Gujarat cops have a 'General Dyer' moment: Did they act against govt wishes during Patel agitation?

Ahmedabad: The biggest whodunit these days in Gujarat is not the murder mystery of Sheena Bora. The talk in the drawing rooms and on the streets here is this: who ordered Ahmedabad cops to act against the Patels demanding reservation on 25 August? The inexplicable hurry shown by the Ahmedabad police to arrest Hardik Patel, leader of the movement by Patels for OBC status, and the violence unleashed by them later has made people wonder if the cops were acting on a script to ensure the agitation escalates into a Patel vs others conflict. The police action against the Patels has already incurred the Gujarat High Court’s wrath. On Saturday night, the court reprimanded the police, asking it to not cross the limits and work within the framework of existing laws. Acting on a public interest litigation filed by an NGO, the court advised the state government to take action against cops guilty of oppressive action. “They should not be saved,” the court said, asking the government for a report on the action taken by it against errant cops on 3 September. [caption id=“attachment_2414724” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Who ordered Ahmedabad cops to act against the Patels demanding reservation. PTI[/caption] The court has also ordered an enquiry into the custodial death of Shweatang Patel, a 25-year-old resident of the Bapu Nagar area of Ahmedabad. The HC found prima-facie evidence that Shweatang died in custody because of police brutality. The Ahmedabad commissioner of police, facing severe criticism, has ordered transfer of several cops from the Bapu Nagar police station after the court’s intervention. Hardik Patel has also blamed cops for the violence that gripped Ahmedabad for two days after he was arrested from the site of the Patidar rally. Ten persons had died, several were injured in arson and violence that gripped several parts of Gujarat for two days. Hardik says they will avenge the death of the innocent people as soon as they find out who was the “General Dyer of Ahmedabad’s Jallianwala Bagh.”. Within the Patidar community, dozens of videos and photographs of police brutality are circulating, leading to anger and vows of retribution. Some of the clips reveal vandalism, arson and targeted violence by cops in Patel strongholds, leading to deaths and damage to private property. Did the cops act on their own, or were they following orders to crack down on the Patels gathered in Ahmedabad? Ahmedabad-based writer Zahir Janmohammad says the recent incidents show the Gujarat police force does not obey the state government. “The excessive force used by the police this past week against the Patels testifies to a culture of policing in Gujarat, which predates 2002 but was exacerbated after it, where impunity is the norm and inaction is forgiven–and sometimes rewarded,” he argues. The sequence of events leading up to the violence in Ahmedabad strengthens wide-spread suspicion that the cops may have initiated suo-motu action against the Patels. On Tuesday (August 25), the crowd at the venue of the rally had thinned out by evening. Due to confusion with members of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, led by Hardik, and its affiliate, Sardar Patel Group, people had left the venue and started marching towards the Collectorate to submit their memorandum of demands. By 7 pm, there were less than 2000 people at the rally grounds. According to sources, the government was not keen to take strict action against agitators. The consensus initially was to let it fizzle out and people go back home. But, just when the rally seemed to be petering out, the cops at the venue crossed the barricades and started dispersing the gathering. Simultaneously, they arrested Hardik for continuing the protest after 6 pm without the requisite permission. This triggered violence and clashes between protesters and police. Officials are not willing to discuss the change in strategy on record. But two theories are in circulation. One, somebody from Delhi gave orders for the crackdown, surpassing the state government. This could have been done either to break the back of the agitators, or with the ulterior motive of escalating the crisis and destabilising Anandiben Patel’s government. The other argument– and this sounds more logical– is that the cops acted on their own. Leaders of the Patidar movement argue there are lots of OBCs in the police force and they may have acted on their own out of sheer anger against the demand for quota benefits. Both the developments do not augur well for Gujarat.