Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Members from the opposition parties carrying photographs BR Ambedkar staged protests outside Parliament building on Wednesday demanding resignation of Mr Amit Shah for “insulting” the framer of the constitution even as the union home minister claimed that his statement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday was “distorted” and hit back at the Congress accusing it of “misinterpreting facts.”
The remarks sparked a huge row, with leaders of the Congress and other Opposition parties accusing Mr Shah of insulting the Dalit icon. While BJP leaders accused the Congress of circulating a short video clip that did not show Mr Shah’s remarks on how the Congress allegedly sidelined BR Ambedkar, Opposition leaders stepped up the attack on the ruling party and demanded the Home Minister’s resignation.
As the Opposition tried to shape the narrative and corner the government, the BJP leadership swung into action to counter the Opposition’s attack that could potentially have a massive perception impact among backward communities. Mr Shah met the Prime Minister at his residence amid the spiralling row. The Prime Minister added in his post that the list of the Congress’s “sins” towards BR Ambedkar includes: “getting him defeated in elections not once but twice, Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue, denying him a Bharat Ratna, denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall.”
Amid the ongoing controversy over his remarks, Mr Shah called the Congress “anti-reservation, anti-Ambedkar and anti-Constitution” and asserted that the party was wrongly presenting his remarks and was trying to create a false narrative in the society.
Accusing Congress of hating Baba Saheb, Shah said, “As far as giving Bharat Ratna is concerned, Congress leaders have given Bharat Ratna to themselves many times. Nehru gave the Bharat Ratna to himself in 1955, Indira gave the Bharat Ratna to herself in 1971 and Baba Saheb got the Bharat Ratna in 1990, when the Congress party was not in power and there was a government supported by the BJP. Nehru’s hatred towards Ambedkar is well known.”
The Home Minister further attacked the Congress accusing the party of presenting the facts in a distorted way. “I condemn it…Congress is anti-BR Ambedkar, it is against reservation and the Constitution. Congress also insulted Veer Savarkar. By imposing emergency, they violated all Constitutional values,” Shah added.
Mr Shah’s reaction came after opposition created a massive uproar over his remarks on Dr Ambedkar and demanded an apology from him. Claiming that Shah’s remarks were an insult to BR Ambedkar, the Congress party also demanded the Home Minister’s resignation.
Amit Shah lashed out at the Congress over its record of distorting facts and said earlier they made Mr Modi’s edited statements public and now the party is presenting my statement in a “distorted manner. BJP has always tried to follow the principles of Ambedkar ji. Whenever the BJP was in power, we propagated the principles of Ambedkar ji. The BJP has worked to strengthen reservation,” he added.
Intensifying attack on the ruling BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday called Amit Shah’s comments on Ambedkar ‘unfortunate’ and stated that the saffron party did not believe in the Constitution. “Yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said something which is very condemnable. It is unfortunate that a Dalit, who should be worshiped, was insulted. I am forced to say that these people (BJP-led NDA government) don’t believe in the Constitution,” Kharge said addressing a press conference.
Reacting to Mr Modi’s social media posts in defence of Mr Shah and accusing the Congress of insulting Ambedkar, Kharge questioned the Prime Minister and said Shah should have been sacked from the Cabinet. “PM Modi made six tweets to defend Amit Shah. What was the need for this? If someone says wrong about BR Ambedkar, he should be removed from the cabinet. But since the two (PM Modi and Amit Shah) are very close friends, they support each other’s sins,” he added.
The controversy erupted when Amit Shah, speaking during a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha, said “It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven.”
Doubling down his party’s attack, Mr Kharge said, “If PM has any respect for Babasaheb Ambedkar, he should drop Shah from the Cabinet. (But)… instead of telling Amit Shah (he) is wrong, PM is defending him. He insulted a Dalit hero. They do not believe in the Constitution.”
The Congress leader also called out the Prime Minister for his fierce, six-post on X defence of Amit Shah, his No 2, in which he lashed out at the “rotten (political) ecosystem” populated by his rivals.
The “Ambedkar is fashion…” statement came in Mr Shah’s concluding remarks in the Rajya Sabha debate. The quip provoked furious protests from the Congress and other opposition parties, with Mr Kharge saying the “insult” had again proven that the BJP and its ideological parent – the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – were against the country’s best interests. Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi also issued scathing counterattacks, and demanded Mr Shah apologise.
Sharing pictures from a protest outside Parliament – in which the opposition was united, despite recent differences over strategy and questions over the Congress’ leadership of the INDIA bloc – Mr Gandhi said, “Babasaheb is the Constitution’s architect… a great man who gave direction to the country.” “The country will not tolerate his insult… the Home Minister should apologise!”
It isn’t just the Congress that is up in arms. The Samajwadi Party – which contests elections on its ‘PDA’ strategy, in which the ‘D’ stands for Dalits – said it showed “the BJP is nervous about the struggle…” “Babasaheb Ambedkar is God to a lot of deprived sections of the society. He is worshipped in each house and village. The BJP is nervous about the struggle of the PDA and that is the reason such statements come from them from time to time…” Akhilesh Yadav said.
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool has also rallied against Amit Shah and the BJP; hours earlier the party filed a privilege notice against the Home Minister; Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, who moved the notice, accused Mr Shah of insulting the Dalit leader. Ms Banerjee posted a separate post in which she called the remarks “a display of BJP’s casteist and anti-Dalit mindset” and “an insult to millions who look up to Ambedkar.”
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal said Mr Modi’s remarks amid the massive row over Mr Shah’s remarks on Dr Ambedkar had rubbed “salt on the wound.” Mr Kejriwal said he was “shocked” after reading the Prime Minister’s six-point thread on the uproar over Mr Shah’s remarks.
“You are saying the Congress did wrong to Baba Saheb. So how does this give you, your party, or your Home Minister the right to insult Baba Saheb? If Congress treated Baba Saheb wrongly? you will do so too? What kind of a clarification is this, coming from the Prime Minister?” the AAP leader said. “The country is outraged over the way your Home Minister insulted Baba Saheb in Parliament. And your statement has sprinkled salt on the wound.”
Mr Kejriwal’s remarks come against the backdrop of the upcoming Delhi election and the AAP would be looking to corner the Opposition BJP on this issue. Earlier, the AAP leader had hit out at Amit Shah over his remarks. “Amit Shah ji, Baba Saheb is no less than a god for every child in this country. We don’t know about heaven, but if Baba Saheb’s Constitution were not there, you would not let the oppressed and Dalits live on earth,” he said in a post this morning.
At an AAP protest later, Mr Kejriwal reiterated that BR Ambedkar is god for Dalits. “I consider Ambedkar my idol. Not just me, my party too. Amit Shah has hurt our sentiments. The way the PM has come to Amit Shah’s defence shows it was a conspiracy by BJP. BJP supporters must choose if they are with BJP or with Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said. The AAP leader demanded strict action against Amit Shah and said AAP would take this issue to every home in Delhi ahead of the Assembly election due in February.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray also launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Mr Shah accusing the ruling party of disrespecting Maharashtra’s revered figure and diminishing the state’s importance.
He accused the BJP of systematically undermining Maharashtra’s heritage and leaders, stating, “For the past two-and-a-half to three years, and even earlier, certain BJP leaders have been insulting Maharashtra’s icons and deities. This disrespect has crossed all limits of tolerance.” He referred to former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s controversial comments on Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, accusing the BJP of failing to act against him.
Highlighting Mr Shah’s alleged remark that taking Dr Ambedkar’s name has become “fashionable,” Mr Thackeray stated, “The Home Minister insulted the man who gave India its Constitution by saying it has become ‘fashionable’ to talk about Ambedkar. This exposes BJP’s hypocrisy and their false narrative of respect for national icons.” He also questioned the silence of BJP’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners on the controversy.
“The manner in which Amit Shah spoke in the Parliament yesterday, he displayed insolence. He said that taking Ambedkar’s name has become fashionable and that had they taken God’s name as much they would have been in heaven. Who are you? Ambedkar ji is a personality not bound by any side,” Thackeray said.
“How BJP is insulting someone who gave us the Constitution is not acceptable to us. Will BJP and RSS take action against Amit Shah? Or did they tell Amit to say this?… Is this acceptable to other parties that have extended support to Amit Shah, be it Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar or Ajit Pawar? Will Ramdas Athawale continue to be in their cabinet even after this? Will the PM take action against him or did the PM tell him to say that?” he added. Bottom of Form
“Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr Ambedkar show the party’s (BJP) arrogance and have exposed its true face,” Mr Thackeray said.
