The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has urged President Droupadi Murmu to immediately dismiss Union Home Minister Amit Shah and direct him to issue a public apology for his remarks against Dr Bhimrao Babasaheb Ambedkar.
In a memorandum to the President through the Deputy Commissioner Kohima, Lok Sabha member and NPCC president S Supongmeren Jamir, NPCC working president Khriedi Theunuo, vice-president Capt GK Zhimomi and general secretary Moa Emchen maintained that given the stature of Ambedkar and the respect he commanded among the citizens of India, it was clear that Shah’s remarks had hurt the sentiments of millions of Indians.
With each passing day, they pointed out that the remarks made by Shah were receiving large-scale public backlash, especially from members and leaders of the Dalit community who condemned his remarks that harmed the Dalit icon’s dignity.
Claiming that the disrespect to the father of the Constitution of India had been reverberated and defended by the BJP and its workers across the country, they declared that the ruling regime and its leaders could not be allowed to conduct themselves in a manner that only suited their ideology.
NPCC leaders reiterated that the Congress was unwavering in its commitment to the legacy of Ambedkar and the constitution drafted under his chairmanship, reminding the President that the party in its commitment to the values enshrined in the constitution had been fighting political as well legal battles to ensure that the constitution and the rights guaranteed by it were not violated by the ruling regime.
They expressed shock that Shah, a senior leader of the BJP and Union Home Minister, had used the Parliament as a platform to disrespect Ambedkar.
In his zeal to attack the opposition during the special discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of constitution, they alleged that Shah had made disparaging and disrespectful remarks on Ambedkar.
They maintained that the remarks of the Union Home Minister were extremely distasteful, and demeaned one of the tallest leaders of the Independence Movement.
According to them, Ambedkar’s contribution to building the nation’s ethos in the form of the constitution as well as securing the rights of members of the Dalit community and other marginalised groups were well documented and require no repetition.
They cautioned that any attempt to disrespect such a venerable national figure could not go unchecked without any consequences. With these remarks, they maintained that Shah as well as the BJP had trivialised the issue of affirmative action and reservations given to members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, as well as the constitutional framework that recognised and protected their right to equal participation in the society.
They also pointed out that till date neither Shah nor the BJP had come forward with any plausible explanation for using such disparaging remarks in the Parliament.
While the BJP continued to trivialise major issues, they mentioned that the Congress and its allies had been making concerted efforts to bring to light instances of BJP leaders attempting to hijack the inclusive and tolerant spirit of the constitution by making amendments to the same, often at the cost and well-being of historically marginalised and oppressed communities.
To effectively understand the degree to which these communities contributed to nation-building and growth, they stated that the Congress and its allies had proposed conducting caste surveys across the nation, which had been vehemently opposed by the BJP, its leadership, and their allies.
In retaliation to the Congress’s campaign highlighting the plight of marginalised communities and the need to secure their rights, they alleged that the BJP had only made repeated attempts to disparage the Congress and its leadership.
They accused the BJP of resorting to all sorts of name-calling and the propagation of false and misleading narratives about the Congress. However, they said now this had gone too far. They said they were now at a stage where the Union Minister himself had resorted to personally attacking Ambedkar.
Reiterating that the founders of the nation imagined India as a country that was respectful of its various inhabitants, irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, colour, place of birth, etc, they said such errant and irresponsible remarks, especially by the Union Home Minister of the country, could not be allowed.
NPCC mentioned that these remarks attacking a stalwart such as Ambedkar were nothing but corrosive to the country’s syncretic foundation.