his party were casteist in their thinking and had no genuine regard for the Constitution. The Manuwadi intolerance directed at the icon who the RSS/BJP often try to appropriate for electoral reasons further reveals their deep-seated hatred for the movements and ideals that Ambedkar championed in his fight for social justice and equality in India, they said.