Violence in Ahmedabad after Hardik Patel detained: Decoding the Patel community's demand for OBC status

The agitation seeking reservations for the Patel community raised the stakes on Tuesday with leaders of the community going on a fast unto death at Ahmedabad, saying that they wouldn’t call it off until Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel came to receive their memorandum seeking the community’s inclusion in the other backward castes category. Later, the leader of the agitation Hardik Patel was detained by the police only to be released after his followers went on the rampage. Here’s all you need to know about the agitation: What’s the agitation about? [caption id=“attachment_2407032” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Patel rally in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. PTI[/caption] The Patidars also known as Patel community claim that they’ve received ’no benefits since India became independent’ and are seeking reservations for the community. At one point, they were also open to the idea of a Vikas Aayog (development commission) for the community but now seem set on getting reservations. The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation, had claimed that the social, financial and educational conditions available to the community have been steadily deteriorating, The organisation has claimed that the community is mainly engaged in seasonal occupations and needs reservations in education and government jobs to help them tide over difficult times. As this detailed NDTV report on the caste equations in Gujarat points out, the community has been strongly against the basis for reservation. However, the community has begun seeking reservations as traditional sources of income are seen to be drying up, and a section of the community has been given a category of reservation. Who’s heading it? A 22-year-old is the face of the agitation that has been gathering steam in the state. Hardik Patel has been making headlines as he’s gone from strength to strength heading the agitation. A graduate in commerce, Patel’s family is in the business of supplying water in Viramgram near Ahmedabad and he had started the Sardar Patel Group at the time, according to an Economic Times report. Patel had started the Sardar Patel Group in 2011, in order ’to protect women’ from the community. He launched the movement for reservations in July by heading the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti after leaving the business to a partner and though his father is a BJP worker, Patel told the Indian Express that he had no political loyalties. And he’s committed to getting reservations for the community. “First, we follow the path shown by Gandhiji and Sardar Patel but, if required, we can become Bhagat Singh too,” he said. What’s the government saying?  Despite the fact that the Patel community constitutes a major vote bank in the state, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has shown no signs of relenting to the demand for reservations. “As per the Constitution and judgments of the Supreme Court, we cannot make any changes in the structure of reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, nor can we give reservation beyond 50 percent,” she said in a message to the state that was both published in print and broadcast by video. She has said that other state governments had tried similar things in the past, alluding to the Jat reservation that had been struck down by the apex court, and added that the state government didn’t want to “make fake promises”. The state’s health minister also had said that the government could consider a special scheme for general category students under which the state would bear educational expenses. “The state government is preparing a scheme to provide financial assistance to all non-reservation category students, including Patels. Under this scheme, the state government will bear various educational expenses, like tuition fees and hostel fees of these students,” Gujarat Health Minister and government spokesperson Nitin Patel said. However, none of these schemes have been accepted by the Sardar Patel group. Are RSS and Sangh Parivar fuelling the agitation? The RSS is reportedly worried about the agitation and according to this report is working on resolving the crisis. But then there’s another report which claims that the organisation could be backing the stir to get reservation criteria re-organised on the basis of economic criteria rather than caste. The Sangh Parivar reportedly believes that if the major castes in states demand reservations it brings the focus on realignment of caste reservation based on economic criteria and it would also help upper caste communities to avail of quotas in education and jobs, reports the Economic Times. The report quoted an unnamed Sangh leader as saying that the Patel stir helps “create an environment” across the country that will allow reservation policies to be altered. What other castes are saying The Other Backward Castes community isn’t taking the agitation lying down and doesn’t want the state government to give in to the demands of the Patel community. A Hindu report quotes a leader of the Save Reservation Committee, an organisations created by various OBC communities as saying that they won’t allow for a quota being carved out of theirs to give reservations to the Patel community. “We strongly condemn the way in which Patels are pressurising the government to get reservation by threatening to uproot government in 2017. I want to warn this government not to take our patience for granted,” Alpesh Thakor the head of the organisation said in a rally on Monday. Patels account for only 12 percent of the state’s population, while OBCs, SCs and STs make up 78 percent. “If the Patels will be given even one percent reservation, this government may no longer remain in power in this year itself, forget about 2017,” he said. The OBC leaders have argued that the Patel community that constitutes a small percentage of the state’s population, cannot be included in their reservation category under any circumstances. The fear of a clash between the different castes is presumably what is prompting the state government to maintain high security for the Patel agitation. with inputs from PTI