The Congress on Tuesday criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on BR Ambedkar in Parliament and demanded an apology from him.
Shah, in his address in the Rajya Sabha at the conclusion of a two-day discussion in Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution on Tuesday, had lashed out at the Congress party and said that it had become a ‘fashion’ for the party to take Ambedkar’s name.
“Now a fashion has become – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. That’s the name, if God’s name is given till the time of birth, heaven will be found. (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),” Shah said, taking a swipe at the opposition.
The home minister said that while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him.
Several Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, lashed out at Shah over the remarks.
Gandhi, in a post on X, wrote that those who believe in Manusmriti will definitely be at odds with Ambedkar.
Kharge said that the “insult” of Babasaheb Ambedkar by the home minister “has once again proven that the BJP-RSS were against the tricolour, their forefathers opposed the Ashok Chakra and that the people of the Sangh Parivar wanted to implement Manusmriti instead of the Constitution of India from the very first day.
“Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar Ji did not allow this to happen, that is why there is so much hatred towards him,” Kharge wrote in a post on X. “The ministers of the Modi government should understand carefully that for crores of people like me, Babasaheb Ambedkar is no less than God… He is and will always be the messiah of Dalits, tribals, backward classes, minorities and the poor.”
“Amit Shah should apologise”
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh termed Shah’s remarks as “very disgusting” and alleged that it shows the hatred the BJP-RSS carries for Ambedkar.
“The hatred is such that they are annoyed even 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,” the Congress leader said.
As the people taught them a lesson, they are now annoyed with those who take Baba Saheb’s name, he said. “Shameful! Amit Shah should apologise to the country for this,” Ramesh asserted.
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal also hit out at Shah over his remarks.
“HM Amit Shah, 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?” he wrote on X.
“The BJP’s disgust towards Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was always well known, and the Home Minister’s pathetic statements in the Rajya Sabha today further confirm how much they hate and detest Dr. Ambedkar,” Venugopal said.
“The worshippers of Manusmriti will always have scorn towards Ambedkar, who rejected the horrible ideas espoused by the casteist RSS and their Manusmriti,” he added.
