Outside a swanky three-storey bungalow, the residence of a former Congress MLA in Udaipur where Hardik Patel is currently staying, there is a stream of visitors to meet the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor, who turned 23 on Wednesday. Dressed in a white linen shirt and khaki pants, Hardik greets dozens of visitors from Gujarat and other states. A diamond ring glitters on his finger, his Rolex flashes on his wrist. Clutching his iPhone, the Patidar quota agitation leader says that not being able to celebrate his birthday with his family is “nothing unusual”. “There hasn’t been a single year that I have celebrated my birthday with my family. Even young Armymen don’t celebrate birthdays at home. In the 48 hours in Gujarat after my release, I met three lakh people and my family met me for only five minutes,” he says. On July 16, Patel, who has to stay away from Gujarat for six months, as per a court order, had reached out to the Dalit victims of Una through the Morbi unit of PAAS, condemning the incident and expressing solidarity with them. Hardik says he fears that the Gujarat government might “kill” him if he enters Gujarat. He says this is why he is always “protected” by a close circle of Patidar men he trusts. “I was booked for sedition and kept in prison. I don’t think I did anything seditious, but I cannot trust the government. When they can brand young boys as terrorists and kill them in encounters, I know that they might ensure that I return to Gujarat as a dead body. They might kill me in an encounter. I am not afraid of death, but I keep my trusted men around,” says Hardik, as he keeps obliging young supporters from Gujarat who want a selfie with him. On the flogging of Dalits, Hardik says, “Chief Minister Anandiben Patel visited victims, offered compensation and suspended police officers — this is sheer politics. But when thousands of Patidars were injured by the police last year and several died of bullet injuries, the CM did not express solidarity or visit these families. This shows how much she cares for Patidars in Gujarat.” He adds that the BJP tried to break his morale by putting him in prison, but he sought strength from reading “inspirational stories” of Nelson Mandela. Watch Video: What's making news Hardik also claims that the youth of the country are just like him. “The youth of the country do not believe in discriminating between caste, religion or creed. We have grown up having friends from various castes and communities who enjoyed gol gappa together. These are concepts of old hags in politics. The youth need to change that,” he says. “I haven’t realised how the last five days have passed here, with people pouring in. It shows that my confinement in prison was unable to reduce the love they shower on me,” he adds.
