Udupi, August 26: Dalit thinker Narayan Manur said that anti-Constitutional Manu followers and Sangh Parivar have been conspiring to divide the society.
Addressing a protest rally against the burning of the Constitution organised by the Federation of Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samitis, and other organisations at Ajjarakad War Memorial here on Sunday, he said that the swamijis who speak against the Constitution without even going to primary school would not have any morality and knowledge. The communal organisations have been sowing the seeds of hatred and fear among people of backward classes in the name of religion. The Muslims and Christians were basically Dravidians and Dalits of this land who were converted because of the exploitation of Brahminism and they were not outsiders, he said.
The communal organisations have been creating anti-dalit mentaling among backward classes in the name of reservation. But the Constitution has entitled just 18 per cent reservation to Dalits, while 32 per cent reservation was given to backward classes. They should understand this, he said.
It was because of the Constitution written by Dr BR Ambedkar, a common man who was selling tea has become the prime minister of India. Now, they have planned to get the power by burning the Constitution. So, it was the duty of every individual to fight against any anti-Constitutional activities in the country as the Constitution has ensure equal life to all citizens, he said.
Thinker G Rajashekar said that the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition, Mumbai riots, Gujarat riots, Kandhamal violence and others were not yet punished. There was no clarity on who is accused because of the decentralisation of labour in Sangh Parivar's crime. Here the people who force, the people who frame ideology and those who execute those ideologies were different. As a result, the leaders who organise and speak would not get punishment, he said.
Leaders Shamraj Birthi, Sundar Master, Sundar Gujjarbettu, Vasu Nejaru, Rev. Fr. William Martis, SS Prasad, Shekar Hejamadi, Prof Siril Mathews, Azeez Udyavara, Manjunath V, Ramesh Kotian, Annappa Mudradi, DS Bengre, Parameshwar Uppur, Prof Phaniraj and others were present.
Before this, a procession was taken out shouting the slogan ‘Respect Constitution, Save India’ from Udupi Board High School to Ajjarakadu ground.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Patna, Oct 31: Former Union minister RCP Singh, who had to quit his cabinet berth after falling out of favour with JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, on Thursday floated a new party "Aap Saabki Aawaz".
Talking to reporters here on the occasion, Singh said he chose the day for the launch as besides Dipawali, it was also the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
Incidentally, Patel is seen as a cultural icon by the powerful OBC community Kurmi, to which both Kumar and Singh belong, and the latter profusely thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for celebrating the birth anniversary on a grand scale.
Singh, the bureaucrat-turned-politician, who did not take any question, did not speak on his relations with the JD(U), which he had once headed but left in disgrace, and the BJP, which he joined a year ago, only to remain sidelined.
He, however, made it clear that his party was looking forward to contesting the Bihar assembly polls due next year and already had prospective candidates for "140 out of 243 seats".
Singh indirectly targeted Kumar by attacking the much-touted prohibition law in the state and highlighting the deterioration in government education institutions, "a far cry from our student days when we could crack the civil services, without reservation facility and with no coaching".
Hailing from the same Nalanda district as the Bihar chief minister, Singh was an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, and on central deputation, he first came in contact with Kumar, then the railway minister.
After assuming power in Bihar in 2005, Kumar, who was visibly impressed with the administrative acumen of Singh, persuaded the latter to come to Bihar as his principal secretary.
In 2010, Singh took voluntary retirement and joined JD(U) which helped him enjoy two consecutive terms in the Rajya Sabha.
However, in 2021, his induction into the Narendra Modi cabinet did not go down well with Kumar, who had by then grown suspicious that his protégé was planning a sabotage.
Singh was made to step down as national president of JD(U) within months of becoming the party president, and denial of another Rajya Sabha term a year later caused him to give up the ministerial berth.
By that time JD(U) rank and file was agog with rumours that Singh was plotting a split at the BJP's instance and served with a show cause notice over allegations of financial misappropriations that caused him to quit the party.
A year later, he joined the BJP which had by that time been dumped by Kumar who chose to realign a year later.
Later, Kumar's JD(U) emerged as a crucial ally of the BJP which is now short of a majority in Lok Sabha.