Rajendra Pal Gautam Resigns, Says Will Continue To Uphold AAP Values
Delhi, 9th October 2022: Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam of Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Sunday resigned from his ministerial post. In the past, he was seen participating in a program where people took an oath to boycott Hindu deities. The BJP attacked the AAP government regarding this.
Rajendra Pal Gautam has also written a letter with his resignation. He said that after this incident, people of Manuwadi mindset are threatening him and his family. “I am a true soldier of the party. I will continue to fight for the rights of my society. I don’t want any damage to the party because of me,” he said.
He wrote, “I am Rajendra Pal Gautam, a true patriot and Ambedkarite with heart. For the last few years, I am constantly seeing that the honour of the sisters and daughters of my society is being looted and killed. Somewhere there are killings for keeping a moustache, somewhere on entering the temple and touching the idol, they are beaten to death with humiliation. Even children are being brutally murdered for touching a pot of water. The mare is being taken out of the procession even after a hateful attack and even taking life. My heart is pierced every day by incidents of such caste discrimination.”
“I personally attended the Buddhist Dhamma initiation ceremony organized by Mission Jai Bhim and the Buddhist Society of India on 5th October 2022 at Ambedkar Bhawan, Rani Jhansi Road, on the occasion of Ashoka Vijayadashami, being a member of the society. It had nothing to do with the Aam Aadmi Party and my council of ministers. 22 vows of Babasaheb were repeated by Babasaheb’s great-grandson Raj Ratna Ambedkar, which I repeated along with more than 10,000 people. After that, I see that BJP is targeting our leader Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party; it is very sad for me,” he added.
He further said, “Arvind Kejriwal Ji has given me a lot of respect and cooperation, for which I will always be grateful to him. I sincerely appreciate the steps taken by the party for education, health, electricity, water, employment, women and child safety and social welfare to strengthen India. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s dreams will come true only by following this path. BJP is doing dirty politics in this matter and being hurt by this, I am resigning from my ministerial post. I don’t want my leader Arvind Kejriwal and my party to come under any pressure because of me. As a true soldier of the party, I will live life upholding the just and equitable constitutional values shown by Babasaheb. I will fight firmly for the rights and rights of my sisters and daughters and the people of society throughout my life.”
Gautam said that some people of Manuwadi mindset are threatening to harm him, his family and his friends on social media and phone, but he is not going to be afraid of them. “I will fight for the rights and rights of my society with great courage, honesty and strength. Even if I have to sacrifice my life in this fight for the rights of society, I will not let this fight stop,” he said.
On 5th October, Gautam himself shared pictures of the event on Twitter. He had said that more than ten thousand people took a pledge to adopt Buddhism and work towards making India free from casteism and untouchability.
