Skip to main content

Dalit wedding processions row: Rights leaders question Gujarat CM's silence, cop inertia

Martin Macwan, Jignesh Mevani
By A Representative
Addressing media in the wake of a series of incidents -- in which dominant rural castes stopped Dalit wedding processions to pass through village streets --  rights leaders Jignesh Mevani, an independent MLA of Gujarat state assembly, and Martin Macwan, founder of Gujarat’s biggest Dalit rights organization, Navsarjan Trust, have accused the state administration’s alleged indifference towards what they described as clear examples of untouchability prevailing in a state, whose rulers claim to have overcome discriminatory practices.
If Mevani criticised Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and other senior officials for failing to condemn the incidents and keeping mum, Macwan said, when the authorities insist these should not be politicised, but their refusal to take action against the officials for failing to take protect the Dalits itself is nothing but political. They said, the police refused protection despite prior pleas, and the cops are now busy instituting false charges against Dalits.
The five incidents*, which shook the state, especially Dalits who form seven per cent of the population, involve village Khambhisar, taluka Modasa, district Aravalli; village Sitvada; taluka Prantij, district Sabarkantha; village Boriya, taluka Prantij, district Sabarkantha; village Lhor, taluka Kadi, district Mehsana; village Boriya, taluka Prantij, district Sabarkantha; and village Gajipur, taluka Vadali, district Sabarkantha.

A note by Dalit rights leaders:

The state had prior information about the possibility of such incidents. Police was intimated in writing about the actual threats Dalits had received for planning a wedding procession in all the five incidents taking place in past week. Hence, the police could have prevented such incidents as they are duty bound by law. A warning by the chief minister’s officer (CMO) of stern action would have acted as a deterrent.
The Chief Minister has maintained silence. He has not visited a single village to even appeal for harmony. He has stayed away from condemning such incidents. Is he in agreement with the people who have openly defied the law or he thinks it is beyond his capabilities?
An appeal not to politicize the issue too is misplaced. This is a political issue. A state with intimation on possible defiance of law cannot remain a mute spectator.
These are not cases of caste-based violence; rather these are clear cases of untouchability practices where Dalits are told in no uncertain terms that they have no right to sit on the horse, play music, seek blessings of the village deity and take out wedding processions like them on the public road.
The Dalits know they have a right, and hence they do not require to be informed about their rights. It is the social groups who commit such crimes need to be told that they have no right to prevent wedding processions of Dalits.
These incidents have happened due to utter state of lawlessness where people have no fear either of the police or the law itself of openly defy the law. The people who prevented wedding processions too knew that Dalits have given prior notice to the police about the apprehended trouble and yet, they had the courage to defy law openly.
In Khambhisar, therefore, the police officer ended up abusing and assaulting Dalits as if they were the law breakers while protecting the people who were abusing the law.
The police appeal in these villages for harmony or the visit of deputy chief minister to only Lhor in his constituency and appeal for peace in misplaced. In none of the incidents Dalits have defied the law. More than an appeal, dealing with heavy hand with law breakers is required.

What next?

  • A meeting of Dalit-Adivasi-civil society leaders will take place on May 18, Buddha Purnima, at Dalit Shakti Kendra, Nani Devti village, Sanand taluka, Ahmedabad district, to decide on next steps. All Dalit MLAs are invited.
  • A petition will be filed with the National Human Rights Commission on the willful negligence of the state. 
***
*Details of the incidents
In village Khambhisar, after apprehending that they would be stopped, Dalits sought police protection. The Patidar women at several places held yagna and Ramdhun to not allow the wedding procession to proceed on May 12. The Dalit procession was stoned with it reached the Patel faliya of locality. Police arrived on the scene but it could not help Dalits to proceed.
The procession was stalled for five hours. It was only on May 13, with a large police force, a simple procession took place, after the father of the groom was forced to cancel the grand ceremony. Dalits have accused the police officer of abusing them instead of helping them.
In village Sitvada, Anil Rathod's family sought police protection after elders of Sitvada village, belonging to the Thakor community, objected to the wedding procession, also on May 12, to pass through the village and his plans to offer prayers at the Bhikhabhai Vaniya temple. The objection was on the bridegroom riding a horse.
Significantly, the Dalit family intimated the police in writing. Due to threats during the procession, Dalits were forced to halt the procession. The DJ group ran away due to fear of assault. It was only with the police protection was provided that the DJ could return and the groom could visit the temple and complete the wedding procession, though the plan to ride the horse had to be abandoned.
On May 11, in village Boriya, a Dalit policeman, Sanjay Rathod, serving for 27 years serving at Jadhar police station, could ride a horse during his wedding procession only after around 150 of his uniformed colleagues made a security ring around him and his family members and invitees. The executive magistrate too remained present. The police force remained in the village till the wedding was over.
On May 7 in village Lhor, Dalits faced boycott by upper castes for two days as a groom from the community rode a horse during his wedding procession. They had in intimated in writing intimated to the police about the threats they had received. Mehul was the first ever Dalit bridegroom in the village who rode on horse with the procession.
Five persons, including the sarpanch, the deputy sarpanch and the husband of the taluka panchayat member were taken in custody. Muslims of the village joined others in the social boycott of Dalits. The call to assemble to declare social boycott was delivered from the temple microphone.
On May 12, in village Gajipur, Mehul Bhambhi too faced similar hurdles following the wedding procession.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

  By Rajiv Shah   This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.
1 comment
»

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan*  “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.
Post a Comment
»

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.
59 comments
»

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative   A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...
Post a Comment
»

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan*  A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .
Post a Comment
»

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.
Post a Comment
»

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey*  ​In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.
Post a Comment
»

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah   A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.
2 comments
»

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".
51 comments
»