Jignesh Mevani, the independent Gujarat MLA and dalit activist, has announced that he will hold a Yuva Hunkar Rally for social justice in Delhi on January 9. He said he would also lead a team to the Prime Minister's Office, with a copy of the Manusmriti in one hand and a copy of the Constitution in the other, and ask the prime minister to choose one of them.
Mevani, a first-time MLA and one of the three young Turks who brought the BJP to a sub-100 seat tally in the recent Gujarat Assembly elections, was speaking at a press conference in the national capital on Friday.
He dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the hustings in 2019, and said it was his 'fear' that had made the government lodge a 'false' FIR against him. He also demanded an inquiry into the violence against dalits at Bhima-Koregaon in Pune.
Mevani said if an MLA is not allowed to have a rally, “It speaks volumes about Modi.”
Asserting that he was fighting for social justice, and there would be no compromise on that, Mevani said the prime minister has to clarify his commitment to dalits, and asked why the dalit was feeling insecure in the country.
“We remember Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar for the Constitution, but his ultimate goal was a casteless society. We are exploring whether there is water on Mars, but here on earth, the insect called caste is alive.”
The prime minister has to speak on this. Instead I am being targeted,” the young legislator said, adding that as a lawyer and a lawmaker, he stood for the rule of law, and had said nothing inflammatory, had not visited Bhima Koregaon ever and did not participate in the recent Maharashtra bandh.
“Instead of targetting me, the Centre should ask the Maharashtra government whether targetting Mevani would not offend dalits,” he said, adding that if caste has to be abolished, the fight on the street and people's movements are as necessary as raising the issue in Parliament and legislature.
“We are not against any caste, but we are against the caste system,” he said.
“If an MLA raising an issue legitimately is treated thus, I shudder to think of how the ordinary citizens raising their voice over issues that concern them will be treated. The Sangh Parivar and the BJP see in me a danger for themselves in the 2019 elections. And that is why they are targeting an established dalit leader on false and frivolous complaints,” he said, appealing for peace and rule of the law in Maharashtra.
A large group of youth had gathered outside the Press Club of India where Mevani was holding forth. He wrapped up his press conference saying 'We the people' have become victims of the 'Gujarat Model'.
