Hardik Patel's speech amounted to sedition, Gujarat police tells High Court

Ahmedabad: The language used by Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of Patel quota agitation, at a public meeting at Tenpur village in Aravali district two days ago amounted to 'sedition', the Gujarat police today said in an affidavit in the High Court.

"Hardik Patel has used provocative words which amount to sedition," the affidavit filed by police sub-inspector YJ Rathod of Ambaliyara police station said.

It quoted Hardik as saying that "if the government does not satisfy our demand of reservation, then Patidar farmers should remove the high-tension electric lines passing over from their agriculture fields".

Hardik also said that use of 'thali and velan' (rolling pad-rolling pin) had been exhausted and now Patels should use 'dhoka' (a bat-like wooden tool with which clothes are cleaned during washing), the police alleged.

He also said if elderly people from the community joined the agitation, "the people, who are not in favour of ideology of reservation will come to know the fate," it said, adding that these words were so provocative that they will amount to sedition and would have also resulted into disturbances of public order in the area.

The affidavit was filed during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by Ketan Patel and Dinesh Patel alleging that police had abducted Hardik Patel.

But the affidavit refuted the allegation, saying Hardik escaped from the venue when the police tried to detain him and, if necessary, police would produce a video footage.

The government also submitted two reports in a sealed cover. Hardik, who is spearheading the Patels' agitation for quota under OBC category, surfaced yesterday after his mysterious disappearance the previous night. He claimed that he was abducted by "a person looking like a cop." The next hearing is likely on September 29.