Madras : The city witnessed an unusual gathering of dalits at the functions to celebrate the Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. A colourful procession was taken from Valluvar Kottam to Ambedkar statue at Nehru Stadium via Mount (Hindu) Road.
Decorated vehicles and hundreds of trucks carried the portraits of Ambedkar. Militant & disciplined dalits guarded them-selves against any police interference. Even the Hindu (Madras) reported that it took 3 hours to pass a particular point. The dalits raised slogans against “Hindu Imperialism” and demanded a ban on RSS and allied agencies. On April 18, the TN govt. celebrated the jayanti in an A/c theatre. Dalits demonstrated against the pro Hindu, RSS attitude of the in govt. and the participants including the ministers were shouted down and 2 of the dalit ministers chose to leave the dais. Dr. Sathiyavanimuthu, MP, Ex-Minister, cautioned against the “Brahmin hegemony” and warned the Sankaracharyas and the RSS reminding them that India is still a ‘secular’ country. The dalits and minorities are determined to avert any conspiracy of the Jews of India, she said. Dalits, however, felt that the whole function was a farce. They suspected that Ambedkar was now being used to fool the dalits. The Ruling Class sudden interest in Ambedkar was an attempt to convert Ambedkar into another Gandhi.
