Hardik sentenced to 2 years in 2015 arson case, gets bail
Patidar leader’s two aides also convicted, accuse BJP govt of ‘influencing court’
AHMEDABAD: Hardik Patel, the spearhead of the agitation for government job and university seat quotas for Gujarat’s Patidar community, and two others were on Wednesday sentenced to two years’ imprisonment following their conviction by a sessions court for rioting in the state’s Visnagar in July 2015.
The court, however, acquitted Hardik of charges of conspiracy to instigate a mob, and 14 others of all charges over lack of evidence.
Minutes after the verdict, Hardik tweeted, “Inquilab Zindabad”. An hour later, he was granted bail. Hardik, Lalji Patel and AK Patel were convicted under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly with a common objective of a criminal act), said public prosecutor Chandrasinh Rajput. “They have been awarded 2 years’ sentence and a penalty of ~50,000 each,” Rajput said.
The case is related to the vandalising of the office of Visnagar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rishikesh Patel, burning down of vehicles and causing injuries to people, including journalists, on July 23, 2015 during the agitation for Patidar quotas. A mob had vandalised the MLA’S office at the end of one of the rallies that marked the beginning of the campaign for reservation benefits to Patidars. These rallies paved the way for the rise of Hardik as a firebrand leader of his community at the age of 22.
In a series of tweets, he wrote, “If fighting for social justice and social rights is a crime, then yes, I’m guilty. If fighting for truth and rights is rebellion, them I’m a rebel. BJP’S Hitler-style rule cannot quell my voice for truth, farmers, youth and the poor by putting me behind bars.”
He added: “Before the Gujarat polls (December 2017), the BJP used to say that all cases against agitators have been withdrawn. So, this sentencing has been announced for which crime?”
The verdict comes at a time when Hardik has been trying to revive the Patidar agitation by announcing an indefinite hunger strike from August 25 until Other Backward Class (OBC) status is granted to his otherwise influential community. The conviction can bar him from contesting polls when he turns 25 next year, unless the sentencing is suspended by a higher court.
Hardik’s Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) alleged that the court had been misguided by the BJP government. “The government produced fake documentary evidence to influence the court. The government is trying to create roadblocks in the way of the agitation before Hardik goes on an indefinite hunger strike,” said PAAS spokesperson Nikhil Savani.
In the ensuing two elections after the start of the quota agitation in July 2015 — local body polls in November that year and assembly polls in December 2017 — PAAS had supported the Congress. The BJP suffered reverses in rural areas, especially those dominated by the Patidars.
Like PAAS, the Congress also pointed a finger at the BJP government. “I do not want to question the court’s judgement. But I want to say that government machinery was misused to misrepresent the facts. This government had announced withdrawal of the cases against the Patidar youths before the elections, but has taken a U-turn after the elections,’’ said state Congress president Amit Chavda.
BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya responded: “The court is above everything. One must not question its credibility.”
The complainant was a local journalist Suresh Vanol, who, along with three other mediapersons, was injured in the violence. The court said that from the penalty to be deposited by the three convicts, ~10,000 will be paid to Vanol. One Babu Thakor, whose car was burnt down by the mob, and the BJP MLA will get ~1 lakh and ~40,000, respectively.