Akhilesh hits out at ruling party for trying to ‘spread disharmony’
Akhilesh Yadav accused the NDA government of marginalizing Muslims, calling for a caste census to ensure rights for oppressed communities during a Lok Sabha debate.
Efforts are on to reduce minorities, especially Muslims, to second-grade citizens, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Friday and called for a caste census during the landmark debate on 75 years of the Constitution in the Lok Sabha.
Yadav also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is fostering inequality and failing to uphold the constitutional rights of marginalised communities.
“This Constitution is our armour, our security. It provides us strength whenever needed. The Constitution is the true guardian of the rights of the oppressed, neglected, suppressed, and deprived. For people like us and the weak in the country, especially for PDA (Pichde or backward, Dalit and Alpsankhyak or minorities), saving the Constitution is a matter of life and death,” he said, largely echoing what Congress lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in her first speech in the Lower House.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister accused the government of neglecting minorities, and said their rights and properties were being systematically eroded. “More than 20 crore people, especially Muslims, are being reduced to second-grade citizens. Atrocities against them are increasing daily. Their properties are being looted, homes demolished, and places of worship seized with administrative help,” Yadav alleged.
The SP chief reiterated his call for a caste census, stating that it was vital for bridging social gaps and achieving justice. “Whenever we get the opportunity, we will conduct a caste census. It will not deepen caste divisions but reduce them, ensuring rights and equality for those who have been deprived for long. Reservation was the most significant tool for social justice, but it has been diluted with outsourcing and contract-based jobs,” Yadav added.
He also criticised the government for its handling of border issues with neighbouring countries, alleging that India’s territorial integrity was under threat.”Protecting the nation’s borders is the primary duty of any government. Yet, we see intrusions...In Ladakh, our troops have withdrawn from our (own) territory, and it won’t be long before we are denied access to sacred sites like Kailash Mansarovar,” Yadav said.
TMC member Kalyan Banerjee said every provision of the Constitution must be broadly interpreted and extended to every poor person of India. “Our Constitution worked well and our country is a glorious country in this world because all the machinery of the state worked well, except some arenas.”
Attacking the BJP over the Sambhal violence, Banerjee said, “Why is the PM silent over Manipur and Sambhal? When you became the PM of India, it is our duty to save them. You can not confine yourself to your political party’s agenda.”
Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga’s TR Baalu said that the government was allergic to socialism and secularism.
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