'Growing up in Karnataka, in middle-class and forward-caste background, Ambedkar did not enter our consciousness at all, I realised.' 'The 'exclusion' of sections of our society was not only physical; it was comprehensive in the sense that all aspects of their lives including the life of an exceptional intellectual and stalwart had been under-understood by people of my class, I thought,' says B S Prakash.
Paying tributes to Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of Constitution, the prime minister said he would be happy to see that India has strengthened and empowered its democracy in the last 70 years.
He asked BJP MPs/MLAs to take up various programmes, including spending 72 hours to reach out to people, when his government completes three years on May 26.
The Hindi booklet, distributed at a camp of Congress-affiliated Seva Dal in Madhya Pradesh, had also claimed that Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse were in a physical relationship. The book alleged that Savarkar received money from the British after he was released from Andaman's Cellular Jail.
The political fight for the Dalits' cause escalated on Thursday with Congress president Rahul Gandhi accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having an "anti-Dalit" mindset and the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah alleging the opposition party had a legacy of insulting the community.
The parties seem to have forgotten their two decade-old antagonism for a 'political revolution' which they hope would 'last long'.
The BSP chief who raised the issue of anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh walked out of the Upper House, prompting protests and an adjournment.
'I bow to the 125 crore citizens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me.'
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.