# India

Jignesh held on way to protest Dalit’s death

Gujarat’s Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani was arrested on Sunday morning while he was on his way to the venue of…

Rathin Das | Ahemdabad | February 19, 2018 12:58 am

Jignesh held on way to protest Dalit’s death

Gujarat’s Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani was arrested on Sunday morning while he was on his way to the venue of a meeting in protest against the self-immolation of another activist Bhanubhai Vankar.

The police allegedly intercepted the Independent MLA and dragged him out of the car and also snatched its key and broke it to prevent him from going ahead.

A video uploaded on the internet shows Jignesh Mevani arguing with the plainclothes policemen and questioning their ‘right’ to rough up an elected representative for no reason.

Jignesh, who has almost emerged as the de facto Opposition leader in Gujarat despite the Congress having as many as 77 legislators, was on his way to the Ambedkar statue in Sarangpur in eastern Ahmedabad for the protest meet.

Bhanubhai Vankar, a member of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM), had immolated himself in front of the District Collector’s office in Patan on Thursday in protest against a Dalit family not being allotted a piece of land for five years after payment was already made.

He succumbed to his burn injuries on Friday night following which the Dalits refused to cremate his body till the government met their demands.

The angry Dalits blocked several roads and disrupted traffic even as the government deployed heavy security paraphernalia around the hospital where Bhanubhai Vankar’s body was kept.