BR Ambedkar was ready to convert to Islam: Karnataka congress leader stirs controversy

Mangalore Today News Network

Shiggaon, November 12, 2024: Karnataka Congress leader and former MLA Sayed Azeem Peer Khadri stirred a controversy on Tuesday after he claimed BR Ambedkar was all set to convert to Islam, and that if this had happened, state Home Minister G Parameshwara and many Dalits today would be Muslims.

Khadri’s remarks came while he was addressing a political rally in Karnataka’s Shiggaon.

“Babasaheb Ambedkar, in those days, was all set to accept and join Islam, but he then eventually became a Buddhist," the Congress leader claimed.

“(Karnataka Congress leader) Nagaraj Yadav Sir may know about this. Had Babasaheb Ambedkar joined Islam, then Ramappa (Timmapur) would have been Rahim, Dr G Parameshwara would have been ‘Peer Saheb’, Hanumantha Gowda would have been Hassan and Manjunath Timmapur would be ‘Mehboob’," he added, at a convention of Madiga community ahead of the by-election in Shiggaon on November 13.

Soon after Khadri’s remark went viral, an embarrassed Congress tried to distance itself from the statement.

MLC Nagraj Yadav, who was on stage when the comment was made, spoke to News18 and called it an “unwarranted comment".

“This is an unwarranted comment by Khadri, and I don’t second it at all. Dr Ambedkar is one of the greatest leaders India has ever seen. He wanted everyone to accept all religions. He was never into stuff like what Khadri said. Khadri should restrain such statements," he said.

Later, lashing out at the Congress leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that Khadri’s statement reflects his and his party’s ignorance.

“There were attempts by Hyderabad Nizam to get Ambedkar to join Islam and they attempted to bribe him by offering him crores of rupees. Ambedkar clearly said Islam doesn’t have equality and it has intolerance" said BJP leader CT Ravi.

Sayed Azeem Peer Khadri had rebelled against the party after being denied a ticket and filed his nomination as an Independent in the byelection to Shiggaon Assembly Constituency.

Earlier, on November 8, the Congress alleged that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “want to get rid" of BR Ambedkar’s Constitution and replace it with one based on the ideology of the Manusmriti.

The party also said that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “called the caste census an attempt to divide the nation".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that the BJP and its ideological mentor, RSS have many grouses with the Constitution, and reservations for Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are among the primary ones.

Ramesh’s attack came after Modi accused the Congress of playing a dangerous game of dividing castes and communities.

If the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes stay united, the Congress’s politics will be over, the Prime Minister said in Dhule, addressing his first rally in Maharashtra for the November 20 assembly polls in the state.