Mumbai, April 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday said that while the current government promotes a narrow notion of development limited to its aid, flyovers, and roads, there remains a vast section of India’s population that derives no tangible benefit from all this “superficial” progress.
He said that today, the absence of a colossal figure like Babasaheb Ambedkar with his sharp social and economic awareness and his holistic vision is felt time and again.
Paying tribute to the Bharat Ratna Dr B.R. Ambedkar on the occasion of his birth anniversary, Raj Thackeray remarked that merely erecting statues of great leaders like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, and countless others like them is not enough.
He expressed concern over dividing the great leaders by caste and creed, sowing discord in the name of religion and caste, and marking their birth and death anniversaries with blaring DJ music and mere procession. However, he suggested, “it’s only when the state and its politicians rise above such trivialities that we can truly pay tribute to these great souls. Otherwise, these magnificent figures are reduced to nothing more than garlands on their anniversaries, and their legacy, their ideals, will continue to be trampled underfoot by the petty power-hungry politicians of today!”
He further said, “But today, when the rupee is weakening due to global and domestic events, we remember Babasaheb — not just as a social reformer, but as one with an exceptionally keen understanding of economics, who authored a scholarly work like ‘The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution’. He vividly explained in this book how British policies led to the devaluation of the Indian rupee and how it deeply impacted the lives of ordinary Indians. The recommendations he outlined in it form the foundation of the establishment of the Reserve Bank of India.”
The MNS chief said the leaders of the freedom struggle didn’t just crave independence for the nation; they wanted that independence to benefit every person right down to the grassroots of society, and for economic development to follow suit. In short, he had a profound grasp not only of social perspectives but also of economics. Babasaheb was a pioneering leader of his generation in this regard.
“Today is the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. On this occasion, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena offers its humble salutations in his memory. As the architect of the Indian Constitution, Babasaheb’s contribution to this country is unparalleled, and the coming generations of this nation will forever remain indebted to him for it,” noted Raj Thackeray.
–IANS
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