Bahujan Mahasangh leader condemns RSS chief's statement at World Hindu Congress

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar Saturday condemned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement at the World Hindu Congress in Chicago, US.

Speaking at the second WHC on Friday, Bhagwat had said that Hindus had no aspiration of dominance and the community would prosper only when it works as a society.

"If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that," the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)chief said.

"We want to make the world better. We have no aspiration of dominance. Our influence is not a result of conquest or colonization," he added.

The WHC marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago.

Condemning Bhagwat's statement, Ambedkar, while addressing a press conference here Saturday, claimed that the "dog" reference was for the "Opposition parties" in the country.

"I condemn this 'mansikta' (mentality) of Mohan Bhagwat that he has referred to Opposition parties in the country as dogs," Ambedkar said.

He said parties have come and gone out of power but this mentality indicated that the ruling dispensation thinks that the Opposition cannot fight them.

He claimed that it was this mentality that led to the imprisonment of RSS functionaries in 1949 by then deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel.

The RSS members were released subsequently but the organization has, ever since, been misusing its freedom, alleged Ambedkar.

"I believe people should rethink before bringing them to power again," he said.

Ambedkar also took a swipe at the "Ajey BJP" (invincible BJP) slogan coined by the party at its meeting of national office-bearers and state unit presidents held in New Delhi.

"They (BJP) were nearly defeated in Gujarat and lost in Karnataka. Now, it is just a matter of two months before results of polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Mizoram come out," Ambedkar said.

He said, having toured some of these places, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could be wiped out if the Congress allied with other parties to fight Assembly polls slated for later this year.

"And I see this alliance (between Congress and other parties) happening," he claimed.

Speaking on the recent arrests by Maharashtra Police of some activists with alleged links to proscribed Maoist outfits, Ambedkar said he didn't think the people, termed "urban naxals" by the government, had any links to actual Maoists.

He alleged that the government had started emphasizing "urban naxals" to weaken the protests taking place in the unorganized and organized sector against its labor policies.