'Our Movement is Non-Violent, It Will Intensify,' Hardik Patel Tells NDTV: Highlights

New Delhi:  The brief detention of Hardik Patel, 21, has placed parts of Gujarat on knife’s edge, with buses and police jeeps set on fire in parts of Ahmedabad and Surat.

A curfew has been declared in parts of the state. “Our movement is non-violent, we have not triggered any violence,” said Mr Patel, a young businessman, who has emerged as the leader of a massive movement by the Patels or Patedars, demanding reservation in government jobs and colleges.

“The campaign will intensify in the coming days,” he said in an exclusive interview.

Yesterday, Mr Patel’s takeover of Ahmedabad was near complete. With gusto, he addressed lakhs of Patels, a traditionally affluent and powerful caste, at a huge public ground in the heart of the city.

At the rally, he announced a hunger strike. At 9 pm, in a huge misstep, he was led away by the police, which also used a lathi-charge to break up the crowd. The indiscriminate violence – the injured included mediapersons – and the news of Mr Patel’s detention sparked cases of arson in neighbourhoods popular with Patels.

On a WhatsApp message, he appealed for calm; Chief Minister Anandiben also tweeted asking people to remain peaceful.

Denying that his supporters are inflaming tension, Mr Patel said, “At yesterday’s rally, I didn’t use any provocative statement. Despite our peaceful gathering, there was a police crackdown.”

The police says Mr Patel was removed because permission for the venue that turned into his show of strength was intended only for a rally. The young leader, whose father is a BJP politician, chose to announce he would remain there fasting unless the Chief Minister visited him and his colleagues to assess their demands.

Anandiben has already said that the Patels cannot be added to the list of more than 100 castes that currently benefit from quotas in the state. Gujarat, she has underlined, has already hit the cap of 50% reservations mandated by the Supreme Court.

The Patels, once wealthy farmers and traders, say that because they are largely self-employed, they are being excluded from the growth curve of the famous Gujarat model of development.  

Their youth needs medical and engineering degrees, they argue, and admission in colleges has become impossible because other castes in the “reserved” category get preference.