Samiti calls for ‘Kalaburagi bandh’ on December 24

Samvidhana Rakshana Horata Samiti, a consortium of various organisations, and community leaders’ progressive thinkers led by senior Dalit leader Vittal Doddamani have called for ‘Kalaburagi bandh’ on December 24, condemning Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr B.R. Ambedkar during a debate in the Rajya Sabha recently.

Samvidhana Rakshana Horata Samiti, a consortium of various organisations, and community leaders’ progressive thinkers led by senior Dalit leader Vittal Doddamani have called for ‘Kalaburagi bandh’ on December 24, condemning Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr B.R. Ambedkar during a debate in the Rajya Sabha recently.

The samiti members would take out a protest rally from Nagareshwar School in Nehru Gunj to the Deputy Commissioners’ office demanding Mr. Shah’s apology besides his expulsion from the Union Cabinet.

Criticising Mr. Shah’s remarks, Mr. Doddamani alleged that a person [Amit Shah] who was once expelled from Gujarat by the Supreme Court has made condemnable remarks on the Architect of Indian Constitution.

Mr. Doddamani said that “Baba Saheb is no less than God for us” and Mr Shah’s remarks once again proved that the BJP and the RSS were against the Constitution and Ambedkar, and cautioned that attempts were afoot to replace the Indian Constitution with Manusmriti.

Mr. Doddamani appealed to the public to participate in the bandh on December 24.

Congress leader Subhash Rathod described Mr. Shah’s remark as a direct attack on Indian democracy. He reiterated that Ambedkar had shown every Indian the path to live with dignity and emphasised the principle of equality before the law.

Samiti members Arjun Bhadre, Thippanna Wodeyar, S.S. Tawde, Wajah Baba, Mazhar Alam Khan appealed to business establishments, APMC yard, traders and educational institutions across the district to close operations for a day to express their solidarity for a peaceful protest.