Reacting to the ongoing controversy over Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech regarding Ambedkar in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of playing “dirty tricks”. In a statement issued on December 18, PM Modi said, “The people of India have seen time and again how one party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Ambedkar and humiliate Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.”
The controversy began after the Congress held protests in Parliament against statements made by Amit Shah in the lower House on December 17.
The Congress released a clip of Shah’s speech in which he can be heard saying, “There is a fashion now to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. Had [Congress] taken god’s name as many times, you would have gone to heaven by now.”
Following the protests in Parliament and massive backlash across the country, the BJP had said that Shah’s speech was taken out of context. In the full speech, the Home Minister can be heard claiming that though the Congress frequently speaks about Ambedkar in the present day, it was their fault that Ambedkar quit the Cabinet in 1951.
In his statement, the PM added, “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken.”
Modi also accused the Congress of “sins” against Ambedkar including two electoral defeats; former PM Jawaharlal Nehru “campaign against him owing to a prestige issue”; denying him Bharat Ratna; and denying a place for his portrait in the Parliament’s Central Hall. “The Congress can try as they want but they can’t deny that the worst massacres against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities have happened under their regimes,” he accused.
The PM also defended Amit Shah, saying that he had “exposed the Congress’ dark history of insulting Ambedkar and ignoring Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes communities. They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics. Sadly, for them, people know the truth.”
Adding that it was the BJP government that acquired the house in London where Ambedkar had lived, the PM said, “When it comes to Dr Ambedkar, our respect and reverence is absolute.”