Authorities in Gujarat struggled to restore peace after days of unrest and clashes against civilian protesters and the police. State secretary for home affairs G S Malik said that at lease seven civilians were killed in police firing and one police constable in Surat city was killed in the confrontation. The unrest that began after police briefly detained Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel, ended with burned buses, blood smeared roads and curfew-bound neighbourhoods.
The dramatic murder mystery of Sheena Bora took a back seat as people asked who ordered Ahmedabad cops to behave and act the way they did with the protesters. Trouble brewed right after the rally, when Hardik Patel decided to sit on a hunger strike. Police told the protesters that were permitted to hold a rally at the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad only till 5 pm, and asked them to vacate the place. Almost as if waiting for a cue to resort to their lathis, they rained when the crowd resisted evacuation. “Dozens of people sustained injuries as the police started wielding batons,” a spectator said.
The repercussions of the 'cops gone wild' stint were soon seen across the city, and later across the state, as police chowkies were set ablaze, BJP headquarters in Patan were attacked and the Collector's office in Gandhinagar was stoned. Mobs torched public buses, pelted stones at fire brigade and exhibited open vandalism. Action taken by the cops set a domino effect as event unravelled to the point where MLAs and ministers were unsafe in their own homes. Army was deployed and they conducted flag marches in the city to instil confidence among people. District collector Rajkumar Beniwal said five companies of Army with over 500 personnel was brought in. This was the first time the army had to be deployed in Gujarat since religious violence in 2002 that left more than 1,000 people dead.
Dozens of videos and photographs of police brutality circulated, 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.
Hardik Patel in an interview asserted that Patidars were not responsible for the violence and hit out at the police for its action, saying, “We were treated like terrorists, and violence broke out only after police mercilessly beat up the protesters.” Pointing out that the protests by the Patidars have been non-violent, he alleged a “political conspiracy against a peaceful movement.” “I already told you we did want a violent protest but the way the police hit the youth at the ground, all of this was a result of that. We never asked anyone to indulge in violence but the police hit the people gathered like terrorists and they hit our women in the night. I have never seen such police brutality,” said Patel.
The police action against the Patels has already borne the state high court's wrath, as it reprimanded the police, asking it not to cross 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,” it said. The two-judge bench of acting Chief Justice Jayant Patel and Justice NV Anjaria, while admitting a PIL, directed the state government to submit a report on what actions it has taken against errant policemen. “The state must make police aware about their powers. Females were also beaten by male officers. Police should not transgress the law. Restoration of peace should stand high on priority,” the court told state home secretary P K Taneja, who was summoned for the hearing. It also ordered an inquiry into the death of Shwetang Patel, who allegedly died in police custody.
Now that the city and the state drags itself to normalcy under strained tensions, many wonder if the desperation shown by the Ahmedabad police to arrest Hardik Patel, and the violence they unleashed on people was scripted or merely a bad judgement on the government's part.
