AHMEDABAD (TIP): Ravaged by violence since August 25, Gujarat limped back to normalcy on Thursday, August 27, even as the army was moved into three more cities to curb tensions following riots that claimed ten lives, officials said.
Besides Ahmedabad, soldiers joined paramilitary and state police in Surat, Rajkot and Mehsana to patrol the cities. Though there were no major incidents of violence on August 27, the situation remained tense, and roads were deserted in most major cities and towns.
Schools and colleges were shut, and so were most shops, offices and commercial establishments.
However, all government offices as well as public and private banks reported near normal operation on August 27.
Curfew imposed in certain areas of Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and other cities since Tuesday was relaxed on August 27, enabling residents to go out and buy essentials including milk, vegetables and medicines.
But night curfew may continue in the worst-hit cities and localities, officials indicated.
While auto-rickshaws and taxis started plying on Thursday, public transport, which bore the brunt of mobs in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and other cities, operated only partially.
The BRT system, in which buses and stops were badly damaged, are expected to resume normal operations only by next week.
The Gujarat State Road Transport Corp services also resumed partly after many buses were attacked and burnt. Rail tracks damaged by rioters were being repaired, delaying intra-state and inter-state services.
The two days of unrest figured prominently in the Gujarat assembly where a vociferous Congress demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, forcing two adjournment of the house.
The speaker suspended around 30 Congress legislators for the day after they rushed towards him shouting slogans against the government.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the violence in his home state.
“Modi’s ideology is of anger… which is what is happening in Gujarat. Anger helps no one except Modiji,” Gandhi tweeted.
In Ahmedabad, Hardik Patel, 22, the convener of Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), denounced the government for the police action on Patidars on Tuesdaywhich resulted in a riotous Wednesday.
“Children and women were hurt. Police officers responsible for this should be suspended,” Patel said, warning that essential supplies to Ahmedabad would be stopped until the guilty policemen were punished.
He demanded a compensation of Rs.3.50 million to the families of each victim killed in Wednesday’s violence.
Most major cities and towns in Gujarat erupted from late Tuesday after police caned members of the Patidar community who had taken out a mammoth rally in Ahmedabad demanding caste-based reservations.
By Wednesday evening, 133 companies of the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force, SRPF, RAF and BSF besides Gujarat Police were engaged in controlling violent mobs in various cities including Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Morbi, Vadodara, Mehsana and Banaskantha.
The PAAS mega rally saw the participation of 1.20 million Patidars seeking reservations in education and jobs, virtually swamping Ahmedabad on Tuesday afternoon.
The ‘maha-revolution rally’, as the PAAS termed it, capped a 55-day long agitation across the state with scores of mini rallies in different towns and cities.
I agree with Kal; personal political gains have long troubled India and its time people stop supporting such causes
My Humble Request to Sri Hardik Patelji!
Dear Sir, I am not an expert in the matter you are trying to resolve but I wholeheartedly felt it was my duty as a human being to submit this comment/feedback. I humbly request and pray other listeners/readers submit their comments too on how to best solve these types of problems with you standing by your side. Sometimes we tend to think the members of our communities, religions, castes, tribes, languages, gender (including LGBT), towns, states, countries etc. are like us. Like us, they have same principles, ethics and morals. However for most of the time, for Indian borns, it looks like not the case. For instance, most of the time, I trust all Indians share their burdens, problems and discuss/consult each other. However, when incidents like these happen, my trust, unity, empathy and compassion towards fellow Indians are wearing down.
Truly I feel anguish that entire Gujarat halted…what about a worker feeling anguish because he could not find work for just one day to feed himself and his family…..what about a small dhukan businessman who is feeling anguish that the sales weren’t enough that day to meet the expenses and how he is going to pay back his loans and what happens to his entire family if he goes bankrupt in future!..What about a farmer who is praying anxiously for rain, water and electricity for his village so he also could repay the loans and don’t need to worry about the fate of his wife and children if he goes bankrupt in future!
I hear sayings “Blacklivesmatter”, “Whitelivesmatter”, “Christianlivesmatter”, “WomenLivesMatter”, “GayLivesMatter”, “LesbianLivesMatter”, “WeaversLivesMatter”, “KissanLivesMatter”, “JawanLivesMatter” etc… Just as they are expressing their frustrations, I too feel like expressing ‘Every Single life matters’….”AllLivesMatter”… If one wishes to eat plants, even how the plants lived/raised with what fertilizers before they ended on the dinner table matters. If one cannot get away eating meat for health reasons, even how that animal lived(its hygiene, what it ate) before it ended on the dinner table matters …then how much more it should matter the lives of human beings(especially in a democracy)? ”EverySingleLifeMatters” in the universe. I read in newspapers that 9 lives were lost and many injured. If that life was of your own brother or sister or parents, how would you feel? Would you have felt they died in a great cause or they died early in vain following you?
Sardar Vallabhai Patel may be from your community, however he was an Indian first and Gujarati next and not Patel first, Gujarati next and Indian afterwards. If he was alive, would he be happy with your speeches? I read and listened to your speeches. You have very valid points but the way you are presenting them matters. Though I am not affiliated with any religion, sometimes I am inspired listening to ‘Asaduddin Owaisi’ or ‘Baba Ramdev’ or ‘Pope of Vatican’. They make every effort to see that their followers do not deviate from the causes for which they stand. However, hearing your speeches, it appears you are polarizing not just Patels but everyone else in Gujarat/India/World against Patels…..Even a Hollywood movie called “Elysium” has a villain named “Patel”…
World watches instantly via internet what happens. News and comments posted via Internet are probably being read by nations across the world. Imagine you were at a festive gathering and a fight broke out between family members…everyone at the gathering are watching and doesn’t it generate awkward feelings? Then how much more damage these kind of agitations are causing Patel communities across the world?…Did you assess? Did anyone assess? I implore all rich, affluent, powerful elites of Patel community to assess the situation in Gujarat and take necessary steps to prevent further violence which will only damage the Respect and the Reputation of Patels among Indians and other nations of the world. As a match-stick can set forest trees on fire and char them and those amongst them and around them, I urge everyone not to be frustrated, to be humble, compassionate, wise and impartial in their judgements. As Hon’ble PMji noted, please seek elderly-educated-powerful Patels to negotiate(talks) with State and Central Governments. I am sure some solution could be worked out which will benefit not only Patel communities of Gujarat but also every other Caste/Jathi across India.
What is more important….that which you eat, that number system to count your moneys and wives and children, those herbs by which you get healed, that which you play with, that which you exercise/meditate or that with which you kill or that which you switch on and watch/talk from or that which comes out of your mouth? As a match-stick can set forest trees on fire and char them and those amongst them and around them, tongue has the power to set minds on fire. Hence please don’t be frustrated, spread hate in the hearts of Patels and others, please be wise, humble, compassionate and impartial in your judgements.
When one feels anguish one seeks remedies…some pray according to religions….some tell friends and families….Some go to Psychologist for counseling….Some are coaxed/forced to Psychiatrist for medicines to silence them…some are silenced permanently etc…Amazingly many found answers in those methods but some like me haven’t…. What kind of my fate(Karma) is it that we both are born in a democratic country like India where no one is concerned/partake in Democracy until one gets a chance to secretly vote otherwise one perishes or they isolate us or seek revenge? Or is it a remedy that I too resign from my profession like you and join a political party or a religion or an activist Five-star NGO to meet my needs to survive in the largest democratic nation of the world? After introspecting, I think my remedy is to meditate/investigate/collect evidences…seek the truth as Sri Krishna Bhagavan said, Jesus said, as Muhammad(PBUH) said, …as Mahatma Gandhiji said…seek the truth…So after work, when I find time instead of watching fiction, I research on internet…on weekends I go to library and read newspapers and magazines….I pursue the matter with the same zeal as if I was learning for the sake of my profession, for passing exams, like a doctor learning to save lives….Indeed, I tell you the truth, every single whole-hearted learning(not just by-heart learning) by every leader(including you) ultimately saves lives across India(world) even if my learnings cannot save my own life.
Hence, I beg every leader/every representative of Patel community to not be discouraged. If you yourself get discouraged/agitated/frustrated, who is going to guide ordinary people like us? I was reading/hearing the news.…at least the Media workers get paid….Political leaders get paid/have money….Does it mean I cannot participate in a Democracy if become poor like a day-wage worker in future?….or should I actively participate in a Democracy only after I become so poor like that and have got nothing to lose including my life like you?…..Hence, please wake up and realize there are bigger causes that I pray you take up the mantle for!
Please kindly exchange your faith, beliefs and thoughts peacefully with patience, respect and dignity. If peoples of Gujarat(India) are convinced, you have them at your side; even if they are not convinced you may have plausible friends on the other side that do not harm people or vandalize properties! Violence will only ruin the respect and reputation of Patels not only across Gujarat and India but also in the community of nations. Unfamiliarity breeds fear and contempt in ignorant/naive people. Hence, please have patience, compassion and empathy towards even your aggressors and clearly articulate so they become your supporters, your friends and empathizers.
I wish you understand my message of peace, love and hope. I do not wish nobody hates nobody for the problems though we were at the same level as them when we all came out of our mother’s wombs (without malice and deceit)…. I am not affiliated with any religion, any caste or any political party; however I would say everyone who has empathy, patience, love and compassion is divine born. Such a person cherishes life. Everyone who comes to know the value of life is for peace. And where there is peace, there is hope for the living. When there is hope every member of community strives for its prosperity.
India has been a secular nation even before the birth of collective religions in the West Asia/Mediterranean. Most of Indian culture, traditions, customs, art, temples, and scriptures got destroyed in the last 1500 years. They(invaders and those trying to appease invaders) created several caste systems which never existed in India before. India had only four Varnas which too are not birth-rights (Please Check Bhagavad Gita/Vedas/Upanishads). People’s houses, farms & families were torn and properties, wifes, sisters and children were confiscated. Few thousand human libraries were killed and ancient universities/mandirs (only mode of knowledge transfer in those days) got destroyed…People walked into oceans as deep as possible with boxes of scriptures in their hands and sacrificed themselves. They constructed temples inside oceans to bury those scriptures….but still even the ocean temples got blasted since 1500A.D. and scriptures destroyed. Entire fabric (social, climatic, economic, political, biological, physiological and psychological) of India is torn apart and the common people living there now are so poor and suffering. (Please realize, we are all same people but the parties, languages, religions, castes and ideologies are so different).
Now, there are 800 million strong youth in India. For me, it indicates not only optimism but also pessimism of civil-war. India’s youth need work. As you see, all the wars/protests in the Middle-East should not only be viewed from the perspective of Collective religious propaganda but also from the view of otherwise peaceful but hungry youth taking arms to feed themselves and their families. This indeed is a grave danger. However, they are not the only ones to blame. It is obvious that since the last 3500 years, West Asia/Mediterranean is torn by collectivist religious and political ideologies. Such ideologies even caught fire leading to the fires of slavery, women-trafficking/prostitution and colonialism across the entire world. One such fire got Gujarat into this current mess. In some nations of the world, entire population is taught to carry arms as part of military exercise just like those people of Middle-East/West Asia. What would these nations do if they did not have jobs? Hence, the biggest thing to worry for rich & powerful of all the religions/castes of the world is poverty. I hope you/they use everything in your/their domain to alleviate the problems and not scheme to exterminate the poor and the meek. As long as people are well and their needs are satisfied, they will be doing their jobs and stay pacified. When they become very poor, that’s when they challenge the status quo.
The modern world is faced with grave challenges of more poverty, pollution, dirty politics, parasitic economies, adverse climate changes and Global warming. Let’s humbly meditate and introspect
“Do we, even now in 21st century, fight amongst ourselves and try tearing Mother India apart or we now vow to stitch a new garment of Peace for her?”
Message to Gujaratis:
Instead of killing your own people, vandalizing their properties(including their Govt properties), I hope all privileged know your own country, its laws, its constitution, its people, their cultures, customs and traditions. I wish you also travel across Gujarat/Diu/India not only to enjoy the trips but also advise/teach your fellow citizens your experiences/wisdom (old & new) for peace, progress and prosperity of not only Gujarat and India but the entire world. (Given a chance, like you, they are also keen, highly adaptive and always refine themselves!) Different members of communities of villages, towns and cities (including Govt officials) may meet (civic engagement/community engagement) once in a while to meditate what’s good for themselves, communities, humanity and creation…It need not happen only in some remote place or a state capital or a nation’s capital or any world capital or a holy city or even in Heaven… It should start in every home or every city/town/village in a chai dhukan, cricket maidan, online, or park or just in a plain ground where everyone can hear everyone else…And that’s the true gathering of people in the name of Allah/God/Gods of any religion!
Let’s strengthen ties between all “human beings”(Manavatha Vadi) and make the world one big global village. (Vasudaiva Kutumbakam!)
Please kindly forgive me if I said anything wrong or hurt your feelings! Also due to time constraints, please kindly forgive my Indlish mistakes too!
Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantihi||
Satyameva Jayathe!
Kal Gandikota
Note: I am not affiliated with any political party or any religion and and I have no interest in starting one! Before some mischievous people hack my comment, copy To:
1. All Political Parties
2. Naxalites and other Revolutionaries (in SAARC Nations and the world)
3. Newspapers of SAARC Nations and the world.
4. Translators of all languages of the universe.
5. All sentient beings of the universe