RPI ransack mill, demand land for Ambedkar memorial
December 15th, 2011 - 9:59 pm ICT by IANS
Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS) Intensifying their agitation to press for their demand for 12.5 acres of land for the proposed Dr Ambedkar memorial, over 500 Republican Party of India (RPI) activists forcefully entered a mill in central Mumbai’s Dadar area and ransacked the premises Thursday.
The activists were protesting the central government’s announcement to allot just four acres of the 12.5-acre Indu mill plot for a proposed memorial to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Breaking the window panes and furniture in the building, they also lit fires at a few spots on the mill land demanding that the central government handover the entire plot of land for the memorial.
The RPI had barged into and occupied the same mill Dec 6.
Union Minister of State for Textiles Panabaaka Lakshmi had announced Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha that the National Textiles Corporation would part with just four acres.
The announcement drew scorn from the RPI.
“Babasaheb (Ambedkar) has contributed for the country by giving it a constitution. Why can’t he have his own memorial? We will hold fresh protests if we are not allotted the entire 12.5 acre plot of the Indu Mill land for the memorial,” RPI chief Ramdas Athawale told IANS.
Earlier Thursday, RPI activists staged a road blockade on the eastern express highway and burnt effigies of union ministers, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to press for their demands.
- RPI demands land for Ambedkar memorial, blocks highway - Dec 15, 2011
- Dalit party threat to recapture Indu Mills land - Mar 06, 2012
- Ambedkar Jayanti celebrated; Dalits stage sit-in (Lead) - Apr 14, 2012
- Maharashtra to remove encroachers from mill land - Dec 22, 2011
- Ambedkar memorial: Dalit activists attempt to storm legislature - Mar 15, 2012
- Maharashtra to evict encroachers from mill (Lead) - Dec 22, 2011
- RPI's rail blockade Monday for Ambedkar memorial - Dec 18, 2011
- Chavan demands land for Ambedkar memorial - Dec 20, 2011
- Chavan to meet PM on Ambedkar memorial, boundary row - Dec 29, 2011
- Land for Ambedkar memorial soon - Mar 30, 2012
- Land 'captured' for Ambedkar memorial in Mumbai - Dec 06, 2011
- Congress misleading on Ambedkar memorial, Thackeray warns Dalits - Jan 02, 2012
- Chavan meets Sonia on Ambedkar memorial, Belgaum - Dec 30, 2011
- NCP wants Dadar station renamed Chaityabhoomi - Jun 10, 2011
- Dalits angry with derogatory Ambedkar cartoon: Athawale (With Image) - Apr 03, 2012
Tags: acre plot, babasaheb ambedkar, central mumbai, dadar, dr ambedkar, eastern express, effigies, four acres, manmohan, manmohan singh, national textiles, plot of land, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, rajya sabha, ramdas, road blockade, union minister, union ministers, window panes