TMC takes out protest rallies throughout Bengal over Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks

Kolkata  (The Uttam Hindu): As announced by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week, Trinamool Congress organised protest rallies throughout the state at block and ward levels, condemning the recent comments of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah about B.R. Ambedkar. The event was organised on Monday and witnessed the participation of the ruling party activists in huge numbers. The main protest demonstration was organised at Kolkata and it was led by the party's state president in West Bengal Subrata Bakshi.

He led a procession to Esplanade in Kolkata and before starting the protest rally he garlanded the statue of Ambedkar there. He said that the protest demonstrations are being carried out throughout the state following the instructions of the party chief Mamata Banerjee. "We condemn the comments by the Union Home Minister about the father of the Indian Constitution. We condemn BJP," he added. Trinamool Congress's state vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar said Ambedkar hailed from the backward community and led the committee for drafting the Indian Constitution. "Because of him, the Indian Constitution called for inclusivity for all. At that point in time, the Hindu fundamentalist forces too opposed him. That hatred was reflected in the recent comments by the Union Home Minister," Majumdar added. Since the Union Home Minister's comments surfaced, Mamata Banerjee has launched scathing attacks against the BJP over them more than once. First, the West Bengal CM issued a statement last week, claiming that the comments about Ambedkar were reflections of the BJP's culture of hate and intolerance.

Noting that Ambedkar envisioned a nation built on values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity, where all classes, castes, creeds, and communities could live in harmony, Banerjee, in a statement, said: "This is not just an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar but an attack on the entire Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution, an assault on the legacy of our freedom fighters, and a betrayal of our Dalit and Adivasi brethren."