Saurashtra shut as Dalit unrest grips Gujarat

Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, July 20

Even as a call for “Gujarat Bandh” protesting alleged atrocities on Dalits received widespread support in Saurashtra region and mixed response in the rest of the state with sporadic incidents of violence, CM Anandiben Patel rushed to Una to meet the Dalit victims today.

Her visit comes ahead of the proposed visit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tomorrow and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday. In an apparent bid to prevent other parties from taking political advantage of the incident, Patel, after emerging from the meeting with the four victims and their family members, claimed that all 25 Dalit families in Mota Samadhiyala village were “fully satisfied” with her government’s action in providing them assistance and punishing the guilty in the July 11 incident.

Patel flew to Diu from where she drove down to Mota Samadhiyala village where four Dalits skinning a “dead” cow were flogged with iron rods and hockey sticks by people who claimed to be Shiv Sena members and volunteers working for cow protection. Later, they were tied to a car and dragged for a kilometre.

As reports of sporadic incidents of violence were received from various parts of Saurashtra region, five more persons attempted suicide protesting the Una incident.

Bandh was complete in almost the entire Saurashtra region. It also received good response in many towns of north Gujarat. About a dozen state transport buses were stoned in Junagadh, Amreli and some other places in Saurashtra and north Gujarat regions. Over 200 persons were arrested during the day for indulging in arson and violence. Thousands of Dalits took out rallies and forced shops and commercial establishments to down shutters in many towns.

The CM said her government would financially help Dalit families in constructing houses and toilets. A special camp would be organised to provide them the benefits of all government schemes. Dalit children studying in Class 5 and above would be enrolled in government schools for free.

The CM said she had ordered the district administration to complete these tasks within one month. She said she would revisit the village to monitor the progress.

On Rahul and Kejriwal’s scheduled visit to the village, she said it was unfortunate that the opposition parties were trying to convert the social evil into a political conclave. “They should not give political colour to the issue,” she added.