JOIN US Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday latched onto B R Ambedkar to counter intolerance debaters as he told the Lok Sabha that the architect of India’s Constitution never thought of leaving the country despite being deeply hurt by the insults hurled at him.
Though Rajnath did not name actor Aamir Khan, whose comments triggered the intolerance debate afresh, the message was quite unambiguous.
“We know how many problems he (Ambedkar) faced. He was a victim of discrimination, contempt, insults and sarcasm. He must have been hurt, yet (kept) his emotions in control and presented an objective point of view,” Rajnath said initiating the discussion on commitment to India’s Constitution as part of 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Ambedkar.
“He never said how he was being ignored and insulted in India, so I will go somewhere else. He said I will stay in India and strengthen the country,” the home minister said triggering uproar from the Opposition benches. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, K Suresh and Left leaders P Karunakaran and Mohd Salim were up on their feet countering Rajnath.
“Don’t misuse the occasion. This is completely unnecessary,” was their refrain. Opposition leaders such as Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Trinamool), Tathagat Sathpathy (BJD), Kharge, raised the ‘intolerance’ issue and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address concerns voiced by the society.
Kharge, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, rejected Rajnath’s contention that Ambedkar had thought of leaving the country. “He was an Indian citizen. It is you who are outsiders. You Aryans are outsiders. We are original residents. We are not the ones to run away. We are the ones who would protect the country,” Kharge said, leading to a brief round of sparring with the treasury benches.