Ghaziabad: BJP protests against Azam Khan’s remarks ‘against Ambedkar’

Members of the BJP district and city units on Wednesday staged protests and attempted to burn the effigy of UP cabinet minister Azam Khan. This was in response to Khan making controversial remarks purportedly directed at Dr BR Ambedkar.

Members of the BJP district and city units on Wednesday staged protests and attempted to burn the effigy of UP cabinet minister Azam Khan. This was in response to Khan making controversial remarks purportedly directed at Dr BR Ambedkar.

Members of the BJP protest against Azam Khan at the district headquarters in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Khan made the comments during a public event in Ghaziabad on September 5 during the inauguration for the recently-constructed Haj House. He had come there with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, and had not named Dr Ambedkar anywhere in his speech.

“All of Uttar Pradesh has statues of a gentleman... with his finger pointing high in a direction... saying this land where the statue is standing is mine, the plot in front is also mine...” Khan had said.

BJP members, irked by this, claimed that Khan’s remarks were directed at Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, whose statues are often posed as mentioned by Khan.

Launching protests, they tried to burn Khan’s effigies. Similar protests were held in other parts of the state, including Loni. The police said that it had managed to prevent any effigy burning.

SP (city), Salmantaj Patil, said, “Protestors were pacified and they handed over the effigy to police. They left peacefully and no effigy was burnt.”

However, Ajay Sharma, city president, BJP, said, “We staged protests for over an hour and every time the administration and police snatched away the effigy. However, we dodged them and were successful in burning it. Dr Ambedkar was the architect of the Indian Constitution and fought against social discrimination. Our party will fight till Khan tenders an apology.”

Although Khan in his speech tried to woo Muslim voters to the Samajwadi Party, he may have irked the Dalit community with his indirect remarks. His remarks also did not go down well with the BSP, a party which claims a major Dalit vote-bank backing.