Hardik accuses Modi of ‘using’ patidars in 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.
No meetings with separatist leaders have been scheduled, though.
However, Singh took to Twitter and asked people to meet him, invoking former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s mantra: “I will be staying at the Nehru Guest House. Those who believe in Kashmiriyat, Insaaniyat and Jamhooriyat are welcome.”
Singh’s use of the social media attracted ridicule as people referred to the ban on Internet in Kashmir.
“You have made Kashmir into a jail and you are talking about Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
He stood by the separatists’ stand for a tripartite dialogue, which would include Pakistan.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who had earlier met President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, led the delegation of Kashmir-based opposition parties.
Abdullah was not “hopeful of a breakthrough” after the meeting, and reaffirmed his demand for a political solution to restore peace.
“We met him and put forth the same points that we had discussed with the Prime Minister … the need to widen the scope of dialogue to all stakeholders. Situations like what happened in Pulwama today does not help,” the National Conference leader said. The Peoples Democratic Party, which rules the state in alliance with the BJP, remained positive. “The Prime Minister has shown a lot of seriousness and has talked about finding a permanent solution to the issue,” PDP spokesman Wahidur Rehman Parra said. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti maintained home minister Singh’s line, urging people to give peace a chance to revive a fairly successful reconciliation process the Vajpayee-led NDA government initiated in 2002.
But the political initiative to stop the post-Wani unrest had little effect on the streets, where curfew-bound people are getting increasingly hostile towards government forces. In Srinagar, clashes were reported in the Waniyar Safakadal neigbourhood after security personnel assaulted two motorcyclists for breaking prohibitory orders. Militants were taking advantage of the situation. A grenade exploded on a police patrol in Pulwama, gravely wounding the district’s additional superintendent of police, the deputy superintendent of police and a station house officer. Several of their colleagues were wounded too. They were shifted to the army’s base hospital in Srinagar.
The Delhi-based leader, when asked if Chhotepur was being targeted for raising his voice against the party’s Delhi leadership, said rules are the same for everyone. “If a similar video of mine surfaces, I will be the first to quit politics. There is no tolerance in AAP for such things,” he said. When HT contacted party MP and campaign panel head Bhagwant Mann on the matter, said the party has taken the matter “very seriously”. “But I don’t know what the party’s next course of action is,” he added.
Sources said the special investigation team headed by Bureau of Investigation chief additional director general of police IPS Sahota has failed to locate the route taken by the attackers who fled after firing at Gagneja. Also, the Jalandhar police failed to take a swift action after the crime. The top brass of Jalandhar police was seen at the hospital where Gagneja was admitted immediately after the attack and there was crucial delay in start of the probe. The police move to announce a reward of ₹ 10 lakh for any information on attackers didn’t elicit any response.
The government, on its part, said the attack was the handiwork of anti-national elements that had links with extremist elements abroad.
The government’s release on Wednesday said since the underlying motive in the attack on Gagneja was to disturb peace in Punjab, the decision to shift the case to CBI was taken to
widen the probe.