Patidar leader to sit on 24-hour hunger strike in Mehsana today

Lalji Patel, founder president of Sardar Patel Group.

One of the leaders of the Patidar agitation in Gujarat, Lalji Patel, is planning to sit on a 24-hour-hunger strike in Mehsana on Wednesday to protest against police atrocities meted out to the members of his community.

Talking about an incident that happened on September 19, when about 35 Patidars, including ten women, were arrested after clashing with the police near Modhera chowkdi in Mehsana, the head of Sardar Patel Group (SPG), Lalji Patel, said, “Police had misused their powers and lodged robbery complaints against those arrested, including women. We are fighting to get them out from judicial custody. How can members of our community snatch or rob helmets or wooden sticks from the police? We will protest against the police action by sitting on a 24-hour hunger strike in Mehsana on Wednesday.” Patel, along with 10 other members of the Patidar community, will be sitting near Arjun Complex at Radhanpur check-post in Mehsana on Wednesday at 9 am.

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“We have applied for police permission for this event from B division police station in Mehsana, but till now we have not got it. Even if we don’t get the permission, we will go ahead with the hunger strike and allow police to use their own powers and arrest us,” SPG secretary Ashwin Patel said.

On September 19, Mehsana police had arrested 35 persons and lodged a complaint, stating that their helmets and wooden sticks were taken away by the accused when police were engaged in dispersing the mob at Modhera chowkdi.