Rahul Gandhi slams Narendra Modi government over IIT-Madras row

MHOW: Reaching out to the depressed sections from Dalit icon Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar's birth place, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today opened another front against the Narendra Modi Government accusing it of trying to "silence" a student group of IIT-Madras for being critical of the Prime Minister.

Flagging off the 125th anniversary celebrations of Ambedkar by his party, a combative Rahul called upon on the people to come forward to pull down the walls that prevented from fulfilling the mission of Babasaheb, who stood and fought for the rights of the depressed classes and a society free of caste discrimination.

On the controversy over derecognition of the Ambedkar- Periyar Study Circle in IIT Madras, he said, "the voice of some people is simply being muzzled" as they are associated with the ideologies of reformers like Ambedkar and Periyar. The student group has been critical of the Prime Minister and Centre's policies.

"This system explicitly explains that even today some peoples' rights are being snatched and that there is no social equality in the country," he added.

Stating that the country is not still free of casteism, Rahul appealed to the youth to not remain quiet against the social menace, which denied the rights of some sections.

"In the name of caste and religion even now the people are differentiated as some people don't want to give equal rights to them," he said while addressing a rally here.

Seeking to strike a rapport with dalits, Rahul began his address by saluting the gathering with "Jai Bhim."

Referring to another incident, he said a person was killed merely because his cellphone carried as its ringtone a message of Babasaheb.

"This shows that social inequality still exists in the country."

He said Ambedkar was a great man, whose dream of a casteless society still remains unfulfilled. He along with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel laid the foundation of the country.