By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) : The demand for OBC status and reservation by the Patels of Gujarat, who organized a mammoth “Maha Kranti Rally” in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, took a violent turn by late night.
At least Seven people were killed, five of them in police firing, in the violence across Gujarat sparked by the Patel community’s agitation demanding’ other backward class’ (OBC) status, agencies report.
Large scale reports of arson, burning of buses, attacks on police, houses of home minister and husband of chief minister as well as burning and stone pelting of various government offices and properties poured in from across the state which lead police to clamp curfew under Ramol, Nikol, Bapu Nagar, Ghatlodia, Odhav, Naranpura, Naroda, Krishna Nagar and Vadaj police station limits in the Ahmedabad following violence and clashes on Tuesday.
Internet services on mobile phones have been suspended in some parts of the state to check the spread of rumours through WhatsApp and SMS. Internet can be accessed on computers in homes and offices.
About 5,000 personnel of Rapid Action Force, CRPF and BSF have been sent to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order, especially in all curfew-bound areas
Army on Wednesday conducted flag march on five different routes in the city in order to instill confidence among the people in the wake of violence triggered by the quota agitation by the Patel community.
“At least five companies of Army today conducted flag-march on five different routes and covered all those areas where violence was reported yesterday,” Ahmedabad District Collector Rajkumar Beniwal said.
The violence started on Tuesday night after the arrest and eventual release of the 22-year-old Patel leader and organizer of the rally, Hardik Patel, who is leading the campaign. As soon as the news of Hardik’s arrest came in, large number of people across cities came out with sticks and pipes shouting slogans “Jai Sardar” and venting their anger on public property and police.
Hardik, too, released a message after his release on social media, asking his supporters to remain calm and not get entrapped by what he called certain motivated political elements adding that he has no political affiliation.
“We have urged people to restore peace. We urge the same to the government and police. If even a single person is beaten, then the government and the police will be responsible for the the consequences,” he told a national News Channel NDTV.
“Let them prove that I have any political affiliation. I have no political affiliation…. This fight is for our rights,” he added.
Hardik Patel, a 22-year-old youth belonging to a middle class family from Viramgam town in Ahmedabad district is a BCom graduate who helped his father run a small submersible-pumps business in rural Ahmedabad, Hardik Patel is the convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). Hardik, who graduated with less than 50% marks from Ahmedabad’s Sahajanand College. His father is engaged in farming.
Hardik was a member of the Sardar Patel Group (SPG), a leading Patidar youth body, and was president of its Viramgam unit. But he was ousted from the post because the leader of the SPG, Lalji Patel, was not amenable to the idea of Hardik promoting his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). Formed only in July, PAAS has shaken social and political stability of Gujarat by becoming the uniting force for Patels, so far the bedrock of support to the BJP.
Hardik is credited with galvanizing the Patidar masses in a Gujarat-wide movement to demand reservations in the OBC quota seeking reservation benefits for the Patels, a politically and economically powerful community. He feels that Patidars are losing in the development race because of the present reservation regime.
Mr. Patel and his group consisting mainly of youngsters, who are aggrieved by the high cost of education and fewer government jobs, have extensively used social media platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp, and Twitter to organize support from the masses.
On Tuesday, August 25, over a million Patels from across the state gathered in Ahmedabad for a rally that brought the commercial capital of Gujarat to a complete standstill.
Shouting slogans “Jai Sardar, Jai Patidaar”, they filled roads of Ahmedabad since early morning. “We are not just 1.8 crore Patels in Gujarat, we are 27 crore across India. We have 117 Patidaar MPs in Parliament. Nitish is ours and so is Chandrababu Naidu,” Hardik said in his 90-minute speech.
“Only if our rights are safeguarded, we will let the lotus (BJP’s party symbol) in 2017 (year Gujarat Assembly polls are slated for). Else, the lotus will never bloom again,” he said, daring the state government.
we will go to Jantar Mantar also to raise our demand of the state government does not offer the solution,” indicating that he wants to take the agitation nationally. He also said that Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, also belong to the Patidar community, which is 27 crore spread in eight states in the country.
It is important to mention here that, the Patedars or Patels of Gujarat constitute barely 15 per cent of the state’s population according to the 1931 caste census (the stats from the recent caste census have yet to be released by the government) but since its formation in 1960, the community has wielded a disproportionate amount of political and financial power.
The Patels, primarily agriculturists, also have huge interests in industries as diverse as textiles, diamonds and pharmaceuticals. They have been, for the last two decades, the most loyal cheerleaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development model for Gujarat designed and implemented during his terms as Chief Minister.
Presently, 40 of the 120 BJP law-makers in the Gujarat State Assembly are Patels, including Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and seven of her senior cabinet colleagues.
Meanwhile , in a televised address in Gujarati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm and emphasized that all issues can be resolved through talks.
“In the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the way violence has been resorted to as a tool.I appeal to all brothers and sisters of Gujarat that they should not resort to violence. The only ‘Mantra’ must be ‘Shanti’ (peace),” said Modi, who has been Chief Minister of the state for 12 years.
Patel had called for a state-wide shutdown Wednesday to press their demand for reservation.