NEW DELHI: Nearly three years after the abrogation of Article 370, a BJP minister says Babasaheb Ambedkar never supported special status for Jammu & Kashmir.
Article 370 was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government on August 6, 2019, after a resolution was adopted by both Houses of Parliament.
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar claimed: “Babasaheb Ambedkar was totally opposed to Article 370 that accorded special status to J&K. He never wanted it.”
Kumar said non-BJP governments of the past did not take such a step despite knowing that Ambedkar was against it.
He added that what Ambedkar wanted came true only after Modi became the prime minister.
Kumar was speaking to the media on the occasion of Ambedkar’s birth anniversary under the BJP’s ‘Social Justice Fortnight’ programme at the party headquarters.
He also claimed that Ambedkar as chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee was not only opposed to Article 370, but was also in disagreement with the policies of the Jawaharlal Nehru government.
The minister accused the non-BJP governments of only using the name of Ambedkar for electoral gains instead of according him due “honour” and doing anything for the empowerment of the Scheduled Castes.
“But when BJP formed the government under the leadership of the late Atal Behari Vajpayee, the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, was posthumously conferred on Ambedkar in 1990,” Kumar said. He added that the Modi government has done a lot in the honour of Ambedkar.
“Parties which always used the SC, ST and OBC populations for electoral benefits, should see how the Modi government has developed many places as Ambedkar memorials and released coins on him. Working under the principles of Ambedkar, the present government has started developing 27,000 villages where the SC and ST people have a strong presence.”
Quoting figures, the minister further claimed that more than 50% of those who have benefited from the financial schemes of the present government belong to SC and ST categories.
“Meritorious SC and ST students are given scholarships to study overseas. This is what has to be done to make Ambedkar’s dreams come true.”