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London, Nov 15: Saffron rooted Narendra Modi drew flak from Dalit organizations active in the United Kingdom for exhibiting himself as an admirer Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar and inaugurating his memorial in the British capital. At least two UK-based Dalit groups – Caste Watch UK and Dr Ambedkar Memorial Committee (DAMC) have expressed their dissent in public.
The Ambedkarite outfits criticised the decision of Prime Minister David Cameron to allow his Indian counterpart Modi to score political gains by showcasing himself as a true follower of Ambedkar, despite hailing from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which believes in Brahmin domination. Caste Watch UK has accused the Conservative Tory Party of appealing to influential upper-caste Hindu lobby in England. (ALSO READ: Narendra Modi inaugurates B.R. Ambedkar memorial in London)
DAMC expressed disappointment over the inauguration of Ambedkar House in London by Modi since he belongs to the same Hindu supremacist organization which advocates the exclusion of lower castes, outcastes and minorities in India. In an official statement released by the group, it said that the Dalits all over the world regard the inauguration of the memorial by Modi with utter abhorrence.
“The BJP is the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an openly Hindu supremacist organisation,” it said. The group claimed that atrocities against the Dalits have increased ever since the regime changed in India in mid-2014.
Quoting data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), it pointed that crimes against Dalits rose to 47,064 in 2014 from 39,408 in 2013. In 2012 there were 33,655 crimes registered against the erstwhile untouchable community.
“It is the height of hypocrisy that Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, is inaugurating Ambedkar House. Modi is a long-term organiser of the Hindu Supremacist paramilitary organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which models itself on the Nazi party, stands for upper caste Hindu power, and is a bye-word for attacks on Dalits and other oppressed castes,” said Tasleem Kaur, president of DAMC.
Caste Watch UK claims that the inauguration of Ambedkar House was part a calculated move by Narendra Modi to improve the prospects of BJP in Dalit dominated states. “The Dalits and oppressed castes in Bihar have seen through his cynical attempts to divide and rule and have decisively rejected him. This is why he is now attempting to save face and salvage his image with Dalits. This is not likely to happen since all we have seen from his party is anti-Dalit violence and certainly no Dalit-friendly development policies,” said an official statement released by the group.
Interestingly, Modi was supported by minor Dalit association, Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO) whic barely has ground level presence in the UK. However, the two largest Ambedkarite groups active in the nation joined the spree of protest against him.
DAMC, established in 1969 has volunteers active throughout the Great Britain with mission of spreading socio-political teachings of Ambedkar. Caste Watch UK is considered to be the largest Dalit organization in UK with more than 2,00,000 members.
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