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Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Hardik Patel on Tuesday gave Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel 48 hours to accept the group's demand for Other Backward Class (OBC) status.
On Sunday, Anandiben Patel had ruled out the inclusion of Patidars on the OBC list. Gujarat already has 145 communities on the OBC list.
On Tuesday evening, the Ahmedabad police arrested Hardik Patel, along with five others, under section 151 of the Indian Penal Code for “knowingly joining or continuing in assembly of five or more persons after being commanded to disperse”. The offence is punishable with imprisonment for up to six months or a fine or both. Police sources said the government had given permission for the rally at the GMDC ground here only till 6 pm, while Patel and other members continued to protest at the venue beyond the deadline. However, he was released later.
Patel’s ultimatum to the CM came on a day when the 'Maha Kranti' rally by the Patidar (Patel) community here was marred by incidents of vandalism and stone pelting.
Schools and colleges, as well as many offices, chose to remain shut during the day. A socio-economically and politically dominant community, the Patidars, comprising the Kadva and Leuva Patel groups, held a protest rally here, which was led by the PAAS and the Sardar Patel Group (SPG), crowds running into thousands.
The Patidars' rally to the city collector's office for handing out a memorandum of their demands turned violent, with vandalism and stone pelting reported from areas such as Vastrapur, Vadaj, Nikol and Ashram Road. The rally ended in the two groups — PAAS and SPG —splitting on ideological grounds.
Motorcycle-bound and stick-wielding Patidar youths were seen vandalising public and private property and forcing shops and offices to shut. At the GMDC ground, from where the rally began, some media persons were manhandled. In certain areas, police resorted to 'lathi-charge'.
Addressing a 500,000-strong crowd at the GMDC ground, Hardik Patel, said, "Only if our rights are safeguarded will we let the lotus (the Bharatiya Janata Party's symbol) in 2017. Else, the lotus will never bloom again."
The BJP is the ruling party in the state.
"Reservation is our right. Give us our right happily or we will snatch it. Whoever will talk of interest of Patels will rule us…If the situation worsens in the state, it will be Gujarat government's responsibility. This is the last rally. After this, we won't do anymore rallies but conduct other kinds of programmes. We will announce a future course of agitation," he said.
Hardik Patel announced he was sitting on a fast for the next 48 hours, till Anandiben Patel came to the GMDC ground to accept the Patidars' memorandum. He added the agitation would intensify till the state government relented and agreed to OBC status for the Patidars.
SPG, the other leading Patidar group, said it would file a writ petition in this regard with the state OBC commission.
Speaking on the rally and the ensuing violence, Nitin Patel, Gujarat health minister and government spokesperson, said, "There were a few isolated incidents of violence and attack on media…That is unfortunate and condemnable. But as far as the rally was concerned, it was completed peacefully."
He, however, refrained from commenting on the 48-hour ultimatum.
In his speech, Patel invoked the names of Sardar Patel, Bhagat Singh and Anna Hazare. He stated he had learnt leadership qualities from people such as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Dear Modi Saheb, even we want sabka saath sabka vikas (everyone's support, everyone's development), but we will contribute to it through reservation," Patel said.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu were also with the Patidars, he added. "Our population in Gujarat is 18 million but nationally, we are 270 million," he said, adding the Patidar agitation had seen support from Gujjars in Rajasthan, too. "We are prepared to go to Gandhinagar and to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi if our demands are not met," he said.
Alluding to Sardar Patel, he said, "If one Patidar could unite the whole nation, imagine what millions of us can do."
Hardik Patel, a former Aam Aadmi Party member from Mehsana, Gujarat, asserted Patidars didn't belong to any political party. "They (politicians) are talking about the statue (of unity) but do not have Sardar Patel in their hearts. Today, we regret that if Sardar Patel had become India's first prime minister, Patidars would not have been kept outside (reservation).
To take stock of the situation, Anandiban Patel called for an urgent meeting with senior state ministers such as Saurabh Patel, Nitin Patel and Bhupendra Chudasma. A formal announcement on the matter is expected from the state government soon.
