Patidar leaders protest against prohibitory orders in Morbi

Since the Patidar quota stir picked up momentum in August last year, Morbi district, which has emerged as the epicentre of the agitation in Saurashtra, has remained under prohibitory orders for four months now, especially with the state government organising a state-level Independence Day celebration there. However, the Patidars have objected to this clampdown as they too are gearing up for a big event in late August.

On August 25 last year, violence broke out in many parts of the state after police allegedly lathi-charged a Patidar rally in Ahmedabad. Morbi too had witnessed large-scale violence, with mobs torching three dozen Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation buses and setting fire to the offices of local MLA Kanti Amrutiya and Union Agriculture Minister Mohan Kundariya. The army was deployed to control the violence.

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In an attempt to maintain law and order, the administration invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 and banned the assembly of more than four persons without prior permission on August 25 for two days. The notification issued under Section 144 also prohibited public meetings and processions without prior permission, but exempted religious and social gatherings. The prolonged restrictions has irked Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which is planning “Kranti Divas” or the “day of revolution” on August 25 to mark the anniversary of the first mega Patidar rally in Ahmedabad. They submitted a memorandum to Morbi mamlatdar last week, demanding the revocation of the prohibitory orders.