Gujarat: Beaten for posting on social media wearing glasses and turban, now angry Dalit community will take out rally wearing the same!

Dalit community angry in protest against caste-based attack in Gujarat’s Himmatnagar.

Ahmedabad. On Thursday, youths of the Dalit community gathered outside the Sabarkantha Superintendent of Police (SP)’s office wearing sunglasses and safa (turban) and later at the district collectorate. They submitted a memorandum demanding a yatra (procession) through Saibapur village, where all Dalits will wear sunglasses and turbans as a protest.

The protest started after a 24-year-old Dalit man from Saibapur was allegedly attacked by members of the upper caste Darbar community, allegedly for posting his picture on Instagram wearing a safa and sunglasses.

According to the FIR lodged with the Himmatnagar rural police, Ajay Parmar was driving his autorickshaw from Saibapur to Himmatnagar on July 18. Near the Navanagar bus stand, two men from Darbar, Kripalsingh Rathore and Manusingh Rathore, forcibly stopped the rickshaw, snatched Parmar’s phone and hurled caste-based abuses.

They demanded to know why he posted the picture on Instagram and said only Darbar can wear safa and sunglasses. Ajay was then forced to apologise.

Ajay called his cousin Bhavesh Parmar and his father Ramesh Parmar for help. When they were returning, Rathore’s men along with Hitendrasingh Rathore and Shuklasingh Rathore stopped them again and attacked Ajay. When Ramesh intervened, he was slapped. He was saved when other villagers heard the victims’ cries for help and noticed him.

The Himmatnagar rural police have registered a case against Kripalsingh, Manusingh, Hitendrasingh and Shuklasingh under the Indian Justice Code, including charges of causing hurt, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to breach the peace and provocation, as well as charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All four have been arrested.

Dalit activist Kalpesh Parmar submitted a memorandum to the offices of the Sabarkantha collector and SP, demanding that a procession be taken out in the village in which all Dalits will wear safas and sunglasses.

Another activist Kaushik Parmar said, “The way a Dalit man was beaten up for posting a photo wearing a safa and sunglasses shows that casteist elements in the upper caste community think they can dictate to Dalits.”

Courtesy : Hindi News