3 min readVadodaraOct 15, 2015 07:32 PM IST
First published on: Oct 15, 2015 at 07:32 PM IST
In the backdrop of the Patidar Community’s threat to the 3rd ODI between India and South Africa in Rajkot, the Gujarat Kshatriya-Thakor Sena President Alpesh Thakor has warned of a “naxal movement”, should the Other Backward Communities (OBC) feel “throttled”. Thakor, who was in Narmada in an effort to “unite” members of the OBC community on Thursday said the Patidars “must not disrupt” the cricket match as it would earn Rajkot a cricket taint “like Pakistan”.
Several members of the OBC community gathered in Narmada to meet Thakor, who has been threatening a stir to counter the Patel community’s OBC reservation agitation. On Thursday, sporting black protest bands and holding banners reading slogans against the district police and administration for denying Thakor the permission to hold a public address, the community members gathered in the Harisiddhi Mata temple instead. The Narmada district police had turned down Thakor’s request for permission to hold a public rally due to the ongoing Navratri festivities stating that it was a “sensitive matter”.
However, community members took Thakor to the Harisiddhi Mata temple, where police were unable to prevent the meeting. Interacting with the members of the community, Thakor stated that it was the “large hearted spirit” of the community that it had not retaliated to the remarks made by various political leaders against reservation. Thakor assured the community members that they would “fight back the suppression” and “uproot the government”.
Speaking with reporters at the venue, Thakor said that the OBC community condemned the Patel agitation. “We are against any form of violence, which is why we have shown restrain despite comments from Anna Hazare and other leaders against reservations for our people. If Anna has the courage, he should come to Gujarat and say that he is against reservation. The Patels are offering the government Rs 7000 crore to mock the package offered by the Chief Minister. That shows their pomposity and the fact that they do not need reservation. We are not denying that about 25 families in the Patel community might be genuinely poor, but not all of them need reservations,” Thakor said.
Warning the anti-reservation forces to not take the silence of the community lightly, Thakor said, “Just because we are patient, it does not mean that we will suffer injustice. If they try to suppress or throttle us, it would not be long before the Naxals inside us emerge.”
Thakor said he was against the idea of the Patel community to disrupt the 3rd ODI between India and South Africa to be held in Rajkot on Friday. Thakor said, “Disrupting a cricket match that has got nothing to do with reservation is unwise. It will only bring a bad name to Rajkot and ruin their chances of getting another international cricket match in the near future, just like Pakistan, where no one wants to play.”
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