HARDIK ACCUSES PM OF ‘USING’ PATIDARS IN 2002 GUJ RIOTS

AHMEDABAD: Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel on Wednesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of using the community for “orchestrating” the 2002 communal riots.

Patel sent the letter from Udaipur where he is in a sixmonth exile in connection with a sedition case.

In the letter dated August 24 (a copy of which is with HT) with the subject ‘Modiji you have stabbed the Patidars in the back’, the 23-year-old mentioned six cases reported during the 2002 riots wherein Patidars in large numbers have been convicted and awarded life imprisonment.

“We all know that Narendra Modi has orchestrated the 2002 riots. Reaping the benefits of the communal riots, first he became the CM and then went on to become the PM,” wrote Hardik.

“Patidars who were accused in these cases are languishing in jails. When Modiji is PM now, he can seek clemency from the President for the accused Patidars. But he won’t do so now as he wants to project himself as a secular person to India and the world,” he added.

According to the list mentioned in the letter, 31 Patidars in Sardarapura massacre case, nine in Ode-I massacre, 23 in Ode-II massacre, 25 in Dipda Darwaja case, six in Naroda Patia and 11 in Mehsana case have been awarded life imprisonment.

Patel, a resident of Viramgam, shot to limelight when he successfully mobilised his community for the agitation demanding reservation benefits in college admissions and government jobs. The agitation twice turned violent, resulting in the deaths of 13 Patidar youths and damage to public properties to the tune of `44 crore. Hardik was booked for sedition in October 2015 and stayed in jail for nine months before getting bail in July this year with a condition to remain outside Gujarat for six months.