CPI-M Plans Protest in Mumbai Against HM Shah's Comments on B.R. Ambedkar
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Mumbai, Dec 20 (NationPress) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Mumbai unit has declared a protest march scheduled for Saturday, involving various like-minded organizations, intellectuals, and social activists. This demonstration aims to denounce Union Home Minister Amit Shah's comments concerning B.R. Ambedkar and other pertinent issues, as stated by party leaders on Friday.
The procession will commence from Rajgriha, the memorial and museum dedicated to B.R. Ambedkar located in Dadar East, and will proceed to Chaityabhoomi in Dadar West, the site where the chief architect of the Indian Constitution was cremated on December 6, 1956.
Key CPI-M figures such as Prakash Reddy, Shyam Gaikwad, Shailendra Kamble, Raju Korde, Ajit Patil, Subodh More, and others have urged the public to join the march in large numbers to defend the Constitution and Democracy.
They remarked that HM Shah's statements in Parliament earlier this week are “an insult to Dr. Ambedkar,” and this controversy has sparked a nationwide uproar, with the Opposition INDIA bloc and other parties calling for his resignation or removal from the cabinet.
The CPI-M also denounced the violence in Parbhani, triggered by the death of activist Somnath Suryawanshi, who was protesting against the desecration of a statue of B.R. Ambedkar on December 10, leading to widespread protests, a shutdown, and violence the following day. Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders have labeled this a potential attempt to incite a repeat of the ‘Koregaon-Bhima’ incident from January 1, 2018.
The CPI-M declared that HM Shah's remarks have disturbed all individuals, egalitarians, and progressive organizations committed to preserving the Constitution and democracy.
“By insulting Dr. Ambedkar, Shah is covertly endorsing unscientific and irrelevant ideologies that contradict the values enshrined in the Constitution. His actions contradict the very Constitution to which he took an oath as a Union Minister,” stated the organizers.
In a strong rebuke of Shah's insults towards Dr. Ambedkar, leftist and progressive groups have demanded that HM Shah apologize to the nation in the Rajya Sabha, or resign from his position as Home Minister.
Participants in the march will include representatives from the CPI-M, Progressive Republican Alliance, Communist Party of India, Peasants & Workers Party, Dalit Panther Golden Jubilee Coordination Committee, Red Flag (Leninist), All India Forward Bloc, Constitution Conservation Committee, Friends of the People, Ambedkarite Women's Organisation, National Secular Movement, Superstition Eradication Committee, and various other groups including progressives, egalitarians, youths, students, women, and Ambedkarite writers and artists.
They will carry small replicas of B.R. Ambedkar, along with posters, banners, and placards presenting slogans advocating for Democracy and the Constitution, as well as addressing current issues that have made headlines recently.
Previously, Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Ambedkar and President of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), had vehemently criticized HM Shah's comments—which Shah claimed were taken out of context—and organized protests calling for decisive action regarding this matter.
