Oppn says Gujarat police crushing Dalit, Patel stirs

AHMEDABAD: It is difficult to fix an appointment for an interview these days with Jignesh Mevani, the face of the Dalit agitation in Gujarat. He gives time but is mostly not at home at the appointed hour because police take him away at regular intervals.

In the past two weeks, Mevani and several of his core supporters have been detained by police four times. On September 16, he was detained an hour before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to land in Ahmedabad for a day’s visit.

He was released the next morning, but detained again along with scores of other activists on September 21 for leading a protest demanding surplus land for Dalits. He got out of the police station 12 hours later, but underwent two more detentions — on September 26 and 27. “It’s detention raj in Gujarat,” says Mevani, who has threatened to enforce a statewide rail roko from October 1 unless the government meets all Dalit demands. Other leaders of the protesting Dalit and Patidar communities agree, saying Gujarat is in the middle of an “undeclared emergency”.

“Prime minister visits, we get detained. Amit Shah visits, we get detained. Detention is the norm whenever there is a state government or BJP event,” points out a Patidar leader. Modi’s visit was accompanied by the detention of some 100 Patidar activists seeking reservations in jobs and education.

Leaders such as Atul Patel, Dilip Sabva and Varun Patel have undergone detentions more than a dozen times in the past year. “It is now common that police teams come to my house every now and then and take details of my scheduled engagements. They do not let me go out till that day’s functions of the BJP or the government is over,” says Atul Patel, the Ahmedabad convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).

Lawyers say the detentions are an infringement on fundamental rights. “It is a crackdown on the freedom to move freely. Dissent is the fundamental voice in any democracy and that cannot be curbed,” says lawyer BM Mangukiya, who has filed a PIL in the Gujarat high court challenging detentions of protesters.

Facing back-to-back agitations — first by the Patidars and then the Dalits enraged by the public flogging of four youths by upper castes on suspicion of skinning a cow — the Gujarat government denies a crackdown, and says the detentions are preventive and for security reasons. “They (protesters) had issued clear threats to disrupt the functions like that of the Prime Minister. We cannot take chance for such events,” minister of state for home, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, told HT. Officials cite past examples of mob fury to justify the detentions. At the peak of the Patidar movement, women protesters banging steel plates with rolling pins chased away BJP leaders from public functions.Earlier this month, BJP president Amit Shah’s programme in Surat was cut short after protesters hurled chairs and shouted “General Dyer Go Back” slogans.

But those detained regularly say the real reason lies in the government’s desperation. “The Gujarat government is scared and helpless. Detention is their last resort to prevent us from protesting,” insists Mevani. Though roundly condemned, the sweeping detentions remain civil.