Dalit ire spills onto Guj streets; Mevani, 100 others detained

Dalit anger over the death of activist Bhanubhai Vankar spilled onto Gujarat streets on Sunday, a day before the first and month-long budget session of the 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly begins.

Road blockades and detention of over 100 Dalit activists, including independent legislator from Vadgam Jignesh Mevani, marked the day-long protests across the state.

Bhanu Vankar, a Dalit activist from Patan in North Gujarat, had set himself ablaze on Thursday at the Patan district collectorate, seeking physical possession of a plot of land allocated to a Dalit family. He succumbed to burns on Friday, leading to widespread protests by Dalit community. Vankar's family refused to accept his body till their demands were met. They are yet to perform his last rites.

Reports of tyre-burning from Ahmedabad, Sami, Patan and many other places trickled in, with women coming out in large numbers and blocking traffic with utensils and rolling pins. A woman from Sami in Patan sustained burns during a protest and was rushed to hospital.

The Vijay Rupani government in the state claimed to have accepted most of the demands on Saturday, but talks between the family, Dalit activists and state government continued on Sunday. The family insisted that the claims be made in writing and that Jignesh Mevani, who was detained earlier in the day, be released for the talks to continue.

Mevani had called for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar bandh on Sunday. While he was on his way to enforce the bandh, he was detained by Ahmedabad police after an altercation. "Gujarat does not belong to your father. Give me your buckle number. I am an elected MLA and you have no right to insult me. How dare you break the keys of my car and stop me from going! The Ahmedabad police is behaving in a dictatorial manner," Mevani was heard shouting at a police constable who tried to snatch away the keys of his car.

J K Bhatt, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), denied having ill-treated the legislator. "We will submit our report to the state Assembly... He may have misbehaved, but we have not," Bhatt said.

The police moved Mevani to the Special Operations Group office and held him there till late in the evening. Officials said they would release him soon and drive him straight to his residence in Ahmedabad.