If the Union government privatised everything, people from the oppressed sections of society would lose the rights that various political leaders had secured for them, Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said in Chennai on Monday.
Speaking at a function following the unveiling of a statue of former Prime Minister V.P. Singh by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Mr. Yadav said: “There is now the issue of the caste census. The Union government’s efforts towards privatisation will nullify the struggles we have undergone for equality.”
Mr. Yadav, who spoke in Hindi, said: “The people for whom we have managed to secure rights will lose them, if the government privatises everything. We will lose all that we gained after all these struggles. Our fight has not ended. We will have to walk the path shown by leaders such as Ambedkar, Mandal and Ram Manohar Lohia.”
Referring to protests in the early 1990s opposing the implementation of the B.P. Mandal Commission’s recommendations for 27% reservation for the backward classes, Mr. Yadav recalled an incident in which a young man immolated himself in Delhi, declaring that he felt there was no future for him.
“Today, the very same people who gave up their lives [opposing OBC reservation] are at the forefront of the demand for 10% reservation under the EWS category (among open competition category). But we are not opposing it. We know that what should have been rightly ours for thousands of years would not have been given to us but for the efforts of the Prime Minister whose statue was unveiled today,” Mr. Yadav said.
The struggle for the rights of BCs didn’t start with the Mandal Commission, “but with South India’s Periyar ji [social reformer E.V. Ramasamy], our Chief Minister’s father [M. Karunanidhi] and many such leaders who came out in support of the backward classes and Dalits,” he said..
Lauding the efforts of the Stalin-led government in installing the statue of Singh, Mr. Yadav said: “You are carrying forward a legacy. This effort to place a statue in one of our renowned colleges gives us and future generations courage. I am confident that those desirous of justice and respect will stand with us and walk with us, and will support you, strengthening the struggle.”
Appreciating Mr. Stalin, Mr. Yadav said: “Your efforts to install a statue would give confidence to all oppressed people. Be they in Bihar or Haryana, they will be thanking you. The statue speaks not only for the people and their struggle for rights, but is also a message for the 2024 elections.”
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416, and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)
