 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti chief Hardik Patel has likened Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to General Dyer, the man responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reports.
'If GMDC's General Dyer Amit Shah is made chief minister of Gujarat then we will launch an agitation for his ouster as well,' Hardik stated in a WhatsApp message.
The statement comes in the aftermath of the Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel's resignation on Monday which has stirred rumours of the possibility of the state falling under the helmsmanship of BJP president Amit Shah.
While speaking exclusively with Rediff.com, Hardik said that the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti would oppose Amit Shah's elevation as Gujarat CM even from Udaipur.
“If the nation can be run from Nagpur, why can't I run an agitation from Udaipur,” Hardik, who has been externed by the Gujarat high court for six months in a case of sedition filed by the Anandiben Patel government, said on the phone.
He said he will be back in Gujarat after six months and continue fighting for reservations for the Patidar community.
On August 25, 2015 more than 5 lakh people had gathered at Ahmedabad's GMDC ground to demand reservations for the Patel community in govt colleges and jobs.
While the agitation remained peaceful during the day, protestors turned violent and indulged in arson and stone pelting leading to police firing in which several patidars lost their lives. The patidars continue to maintain that their agitation was peaceful but the state police lathicharged them leading to the eventual violence.
Hardik Patel and other PAAS leaders have since then blamed Anandiben Patel and Amit Shah for unleashing a reign of terror on their movement.