by: Nav Jeevan

Gujarat CM Bhupendrabhai, leaders pay tributes to Dr Ambedkar on his 132nd birth anniversary

  • Cong MLA Mevani leads rally
  • RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat bats for unity among castes and sects
  • Over 50,000 Dalits embrace Buddhism at a mega event in Gandhinagar

NE NEWS SERVICE

GANDHINAGAR, AHMEDABAD, APR 14

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and leaders of different political parties in Gujarat paid tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of India’s Constitution, while RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat batted for unity among castes and sects on his 132nd birth anniversary on Friday.

In a tweet, CM Patel said Ambedkar prepared a strong foundation for social harmony and India’s prosperity by framing the Constitution.

The chief minister along with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dalit leaders, including minister Bhanuben Babariya and senior MLA Ramanlal Vora, paid floral tributes to Ambedkar’s painting at the Assembly complex in Gandhinagar. Patel also garlanded Ambedkar’s statue in the state capital.

Gujarat BJP president and Member of Parliament C R Paatil garlanded Ambedkar’s statue in Surat.

In his statement, Paatil said, “Ambedkar’s contribution in building the nation was unmatched. I pay my tributes to the architect of our Constitution. His values and teachings still provide us guidance and motivation.”

Dalit leader and Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani, who also heads Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, led a rally from Girdharnagar till Sarangpur area of Ahmedabad as a tribute to Ambedkar.

Gujarat Congress leader Jagdish Thakor also paid his tributes, saying ‘Bharat Ratna’ Dr Ambedkar’s contribution in building a harmonious society and ensuring uplift of the downtrodden still serve as a guiding light for the people.

RSS Chief bats for unity among castes and sects

Addressing RSS workers here in the programme “Samaj Sakti Sangam” (confluence of social power), Bhagwat remembered Dr B R Ambedkar on his 132nd birth anniversary.

Giving the message of unity among different castes and sects, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Friday that “earlier we were one, but we created divisions in the form of castes which were widened by foreigners and for this country, we will once again have to become one”.

Addressing RSS workers here in the programme “Samaj Sakti Sangam” (confluence of social power), Bhagwat remembered Dr B R Ambedkar on his 132nd birth anniversary and said Babasaheb had said that an equanimous society will only lead to the development of the country.

“Ambedkar had said that we were defeated by foreign invaders as we were divided,” Bhagwat said.

“Earlier we were one, but we created divisions of castes and such things like sects and the foreigners widened it. Now for the development of the country, we need to be one again,” he said.

Over 50,000 Dalits embrace Buddhism in Gandhinagar

Nearly 50,000 people belonging to the Dalit and tribal community on Friday renounced Hinduism and embraced Buddhism on the occasion of the 132nd birth anniversary of social reformer BR Ambedkar at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Baudh bhikshu Pragya Ratna of the Great Ashoka Buddh Vihar in Porbandar administered the ‘Deeksha’ to the hundreds of thousands of attendees.

The Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD), a Rajkot-based Dalit organization organised the event.

The event was preceded by a mega rally that saw participation from thousands of people, mostly Dalits, and tribals.

Notably, Ambedkar, along with his thousands of followers, embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur.

Those who embraced Buddhism at the Gandhinagar gathering took 22 vows which the chief architect of the Constitution took while embracing Buddhism more than 66 years ago.

These 22 pledges essentially ask the person embracing Buddhism to shun religious beliefs related to Hinduism.

“While lakhs of people attended the rally, hundreds embraced Buddhism at our gathering. While some of them have already submitted applications to respective district collector office to legalise their conversion, the others will do the same soon,” said Ashvin Parmar, a media convener of SSD, a Dalit organisation that has no specific leadership or hierarchy.

On the occasion, several speakers claimed Dalits and tribals are forced to leave Hinduism because of caste-based discrimination.