Gujarat: Rajput outfit gives govt 10 days to junk Ambawadi clash FIRs

The Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Padmaavat’, based on the saga of a historic 13th century battle between Maharaja Ratan Singh and his army of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi, has Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

A day after Dalit youth leader and Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani demanded “justice” in the April 16 Ambawadi clash, in which a group of slum-dwellers had clashed with students of a hostel, over 50 leaders of various Rajput organisations met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama on Tuesday, demanding quashing of FIRs against Rajput community members in Ambawadi incident and clashes preceding the release of Padmaavat.

The representation, made under the banner of Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, has demanded quashing of FIRs against a dozen inmates of the Nayanaba Jadeja IAS Bhawan for their alleged involvement in the Ambawadi clash. While the students involved in these clashes belonged to the upper castes, most of the slum-dwellers were Dalits.

Giving the state government 10 days’ time to act upon their demands, Raj Shekhawat, president of the outfit, referred to the quashing of FIRs filed during the Patidar agitation. “If the state government can withdraw FIRs against Dalits and Patidars, then why not Rajputs against whom FIRs have been registered in the Padmaavat clashes,” he said.

Responding to the demand of Dalits that hostel be shifted from Ambawadi, Rajput leaders said that if the state government failed to provide security to the hostel inmates, the community will hire own security guards.