HUBBALLI:
Dalit activists on Monday 'purified' the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar with milk near the head post office here as it "was desecrated by communal forces, anti-Dalits and those who want to change the Constitution" during the 127th birth anniversary of the father of the Indian constitution on Sunday.
The 'cleansing' drive has been taken up following a similar drive by right-wing activists in
Sirsi recently. The right-wing activists had cleaned the stage by sprinkling cow urine where actor Prakash Rai had addressed a gathering at a programme organised by progressive thinkers.
On Monday, Samata
Sena activists poured milk on the statue of Ambedkar and 'purified' it. Sena state president
Gurunath Ullikashi told TOI that Dalits, progressive thinkers, backward class people, the minorities and women offering respects to Ambadkar on his anniversary is common.
"However, what upset us was communal people, anti-Dalits and those who intend to change the Constitution garlanding the statue. They garlanded the statue not to show their respect to Ambedkar but for the sake of garnering Dalit votes," he said.
Ullikashi said that Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde has stated that his party has come to power to change the Constitution. "Recently, a Dalit was beaten up at
Shirur village in
Kundgol taluk during a car festival by upper caste people. The Dalit man had accidentally touched the car while praying to the idol of the goddess which was taken in the car. These communal people were silent when these incidents happened. Now, they are into gimmicks to get Dalit votes," he alleged.
He added that the intention of purifying the statue was not to insult anybody. "The intention is to call upon communal people to change their mindset towards Dalits," said the activist.
