Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram showed us path to social justice: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday thanked a galaxy of leaders, including B R Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, Ram Manohar Lohia and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav for showing the path to social justice.

He said leaders such as B R Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Mulayam Singh Yadav, his father, showed the path that the SP will follow to do justice to the oppressed and backward.

Thursday marked the 19th death anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder and Dalit icon Kanshi Ram.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav said, "We are committed to strengthening the fight for social justice and empowering the oppressed, Dalits, and minorities. The Samajwadi Party has taken a pledge to establish a government of PDA in Uttar Pradesh." Yadav recalled that it was with the SP's cooperation that Kanshi Ram secured his first stint in the Parliament.

"It was with the support of Samajwadi Party, Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), and our colleagues that Kanshi Ram became a Member of Parliament from Etawah. At that time, when communal politics was at its peak, it was the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party that stood together to fight it," he said.

Yadav said that besides Mayawati, the BSP supremo, he is the only one to have installed Kanshi Ram's statue.

"During our government, when BSP leaders questioned the maintenance of the memorial, I directed the Lucknow Development Authority to ensure its upkeep," Yadav said.

Under the current dispensation of the BJP, that memorial has gone to rot, he alleged. "The colour of the stones has turned black." Yadav also alleged misuse of state property, and said, "It may even happen that the BJP, which is running a 'send-off' sale, might try to sell the valuable land of these memorials in Lucknow."

The former UP chief minister alleged that the BJP government in the state wants to turn people into "labourers" and said that the PDA included women as well, whom he called "aadhi aabaadi."

He accused the ruling party of manipulating police postings and discriminating against backward and Dalit officers and denounced the recent lynching of a Dalit man in Raebareli.

"Injustice against the backward community is increasing. The incident in Raebareli is not isolated. Such incidents are rising and there is clear discrimination in police stations and postings," he said.

Yadav cited NCRB data to claim that Uttar Pradesh topped the list in crimes against Dalits and women. "This is not our data but the NCRB's. The BJP has set a world record in filing false cases and telling lies." He urged journalists to question the government over law and order.

"Just look at how good the state's law and order is," he said sarcastically, responding to a question about recent murders.