New Delhi: Jignesh Mevani, the face of new-found Dalit assertiveness in Gujarat, made his debut on the national political stage on Tuesday with a rally here where he called the Narendra Modi government a “threat” to democracy and the Constitution.
Thumbing his nose at the Delhi police, which did not give official permission to the ‘Yuva Hunkar’ (roar of the youth) rally held to demand the release of UP Dalit activist Chandrashekhar Azad, Mevani used the platform to attack Modi over the “Gujarat model” of politics.
“The 125 crore people of this country are watching that someone is not being allowed to speak for merely demanding the release of Chandrashekhar Azad and effective implementation of the Constitution and two crore jobs for the youth,” he said.
“If an elected representative does not have the right to do so, then this is the Gujarat model,” Mevani said to loud cheers from a crowd comprising student activists from Delhi, Lucknow and Allahabad, among other places.
The 35-year-old MLA from Vadgam shot to prominence after he launched a campaign across Gujarat against the BJP following an incident in Una where Dalits were flogged by vigilantes for skinning a dead cow. With Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, he formed a troika that substantially helped revive the Congress's fortunes in Modi's home state.
The rally -- held on Parliament Street in the heart of the national capital where prohibitory orders are in force through the year -- was primarily called to demand the release of Azad, the founder of Dalit outfit Bhim Army.
Though the crowd at the rally was thin with most chairs empty, former and current JNU student leaders, including Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid, were on the stage, metres away from the Parliament Street Police Station.
An organiser claimed the police and media had “created confusion” about the rally, which accounted for the modest turnout.
A senior Delhi Police official said no “formal permission was given for the rally, but it was allowed to be held to maintain peace.
“No formal permission was given for the rally but it was allowed in view of peace and law and order. We wanted to ensure law and order so it took place amid heavy police deployment,” he said.
Mevani told the gathering he would stand against the politics of hatred and embrace constitutional values and the “politics of love”, along the lines of what Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said after the Gujarat polls.
