Hardik gives Patel whack to Gujarat
Sunil Raghu Ahmedabad, Dec 31, 2015, DHNS
The second half of the year in Gujarat has undoubtedly been witness to only one story. The story of the socially, politically and economically powerful Patel community and its 22-year-old leader Hardik Patel.
In early July, Hardik Patel gathered a motley group of Patels using social media and raised the issue of how Patels were losing out on government jobs and professional education due to the reservations. He claimed that though there is a perception that Patels are a forward community, 90 per cent of them could not afford fees for higher education.
The first hint of frustration came in early July at Mehsana town. The quota stir rally here turned violent and the office of the local BJP representative was attacked.
This brought attention on the plight of Patels at a local level, but still did not attract requisite eyeballs from the state or national level.
The Patels thereafter continued to hold over 150 rallies, some of them huge by any standards.
These rallies shook the hornet’s nest, galvanizing over six to seven million Patels in two months to hit the streets.
The next chapter in the stir came at the Patel Maha rally in Ahmedabad on August 25.
This mammoth rally saw over a million Patels gather from all across the state voicing their demand for OBC status and reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. This shook the ruling establishment.
However, videos of police atrocities resorting to arson at the venue of Maha rally and then beating Patels by entering their homes began circulating across the state. Some believe that all this led to large-scale violence and after a gap of almost a decade, Army was called in to control the situation. The violence post August 25 took the toll to 11.
The state, that had generally remained a mute spectator to the rise of Patel stir for long, perhaps decided to hit hard and exploit the widening rift between Patel leadership for dominance of the stir.
Amidst the game of one upmanship between Patel leaders and the state, the government slapped a slew of charges against top Patel stir leaders, including Sedition charges against Hardik Patel. Thousands of Patel youngsters too were booked in multiple cases, with many being put behind bars.
This enraged Patels, who threatened to punish the Anandiben Patel government and the party they stood with for over three decades – BJP. In the local self-government elections held in November this year, the BJP lost badly.
The anguish was such that after two decades, the BJP witnessed a rout in rural Gujarat, losing almost 90 per cent of gram and district panchayat polls to the opposition Congress.
The only saving face for BJP in the state was urban electorate. Urban Gujarat, which too had borne the brunt of violence and series of Internet curfew due to disturbances, stood with the ruling party and saved Anandiben the blues of being ousted as chief minister.
However, things are still not hunky dory as Patels are again trying to raise their head and gearing up to fight what they call the final battle in 2017, when Gujarat is due to elect a new state government. For 74-year-old Anandiben, the writing is perhaps on the wall. Whether BJP wins or loses 2017, many in the state have begun writing her off. How the first woman chief minister of Gujarat steers clear of the choppy political waters in 2016 will script her and BJP’s future in Gujarat.
Of police torture and staged encounters
The Gujarat Police have been at the centre of most of the major events the state witnessed during 2015. In the first half of the year, the news headlines were dominated by the top brass policemen who were alleged to have plotted and executed ‘encounter’ killings in the state walking out of jail and being reinstated to critical policing posts by the state government.
The year began with D G Vanzara walking out of Sabarmati jail in early February to a hero’s welcome.
He was one of the 39 policemen, including a dozen other senior police officers of the Gujarat Police facing charges of fake encounters that allegedly happened under the shadow of intrigue and supposedly under “political patronage” with brazen abuse of power.
Vanzara had been in jail for over eight years.
There have been a series of alleged fake encounter killings reported from Gujarat during the first decade of the 21st century.
Some reports state that Gujarat had seen as many as 21 encounter killings between October 2002 and December 2006. Vanzara, along with other officers, have been facing charges for plotting a number of encounters, including two that received maximum public attention. One, killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004. Second, killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi in 2005 and his associate Tulsiram Prajapati in 2006.
Post Vanzara release, in March, came the news of special CBI court in Mumbai dropping all charges against Gujarat Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri in Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter killing cases, for what it called “want of sanction”. Even as these developments were gaining credence in national discourse, Vanzara dropped one more ‘letter-bomb’, stating that current national president of BJP Amit Shah may have been discharged by the CBI court, but remains “very much accused in Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram encounter case even today.” Vanzara, in the letter dated May 1, 2015, appeared miffed with the promotion of Geetha Johri as DGP over P P Pandey.
Hardik Patel gathered a motley group of Patels using social media and raised the issue of how Patels were losing out on government jobs and professional education due to the reservations
He claimed that though there is a perception that Patels are a forward community, 90 per cent of them could not afford fees for higher education
The first hint of inherent frustration within came in early July at Mehsana town. The quota stir rally here turned violent and office of local BJP representative was attacked
The Patels thereafter continued to hold over 150 rallies, some of them huge by any standards. These rallies shook the hornet’s nest, galvanizing over six to seven million Patels in two months to hit the streets
The next chapter in the stir came at the Patel rally in Ahmedabad on August 25. Then, videos of police atrocities, resorting to arson at the venue of Maha rally and then beating Patels by entering their homes began circulating across the state
Amidst the game of one upmanship between Patel leaders and the state, the government slapped a slew of charges against top Patel stir leaders, including sedition charges against Hardik Patel.
In early July, Hardik Patel gathered a motley group of Patels using social media and raised the issue of how Patels were losing out on government jobs and professional education due to the reservations. He claimed that though there is a perception that Patels are a forward community, 90 per cent of them could not afford fees for higher education.
The first hint of frustration came in early July at Mehsana town. The quota stir rally here turned violent and the office of the local BJP representative was attacked.
This brought attention on the plight of Patels at a local level, but still did not attract requisite eyeballs from the state or national level.
The Patels thereafter continued to hold over 150 rallies, some of them huge by any standards.
These rallies shook the hornet’s nest, galvanizing over six to seven million Patels in two months to hit the streets.
The next chapter in the stir came at the Patel Maha rally in Ahmedabad on August 25.
This mammoth rally saw over a million Patels gather from all across the state voicing their demand for OBC status and reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. This shook the ruling establishment.
However, videos of police atrocities resorting to arson at the venue of Maha rally and then beating Patels by entering their homes began circulating across the state. Some believe that all this led to large-scale violence and after a gap of almost a decade, Army was called in to control the situation. The violence post August 25 took the toll to 11.
The state, that had generally remained a mute spectator to the rise of Patel stir for long, perhaps decided to hit hard and exploit the widening rift between Patel leadership for dominance of the stir.
Amidst the game of one upmanship between Patel leaders and the state, the government slapped a slew of charges against top Patel stir leaders, including Sedition charges against Hardik Patel. Thousands of Patel youngsters too were booked in multiple cases, with many being put behind bars.
This enraged Patels, who threatened to punish the Anandiben Patel government and the party they stood with for over three decades – BJP. In the local self-government elections held in November this year, the BJP lost badly.
The anguish was such that after two decades, the BJP witnessed a rout in rural Gujarat, losing almost 90 per cent of gram and district panchayat polls to the opposition Congress.
The only saving face for BJP in the state was urban electorate. Urban Gujarat, which too had borne the brunt of violence and series of Internet curfew due to disturbances, stood with the ruling party and saved Anandiben the blues of being ousted as chief minister.
However, things are still not hunky dory as Patels are again trying to raise their head and gearing up to fight what they call the final battle in 2017, when Gujarat is due to elect a new state government. For 74-year-old Anandiben, the writing is perhaps on the wall. Whether BJP wins or loses 2017, many in the state have begun writing her off. How the first woman chief minister of Gujarat steers clear of the choppy political waters in 2016 will script her and BJP’s future in Gujarat.
Of police torture and staged encounters
The Gujarat Police have been at the centre of most of the major events the state witnessed during 2015. In the first half of the year, the news headlines were dominated by the top brass policemen who were alleged to have plotted and executed ‘encounter’ killings in the state walking out of jail and being reinstated to critical policing posts by the state government.
The year began with D G Vanzara walking out of Sabarmati jail in early February to a hero’s welcome.
He was one of the 39 policemen, including a dozen other senior police officers of the Gujarat Police facing charges of fake encounters that allegedly happened under the shadow of intrigue and supposedly under “political patronage” with brazen abuse of power.
Vanzara had been in jail for over eight years.
There have been a series of alleged fake encounter killings reported from Gujarat during the first decade of the 21st century.
Some reports state that Gujarat had seen as many as 21 encounter killings between October 2002 and December 2006. Vanzara, along with other officers, have been facing charges for plotting a number of encounters, including two that received maximum public attention. One, killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004. Second, killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi in 2005 and his associate Tulsiram Prajapati in 2006.
Post Vanzara release, in March, came the news of special CBI court in Mumbai dropping all charges against Gujarat Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri in Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter killing cases, for what it called “want of sanction”. Even as these developments were gaining credence in national discourse, Vanzara dropped one more ‘letter-bomb’, stating that current national president of BJP Amit Shah may have been discharged by the CBI court, but remains “very much accused in Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram encounter case even today.” Vanzara, in the letter dated May 1, 2015, appeared miffed with the promotion of Geetha Johri as DGP over P P Pandey.
Hardik Patel gathered a motley group of Patels using social media and raised the issue of how Patels were losing out on government jobs and professional education due to the reservations
He claimed that though there is a perception that Patels are a forward community, 90 per cent of them could not afford fees for higher education
The first hint of inherent frustration within came in early July at Mehsana town. The quota stir rally here turned violent and office of local BJP representative was attacked
The Patels thereafter continued to hold over 150 rallies, some of them huge by any standards. These rallies shook the hornet’s nest, galvanizing over six to seven million Patels in two months to hit the streets
The next chapter in the stir came at the Patel rally in Ahmedabad on August 25. Then, videos of police atrocities, resorting to arson at the venue of Maha rally and then beating Patels by entering their homes began circulating across the state
Amidst the game of one upmanship between Patel leaders and the state, the government slapped a slew of charges against top Patel stir leaders, including sedition charges against Hardik Patel.
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