The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti has threatened to stage protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Gujarat visit tomorrow if its members are not allowed to submit him a memorandum of their demands. Modi is scheduled to inaugurate Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojna (SAUNI) at Dhrol taluka in Jamnagar district.
Rajkot PAAS convener Brijesh Patel said they want to seek “clarification” from the PM on his “silence” on the “atrocities” committed on Patels during last year’s agitation for reservation. “We do not wish to disrupt the programme if we are given permission by authorities to meet him (PM) and hand him over a memorandum. If we are denied permission, PAAS members will stage protest outside the venue (of the PM’s event),” said Brijesh, a close associate of quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel.
PAAS wants to raise several demands through their memorandum, including the key demand of granting reservation to Patidar community in government jobs and education under OBC quota. “Our PM never said anything about the atrocities committed on Patels during our agitation. We want to seek clarification from Modi on his silence. Through our memorandum, we also want to raise the issue of inaction by state government in punishing police officers involved in thrashing and killing Patels,” said Brijesh. He said PAAS has already sought permission from the police commissioners and the collectors of Rajkot and Jamnagar to allow its members to hand over the memorandum to the PM.