Dalit organisations have called for nationwide protest on December 28, to register their anger (Akrosh Pradarshan) over home minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar in Parliament, while delivering his speech during a debate on the Constitution, to commemorate 75 years of its adoption.
Calling Shah’s remarks an “insult to the maker of the Constitution,” NACDOR (National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations) has initiated the call for the protest on Thursday, along with all other Dalit organisations across the country, the mobilisation for which has already started and will continue over these 10 days, before it culminates on December 28, said Ashok Bharti, national president of NACDOR. The joint call for the protest has also come from dalit leaders Nitin Raut, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Jignesh Mewani.
Maharashtra has had a protest on Thursday, other states are catching on and there will be small gatherings from Friday. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, Haryana and Punjab have already responded, said Bharti. There will be gatherings at bloc headquarter and district headquarter level and then in towns and cities.
The primary demand of the protestors is that the government (home minister) has to publicly apologise and also apologise on the floor of the House in Parliament, since the remarks have been made during a debate on the Constitution, to celebrate its 75th year of adoption.
The anchor theme for the Dalit groups is, “Dr Ambedkar is not a fashion he is the nation. Whoever insults the nation is a rashtradrohi (traitor), and traitors have no right to run the country,” said Bharti, soon after a meeting with Dalit groups. The theme is a counter to Shah saying, “Yeh fashion ho gaya hai, Ambedkar, Ambedkar… itna naam agar Bhagwan ka lete toh saat janmo tak swarg mil jata.” (It has become a fashion… Ambedkar, Ambedkar… if God’s name was taken so many times it would have taken you to the heavens), during his speech in the House.
“Having NACDOR has also sought support of all sections of society for this mobilisation so that the sanctity of the Constitution and its makers is restored. OBC groups are also joining the protests,” Bharti said. The Dalit groups have also invited like minded political parties to support the protests.
“When Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue was damaged, Prime Minister himself had apologised for it, but the home minister who has publicly insulted Dr Ambedkar in Parliament, cannot apologise? Is his stature larger than that of the PM,” Bharti said. Afterall, “he was speaking from written notes in the House, so was this also part of his written text… to hurt sentiments of Ambedkar’s followers, he added.
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