Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B R Ambedkar, calling it an insult to the architect of the Constitution.
Shah’s remarks in Parliament are just an extension of long-standing RSS ideology, he said.
“First, let me congratulate you for finally speaking the truth by openly revealing the BJP’s real opinion about Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Your statement in Parliament didn’t surprise us; we already knew your party’s true mindset. But now, the entire country has seen your lack of respect for the architect of the Indian Constitution,” Siddaramaiah said in an open letter to Shah.
“Do not attempt to mislead the nation by saying - ‘I have immense respect for Babasaheb, and my words were twisted’. We are not gullible. Own up to your words and face the nation,” Siddaramaiah told Shah. “For us, Ambedkar is not a fashion but an eternal inspiration,” he added.
The chief minister said if it wasn’t for Ambedkar, he wouldn’t have become the CM. “I might have been herding cattle in my village,” he said. “Our senior leader Mallikarjuna Kharge wouldn’t have risen to lead the AICC; he might have been working at a factory in Kalaburagi,” he said.
“Not just me - without Ambedkar’s contributions, you too wouldn’t be the Home Minister today. Instead, you might have been running a scrap business in your hometown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, your colleague, might still be selling tea at a railway station. Babasaheb’s vision is what elevated us all. Even the Prime Minister might admit this, and so should you,” Siddaramaiah said.
He told Shah: “Let me respond in your tone. Your party and its ideological family have now developed a fashion to chant ‘Modi, Modi, Modi’. If only you had invoked God as many times as you chanted Modi’s name, you might have secured a place in heaven - not just for seven lifetimes, but for a hundred. Perhaps even your sins, committed solely for clinging to power, might have been forgiven.”
Social Welfare Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa also lashed out at Shah. “If we recall the situation of the untouchable communities in the history of India, there is no example of God protecting them when they were subjected to extreme humiliation and violence,” he said, adding that the Constitution has the “real power” to protect lives.