Dalits, marginalised community and civil society members besides the Congress from across the State gathered in huge numbers in Gandhinagar, the State capital, to express their solidarity with Dalit MLA Jignesh Mevani who has expressed threat to his life from an IPS officer.
Mevani has also written to Union Minister Amit Shah seeking suspension of IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian for threatening him when he went to meet him over issues pertaining to Dalit community in Gujarat. Pandian is a 1996 batch officer.
Mevani is a Congress MLA and party’s working president. According to him, he along with another Congress’ Chairman for Scheduled Caste Cell Hitendra Pithadiya went to meet Rajkumar Pandian, additional director general of police handling Scheduled Caste and scheduled tribe issues. According to Mevani, the IPS officer misbehaved with them. Mevani was wearing a t-shirt and according to him the officer made derogatory remarks about his clothes.
Vibes of India got in touch with Rajkumar Pandian who denied comments on the issue.
“If I, any of my family members, or any of my team members are murdered like Baba Siddique, then only and only IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian will be responsible. The entire state of Gujarat knows the character of this officer, who has served seven years in prison for a fake encounter case. No matter what happens, I will never stop fighting for the dignity and self-respect of Dalits, backward classes and Bahujans in Gujarat and the country, “Jignesh has written to Amit Shah.
“A people’s representative, a MLA, has a right to raise issues. To reprimand them exposes the anti poor and anti-dalit mentality of this government, Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil said.
Jignesh told Vibes of India (VoI) that he went to meet Pandian on October 15 to discuss illegal encroachment on Dalit land in Kutch district. Jignesh has been raising this issue for quite some time. “I was wearing a t- shirt and he started reprimanding me for wearing such clothes despite being a MLA”, Jignesh said.
Jignesh has been demanding that the Gujarat government give back the land they have encroached upon to the original owners of the small land parcels across Gujarat. Dalits have been allocated land parcels under Gujarat Agriculture Land Ceiling Act but the land has been encroached upon by non-Dalaits and the Government has not been doing enough to do justice to the Dalits, Jignesh has been contending. According to Jignesh there are about 4000 acre of such land parcels across Gujarat, mainly in Kutch and Banaskantha which originally belong to Dalits but have been encroached upon by non Dalits. He has been alleging that the Gujarat government has not been taking adequate steps to ensure that the Dalits get their land back.
On October 15, that is five days ago, Jignesh and Pithadiya went to meet IPS Pandian to discuss this issue where according to Jignesh, he and Pithadiya were insulted and threatened. “It is with deep and justified pain, displeasure and regret that I, Jignesh Mevani, MLA of Vadgam, present the facts concerning the absolutely unacceptable, improper and deplorable behaviour of Rajkumar Pandian, ADGP – SC, ST (Ahmedabad Police), when I went to make a representation on behalf and in favour of the Dalits of Gujarat against the illegal encroachment of land allocated to them,” Mevani wrote in his letter.
Soon after entering his cabin, Pandian allegedly asked Mevani and another Dalit leader, Hitendra Pithadiya, who is Gujarat Congress’s SC department chairman, to keep their mobile phones outside the chamber.
“Pandian got agitated and asked his staff to take the mobile phones claiming they (Mevani and Pithadiya) might be recording the conversation using their phones. I told him we are ready to keep our mobile phones outside, but such behaviour with an MLA is not appropriate,” Mevani stated in his letter to the Home Minister.
Mevani also claimed that Pandian responded to him with anger, abruptly ending the meeting and refusing future appointments.
“I will not entertain you in the future; you will not be permitted to enter my office,” Mevani claims Pandian told him.
“I am convinced that such a bureaucrat occupying an office of such importance would always fail to serve the people, particularly the most marginal, namely Dalits. I therefore pray that, in order to retain the sanctity and credibility of the Offices of the Police Department, you kindly, as requested above, give necessary instructions to the concerned authorities to move to terminate/suspend Rajkumar Pandian with immediate effect,” the letter concluded.
Mevani also recalled the service record of the officer. Pandian was arrested in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and spent seven years in jail before being released first on bail in March 2014 and then discharged as an accused by the Bombay High Court in 2016.
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