Dalits threaten nationwide rail roko protest
Ahmedabad: Dalit agitation leader Jignesh Mevani on Sunday announced a “rail roko andolan” across the country later this month against incidents of atrocity on members of the community.
He said the date of the agitation would be announced on September 16 during a public gathering in Delhi.
“We are mentally preparing people to expand this protest… and for this purpose a rail roko andolan will be held across the country at the end of this month,” Mevani told The Indian Express after addressing a gathering at a public garden in Asarwa here. The area is predominantly inhabited by cloth mill workers and daily wage labourers.
He also announced several public events this month at Danilimda and Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad, Dholka, Bavla, Idar, Vadodara, Surat and Bhavnagar.
Mevani will also go to Kerala on a three-day visit from September 20. “Dalit community leaders in Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have already given their nod for the rail roko protest. Talks are on in Telangana and other southern states,” he said.
Speaking on BJP’s event for social harmony at Vejalpur in Ahmedabad, he said, “It is an attempt out of desperation to regain some ground… Dalits will not buy their words.”
On the speculation of him contesting elections from Asarwa constituency, he said that it would be against ‘a big leader of BJP and not from Asarwa.’
Source: The Indian Express
