New Delhi: Karnataka Congress leader and former MLA Sayed Azeem Peer Khadri stirred controversy on Tuesday after he claimed BR Ambedkar was all set to convert to Islam, and that if this had happened, state Home Minister G Parameshwara and many Dalits today would be Muslims, News18 reported.
Khadri was addressing a political rally in Karnataka’s Shiggaon.
“Babasaheb Ambedkar, in those days, was all set to accept and join Islam, but he then eventually became a Buddhist,” the Congress leader claimed.
“(Karnataka Congress leader) Nagaraj Yadav Sir may know about this. Had Babasaheb Ambedkar joined Islam, then Ramappa (Timmapur) would have been Rahim, Dr G Parameshwara would have been ‘Peer Saheb’, Hanumantha Gowda would have been Hassan and Manjunath Timmapur would be ‘Mehboob’,” he added, at a convention of Madiga community ahead of the by-election in Shiggaon on November 13.
Soon after Khadri’s remark went viral, an embarrassed Congress tried to distance itself from the statement. MLC Nagraj Yadav, who was on stage when the comment was made, spoke to News18 and called it an “unwarranted comment”. “This is an unwarranted comment by Khadri, and I don’t second it at all. Dr Ambedkar is one of the greatest leaders India has ever seen. He wanted everyone to accept all religions. He was never into stuff like what Khadri said. Khadri should restrain such statements,” he said.
Later, lashing out at the Congress leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that Khadri’s statement reflects his and his party’s ignorance. “There were attempts by Hyderabad Nizam to get Ambedkar to join Islam and they attempted to bribe him by offering him crores of rupees. Ambedkar clearly said Islam doesn’t have equality and it has intolerance” said BJP leader CT Ravi.
Sayed Azeem Peer Khadri had rebelled against the party after being denied a ticket and filed his nomination as an Independent in the byelection to Shiggaon Assembly Constituency.
