Gujarat farmers' leader detained, as Modi launches his high profile roadshow in Surat; no reason offered

In a move which has not surprised farmers' leaders, prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Surat for road show, the police detained President of Khedut Samaj South Gujarat chief Jayesh Patel (Delat). The detention took place despite the fact that the Khedut Samaj did not plan any protest programmes, nor did it seek any permission for protest.
The detention came amidst the news that farmers' representatives wanted to raise with Modi the case of income-tax recovery notices slapped on South Gujarat sugar cooperatives. The income tax (IT) department has sent recovery notices to some of the largest sugar cooperative clusters of South Gujarat. The notices suggest that 14 cooperatives evaded Rs 1,399 crore in taxes between 2011-12 and 2013-14.
Notices were served amidst farmers' leaders saying that the IT department "overlooked" the fact that agricultural incomes are exempt from tax under the IT Act. The farmers in South Gujarat are mainly depend on sugarcane farming.
While the police have given no reason for the detention, this is not for the first time that the cops swooped upon activists, detaining them ahead of any VVIP visit, including Modi's.
The Khedut Samaj said in a statement, “The government, is so afraid of social activists that it earlier detained Khedut Samaj leaders Sagar Rabari and Lakhan Musafir, Patidar pro-quota leader Hardik Patel, Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani, among others, ahead of Modi’s programmes.”
Khedut Samaj stated, “This shows as to how intense the fear is of the people within the government. One need not say on whose orders are the ‘obedient’ police force acting.”
Rabari, commenting on the detention, said, “The farmers of Gujarat severely condemn this undemocratic and despotic step of the Gujarat government. This direct attack on democracy in Gujarat will be answered to by the people of Gujarat in the forthcoming elections.”
He added, “The government is resorting to the short-cut of suppressing the voice of the farmers instead of listening to them. We will undertake massive programmes of people’s education against the anti-democratic and autocratic steps by the ruling establishment.”
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Romel Sutariya of the Adivasi Kisan Sangharsh Manch (AKSM), which represents the new class of tribal farmers of South Gujarat, said that Modi would be inaugurating the Surat District Co-Operative Milk Producer's Union or SUMUL’s Tapi plant in South Gujarat despite the fact that it has been constructed illegally on agricultural land.
Quoting sources, Sutariya said, the plant, situated off national highway near Valod taluka’s Bajipur village on a plot of land belonging to Titava village, which is an agricultural land, and has not been cleared for non-agricultural purpose.
“The plant was built despite the fact that the local panchayat opposed handing over the plot of land for non-agricultural purpose”, claimed Sutariya, adding, “Tapi district officials are learnt to have even decided to propose a fine of Rs 4 lakh for illegal construction.”
Sutariya demanded, during his visit, Modi should send out the signal to the state government so that it begins acting against chit fund scamsters, who are looting poor tribals. “If Modi speaks against chit fund scam in West Bengal, what stops him to speak about it in Gujarat”, it asked.

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog