Protest held in Jammu against displacement of statues of Ambedkar and Gandhi from Parliament premises

06/07/2024



Jammu, July 06 (KIP)-Today, a massive demonstration was held at Ambedkar Chowk, Jammu under the joint aegis of Dalit, OBC and Minorities Confederation(DOM)and other organizations to displace the statues of Ambedkar and Gandhi from the Parliament premises.

Addressing the demonstration, State President of DOM-Confederation RK Kalsotra described the government's move to relocate the statues of Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi from the main place in the Parliament premises as 'arbitrary and unilateral'. In the last few years, many MPs have protested near the statues of Gandhi and Ambedkar. In the past years, many dharnas were also organized near the Gandhi statue. Opposition leaders also gathered near Ambedkar's statue to celebrate Constitution Day. The government does not want protests to be held at traditional sites of democratic protest right next to the Parliament session. Removing these statues arbitrarily without any consultation is a violation of the basic spirit of our democracy.

He further said that on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's birthday and Smriti Divas, thousands and lakhs of people pay homage to his statue in the Parliament premises. The government was urged to install both the statues at their old place.

He further spoke about Jammu and Kashmir and said that caste atrocities are increasing day by day and feudal people take the law in their own hands and decide and punish on their own, like in Kathua, when an animal died while a Dalit driver was driving, the Dalit driver was beaten to a pulp, the news of beating of a Dalit child in the RSS camp in Manwal Udhampur kept going viral on social media but no action was taken by the government even though the SC ST Atrocity Act is in force. These cases is to booked under SC/ST Attrocity Act.

The government is also evicting the poor from their allotted and old lands like agricultural land, temples, gurudwaras, churches and mosques. Mirha Sahib, Dalit families have been sitting on dharna for more than 137 days now. The government has fenced their lands. The situation is similar in Kathua Keerian Gandyal, Chak Jangi, Ghagwal too. Recently, an attempt was made to demolish Kathua Nagari Mosque, which was opposed by the people. The government has failed to stop the increase in caste atrocities and no FIR is registered in caste atrocities. Every day, attacks are being made on Christian priests, which have been seen more in Kathua and Samba.

A protest was held today regarding all these things and the government was asked to stop all these things.

The demonstration was addressed by prominent leaders of various organisations such as Bansi Choudhary, OBC Mahasabha, Sardar Narinder Singh Khalsa, Sikh Intellectuals, Mir Shahid Saleem, United Peace Alliance, Ashu Peter Mattoo, J&K Christian Sabha, Syed Choudhary, Dodi Gujjar Association, Shashi Syal leader Mazdoor Dastkar Union , Tarsem Khullar & S Jatinder Singh Lucky Sr NC leaders, Ramesh Sarmal, Dr Ramesh Kaith, Darshan Banmotra and dozens of other prominent leaders and people from the Bahujan Samaj participated.