Attempts to vandalise Ambedkar's statue can't diminish his historic contribution: Salman Khurshid

Indore, Jan 27 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Monday expressed sorrow over the attempt to vandalise the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in Amritsar and said such attempts cannot diminish the historic contribution of the architect of the Constitution.

Police have arrested a man who allegedly attempted to damage a statue of BR Ambedkar in Amritsar, Punjab. A purported video of the incident went viral on social media, in which the man could be seen climbing up the statue using a steel ladder carrying a hammer.

Talking to reporters, Khurshid said, "I am surprised that such a thing is happening in the country. We are saddened by this incident. But Ambedkar's historical contribution cannot be diminished by an attempt to vandalise a statue." Khurshid was in Indore to attend the Congress's "Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan" rally in Mhow.

He said it is a matter of "special concern" for the Congress that if Ambedkar was not given importance, how would the Constitution he wrote be understood? On the Uttarakhand government's decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the former Union minister and noted lawyer said, "We have not been able to understand what they (Uttarakhand government) were thinking when they took this step. If there is any need to discuss it after the UCC is implemented, we will discuss it. If there is a need to challenge it in the court, then this step will also be taken." He further stated that he has a house in Uttarakhand and questioned whether the UCC would apply to him.

The UCC will be implemented in Uttarakhand on January 27, making it the first state to implement such a law.

On the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, Khurshid said the Congress wants the INDIA bloc of opposition parties to remain intact because "it is necessary for the country's future". PTI HWP MAS ARU