Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, other politicians paid tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar on this birthday
On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, made a beeline to pay tributes to the social icon, amid criticism by the Opposition. The national capital witnessed protests from the Dalits when some people from the community on Saturday “cleansed” B R Ambedkar’s statue soon after Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and BJP leaders paid floral tributes to Ambedkar. Members of the Dalit community claimed that the presence of BJP leaders had ‘polluted’ the atmosphere.
A group of Sikhs too protested against alleged atrocities perpetrated against minority communities in India during the commemoration of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 127th birth anniversary at the United Nation’s headquarters.
The Narendra Modi-led govt and BJP, on the other hand are trying to reached out to Dalits in the aftermath of their violent protests asserting that at every juncture they stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the community and accused the Congress of fuelling tension in the society with an eye on elections.
Earlier this month, Modi had blasted opposition parties for politicising Ambedkar’s legacy, blaming the previous governments for not paying due respects to the Dalit icon. Continuing on that note, he said, “After Atal Ji’s government, when Congress came to power, they closed the files related to this project, when we were given a chance to serve people in 2014 we dug out the files and worked on it.”
In a tit-for-tat, Congress accused the BJP of ‘eroding’ the legacy of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was merely paying him lip service as his party and the RSS have an ‘anti-Dalit mindset’. Congress leader Selja charged the prime minister with doing politics over the legacy of the Dalit icon.
Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated on April 14 across the nation to remember the Father of the Constitution of India. Popularly known as Babasaheb, Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement. He campaigned against social discrimination against untouchables and also supported the rights of women and labourers.
