Hundreds of people raised slogans denouncing Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Freedom park in Bengaluru on Thursday, January 23, and demanded that he “kneel down and apologise” for insulting Dr BR Ambedkar, who drafted India’s Constitution.
The public meeting, condemning Shah’s remarks on Ambedkar in Parliament last December, was organised by the Dalit Sangharsha Samitigala Okkoota, a federation of Dalit groups in the state.
During the winter session in the Rajya Sabha last December, Shah had said, “It has become a fashion now [to chant Ambedkar’s name]. If you had taken god’s name that many times, you would have gone to heaven for the next seven births.”
These remarks sparked widespread outrage across the country. In Karnataka, progressive and Dalit groups organised protests, bandhs, and burned effigies of Shah, demanding that he apologise. Towns such as Bidar and Mandya saw near-complete shutdowns for the first time over an insult to Ambedkar, which is often perceived as a ‘Dalit issue’.
Shankar said that the Constitution was under threat by those who wished for a rule of Manusmriti. “For thousands of years, Manusmriti was used to trample us, but the Constitution broke the legs that were trampling on us. Today, if we can breathe, it is because of the Constitution,” he said.
Referring to the Pejavar seer’s remarks that there should be a Constitution that respects Brahmins, Shankar said, “Which is the Constitution that respects the Pejavar seer? The Manusmriti? We need to beware.”
Shankar also warned political parties not to consider Dalits as merely their votebanks. “We don’t exist to vote for you. We are not beggars. We want a share in political power.”
Quoting from Kuvempu and Basavanna’s writings, Shankar said that Dalits must first get themselves in order. “In the future, there will be a Buddhist revolution. Ambedkar dreamed that his people would adopt Buddhism. We should achieve this dream.”
Indira Krishnappa, wife of B Krishnappa, one of the founders of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, said that the Constitution was not merely the law but a guide that would “make freedom, equality, and fraternity a way of life”.
The convention passed six resolutions. First, they condemned Shah’s statement. Second, they demanded that Shah kneel before a statue of Ambedkar and apologise for his remarks. Third, the state government must discuss the Kantharaj report, popularly called the Caste Census, in the Cabinet and take action based on the report. Fourth, the state government must invite the Okkoota for discussion every year before the state budget is prepared. Five, the BJP and other communal forces must stop targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister Priyank Kharge. Lastly, the convention affirmed its commitment to social justice.