New Delhi: A fresh political controversy has erupted following comments made by Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament regarding Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. Shah’s remarks, delivered during a parliamentary address, have drawn sharp criticism from the Indian National Congress (INC), which accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of harbouring deep-seated animosity towards Ambedkar.
Shah’s statement, referencing the frequent mention of Ambedkar’s name, drew a comparison to the repeated invocation of God’s name. He quipped, “Now it has become a fashion—Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar… If you take this many names of God, you will get heaven for seven lives.” This seemingly innocuous comment sparked outrage within the Congress party, who deemed it disrespectful and demanded a public apology.
The Congress party unleashed a scathing attack on Shah and the BJP, accusing them of harbouring “hatred” towards Ambedkar. In a strongly-worded social media post, the senior Congress leaders highlighted what they see as a historical pattern of antagonism towards Ambedkar, referencing past incidents involving the burning of his effigies and calls for amending the Constitution he drafted.
The party contends that Shah’s comments are indicative of this ongoing resentment towards Ambedkar’s legacy and his contributions to the nation. Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal, joined the chorus of condemnation.
Gandhi criticised Shah’s statement, suggesting that the BJP’s ideology, rooted in Manusmriti (an ancient Hindu legal text), inherently clashes with Ambedkar’s progressive ideals and his fight against caste-based discrimination.
Ramesh highlighted the alleged historical hostility of the BJP and RSS towards Ambedkar, accusing them of harbouring resentment even towards the mere mention of his name. “This shows that the BJP and RSS leaders have a lot of hatred for Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Such hatred that they are annoyed even by his name. These are the same people whose ancestors burned effigies of Baba Saheb and talked about changing the Constitution he gave us. When the public taught them a lesson, now they are annoyed with those who take Baba Saheb’s name. Shameful!” Jairam Ramesh posted on X in Hindi.
“The hatred is such that they are even irritated by his name. These are the same people whose ancestors used to burn the effigies of Baba Saheb, who themselves used to talk about changing the constitution given by Baba Saheb,” Ramesh said.
“Shameful! Amit Shah should apologize to the country for this,” he added.
Venugopal, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), underscored the profound reverence held for Ambedkar by millions and challenged Shah’s right to express such disdain. “HM @AmitShah , in case you didn’t know – Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is equivalent to God and the Constitution he drafted is a Holy Book for crores of people across the world. How dare you speak about Dr. Ambedkar with such disdain?”
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