Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that she was shocked at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks about B R Ambedkar and the way he was being “belittled”.
Addressing a gathering during the inauguration of the ‘Kolkata Christmas Festival’, at Allen Park in Park Street, Banerjee said, “I am shocked at the comments made about Babasaheb Ambedkar… I feel bad seeing Babasaheb belittled.”
On Tuesday, a controversy erupted over Amit Shah’s speech in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the Constitution, when he 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.”
Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that Shah’s remarks in about B R Ambedkar were a display of the BJP’s “casteist and anti-Dalit mindset”.
“The mask has fallen! As Parliament reflects on 75 glorious years of the Constitution, HM @AmitShah chose to TARNISH this occasion with DEROGATORY remarks against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too in the temple of Democracy. This is a display of BJP’s CASTEIST and ANTI-DALIT mindset. If this is how they behave after being reduced to 240 seats, imagine the damage they would’ve inflicted if their dream of 400 seats had been realised. They’d have rewritten history to entirely erase Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions,” Banerjee posted on X on Wednesday.
Terming the remarks as derogatory, the CM claimed that it was an insult to the millions of people who look up to Ambedkar for guidance and inspiration. “…. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is the Father of the Constitution, this outrageous remark is not only an outright attack on him but all members of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution…,” she further wrote on X.
Meanwhile, during her address CM Banerjee alleged that the BJP-led central government “omitted December 25 from the list of national holidays”. “Central government canceled the December 25 holiday… In our state, it’ll continue. In our state, all festivals are celebrated by people of all creeds, castes and religions,” she said. — WITH PTI