BJP Takes Action Over Congress Editing of Shah’s Remarks

by The_unmuteenglish

New Delhi, 19 December 2024; Amid an ongoing dispute over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on BR Ambedkar, the BJP is considering legal action against Congress for allegedly editing Shah’s speech selectively. This comes as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, filed a privilege notice against Shah for his remarks, which Kharge claimed insulted Ambedkar and amounted to a breach of privilege.

Kharge’s notice was addressed to Rajya Sabha Secretary-General PC Mody, highlighting Shah’s speech from December 17 in which the Home Minister made controversial statements about Ambedkar. Shah, during his address, had said it had become a “fashion” for opposition leaders to invoke Ambedkar’s name, adding that such frequent mentions made them sound insincere, even sarcastic.

As the issue escalated inside Parliament, Congress took to the social media front with Supriya Shrinate, Chairperson of the party’s Social Media and Digital Platform Cell. Shrinate revealed that several party leaders, MPs, and the official Congress X (formerly Twitter) handle had received emails claiming the Government of India had instructed the platform to remove Shah’s edited speech, accusing Congress of sharing distorted versions of his comments.

Shrinate further shared that ‘X’ had resisted deleting the content, citing freedom of speech concerns. “If there’s nothing wrong with Shah’s statement, why then is his ministry pushing for the deletion of his speech clips?” Shrinate questioned.

Alongside these allegations, Shrinate also showcased a 34-page unedited transcript of Shah’s full speech available on the Rajya Sabha website. The transcript indicated that Shah accused Congress leaders of using Ambedkar’s name solely for electoral gain, and questioned why the Congress, which he claimed had insulted Ambedkar, was now publicly invoking his legacy.

Shah’s full remarks in the Rajya Sabha read: “It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar… had they taken God’s name that many times, they would have attained heaven… We are happy Congress is now speaking of Ambedkar, but they should also recognize how poorly Ambedkar was treated by their own government,” Shah said, adding that Ambedkar was forced to resign from the first cabinet due to differences with Congress on policies concerning Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Article 370.

Furthermore, Shah criticized Congress for denying Ambedkar a Bharat Ratna during its time in power, unlike Nehru and Indira Gandhi who awarded themselves the nation’s highest civilian honor. “Ambedkar was honored with the Bharat Ratna only under a non-Congress government, backed by the BJP,” Shah stated.

Additionally, Shah quoted an old letter from Jawaharlal Nehru rejecting the idea of a memorial for Ambedkar, in response to a request from the mayor of Bombay.

Nehru had argued in the letter that government projects should not involve building memorials, which were typically a matter of private initiative. In contrast, Shah pointed out that the memorial for Ambedkar, which Congress had blocked, was finally erected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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