Dr. BR Ambedkar. (File)

Owing to the national lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, the 129th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar on Tuesday is likely to witness muted celebrations in Gujarat.

Generally, people from marginalised sections of the society celebrate Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary with much pomp and gaiety. The celebrations include processions towards statues of Ambedkar in different localities, garlanding of the statues, cultural programmes by different social organizations and competitions organised by resident welfare associations, among others.

This year, a number of leading public figures from marginalised sections have appealed to people to not move out of their homes for the celebration of Ambedkar’s 129th birth anniversary. They have further asked people to celebrate the same at their homes by any means such as lighting candles, diyas or conducting the Budhha Vandana.

Congress MLA Naushad Solanki had posted a video on social media asking people to stay indoors. In his video message, Solanki asked people to stay away from public processions, like the kind that some people partook in after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to observe a Janata Curfew last month.

Solanki said that he received a lot of responses from across the state, with people telling him that they had cancelled their plans of public celebrations of Ambedhkar’s birth anniversary.