Fresh violence broke out during a day long bandh on Wednesday over the demand for OBC quota for Patels in Gujarat even as curfew was clamped in parts of Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana districts and thousands of paramilitary and anti-riot personnel were deployed to control the situation. Multiple trains have been cancelled and diverted to different routes due to agitation by Patel community. Ten columns of the army and 53 companies of paramilitary forces, besides the Gujarat Police, have been called in to control violent mobs in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Morbi, Vadodara, Mehsana and Banaskantha.
The Patel community, a strong vote bank of BJP, has been agitating for around a month demanding reservation under the Other Backward Class (OBC) status. Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Patel community and Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convenor, is spearheading the community's quota agitation.
Hardik Patel, who has imparted momentum and virulence to the struggle, was briefly detained yesterday. But the young leader's detention late in the evening led to an immediate backlash, as protesters gathered in large numbers at various cross-roads and attacked the police, pelted stones and set on fire public properties, including buses at two places.
Following arson and stone-pelting incidents by the members of Patel community after the detention of their 22-year-old leader Hardik Patel on Tuesday night, a curfew was imposed in three towns of North Gujarat and some areas of Surat.
Five people died last night in Ahmedabad, two of them allegedly in police firing after protesters clashed with cops. Two people were killed in Palanpur in north Gujarat today, both allegedly in police firing. A policeman who was injured during the morning's clashes in Surat, has also died. More than a 100 buses were set on fire overnight and property damaged in the violence in Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana cities and the towns of Unjha and Visnagar, local officers said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed the people of Gujarat to maintain peace and calmness in the state and said that issues can be solved through talks.
