Belongings of Dalit families removed from Vidyapith

Allegations fly over ‘forced evacuation’ of third-generation residents from campus

A storm of controversy has erupted over alleged attempts to force Dalit families living on the Gujarat Vidyapith campus out of their residences by cutting off their electricity and water supply. According to family members, they are third-generation residents of the campus. They claim that their belongings were recently removed from their homes without any prior notice, prompting them to protest outside the Vidyapith authority’s office and residences late on Monday night.

University’s response

While the families have approached the police to file a complaint, Gujarat Vidyapith officials maintain they have held discussions with the families and agreed to abide by a pending court case and act in accordance with the court’s verdict.

“There are three families living in residences allotted to them a long time ago,” said in-charge registrar Nikhil Bhatt. “These residences are in shambles, and demolition work has already begun. While other residents have moved out, three families still had their belongings in three of the residences. In the presence of security and with videographic documentation, belongings from these residences were removed to a safe place so that we can start the process of removing the dilapidated houses.”

Congress joins in

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress has declared that they will join the protest and the chairman of the Scheduled Castes Department of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, Hitendra Pithadiya, visited the affected families on Tuesday.

Courtesy: Ahmedabad Mirror

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