Rioters usually 'upper class, upper caste Brahmins': Sujat Ambedkar

Aurangabad: Sujat Ambedkar, Bahujan Aghadi leader and son of politician and social activist Prakash Ambedkar, in a controversial statement said on Tuesday said that most of the rioters were 'higher caste Brahmins'. Ambedkar's comments came during an event organized at MGM College in Maharashtra's Aurangabad. He further urged MNS (Maharashtra Navanirman Sena) chief Raj Thackeray to 'take his own child' to the riot-hit streets before others.

"No matter how many riots we have seen so far, be it the Babri Masjid riots or the Bhima Koregaon riots, we have seen that the instigators are usually upper caste and upper-class Brahmins. Impressed by their statement, those who fall into the trap and participate in riots, in fact, are Bahujan children. All I want to say to Raj Thackeray is that if you want to start a riot, or chant Hanuman Chalisa, take your own child to the streets before the Bahujan children", Ambedkar said on the sidelines of the event.

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The Bahujan leader also said that BJP's undivided attention was on subjects such as reducing peoples' hunger, and fulfilling promises of providing education and dealing with unemployment. He contrasted this subsequently, saying the ruling party was currently silent on such issues. "If the BJP or Raj Thackeray is talking about Hindu-Muslim riots, in the same way, it simply means that it is an attempt to keep the people here in the grip of emotional issues", he noted. Ambedkar further said the collapse of the public health system during the COVID pandemic was not addressed as widely as current hot topics.

The former's words come in the backdrop of the recent threat to play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers in front of mosques by MNS chief Raj Thackeray. This was followed by Mumbai Police on Sunday detaining MNS leader Yashwant Killedar and a taxi driver after a speaker, mounted on a taxi, was parked outside Mumbai's Shiv Sena Bhawan and blasted Hanuman Chalisa on the occasion of Ram Navami.