Undemocratic, says tribal rights group as Gujarat govt disallows rally in Ahmedabad

A 2019 tribal show of strength in Ahmedabad

By A Representative

The Gujarat government has refused permission to the Ekalavya Sangathan for a tribal rally in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Riverfront stating that it would "obstruct traffic". A Gujarat police letter to the tribal rights group claimed, the decision not to allow the rally has been taken following "negative opinion" to hold the convention.
"The Gujarat government and the Gujarat Police have behaved in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner by not allowing the tribal rally to be held in Riverfront East at Ahmedabad on Thursday May 05, 2022", said Paulomee Mistry, who leads the Ekalavya Sangathan.
Mistry said, "The implementation of Forest Rights Act, MGNREGA and Food Security Act have been extremely lame in Gujarat. So the poor and unemployed tribals of the state wanted to gather in more than 10000 numbers to demand employment, food and land rights. The police have exposed their dictatorial mindset by not allowing tribals to hold conventions and peaceful rallies."
She wondered, "When the government claims that it has done a lot of welfare work for the tribals by giving advertisements worth crores of rupees, where is the justice in tribals of the state not being allowed to represent the details of development in the public interest?"
"Can only political leaders organise rallies?", Mistry asked, adding, "Doesn't the tribal community have a right to have their say? What kind of democracy is this? We had applied for permission for the last one month to the police and the officials of the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner."
She warned, "The answer to this will be given by the tribal community in the coming elections."

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