Salem.
On 14th April, 2014, Salem district Liberation Panthers (VCK) took out a procession from Mulluvadi to Cherry road and garlanded revolutionary leader Ambedkar’s statue present there.
At the same time, around 50 BJP cadres came to garland Ambedkar’s statue. Liberation Panthers raised strong objections to BJP cadres and staged a road roko. BJP cadres also staged a protest.
Liberation Panthers said BJP had announced the decision in their manifesto to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya, to stop Sethu canal project citing the existence of a mythological Ram’s bridge and above all promised to bring in a Uniform Civil Code, which is a direct challenge to Ambedkar’s vision & work.
Panthers argued that this agenda was an insult to Ambedkar who had all through his life fought against Hindutva & stood for secular values and therefore they objected to his statue being garlanded by the BJP supporters.
VCK state functionaries Emayavaramban, Angappan, Women’s wing organizer, Thillaikarasi, Salem District Secretary, Paavendhan, were among those arrested for leading the protest along with 60 Panther cadres.
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[Via Joshua Isaac]
