“The Constitution is in danger because of rightist forces. It is everyone’s responsibility to save it,” Prakash Ambedkar, founder of Dalit Swabhimani Sangarsha Samiti, said in Belagavi on Tuesday. He was speaking at a regional-level rally of DSSS.
He alleged that RSS-backed BJP leaders were trying to destroy the spirit of the Constitution by amending it in a way that is contrary to its basic principles. “The Constitution drafted by a committee headed by B.R. Ambedkar guarantees right to life and liberty to all. It strives for equality and opposes discrimination based on caste, creed, gender, religion, region or language. But the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is trying to divide the country on these lines. It is also trying to snatch the social security net around the deprived classes by diluting or deleting provisions like reservation and equal representation. RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat and some BJP leaders have already openly spoken against reservation,” Prakash Ambedkar said. He urged members of deprived classes to remain united against such efforts.
“It is a wake-up call. Dalits should remember such injustice during the next election and work against the rise of the rightist forces,” he said.
He accused the BJP of trying to create a ‘counter-revolution’ that was opposed to the social, economic and political revolution promised by the Constitution.
He said DSSS would organise a rally in Bengaluru in the months to come. He called upon Dalit youth never to compromise on their self-respect.
District in-charge Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, MLC Vivek Rao Patil, DSSS State unit president Mohan Raj and others were present.
