Jignesh Mevani, the newly elected MLA of Gujarat’s Vadgam, hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ‘Yuva Hunkar Rally’ calling his government a “threat” to democracy and asked him which text he would like to follow to run the country — the Constitution of India or the Manusmriti.
The rally at Parliament Street on Tuesday was organised to demand the release of Dalit leader and the founder of Bhim Army, Chandrashekhar Azad, who was arrested in June last year under the National Security Act (NSA) over Thakur-Dalit clashes in Saharanpur.
Several youth leaders from across the country joined Akhil Gogoi, Manoj Manzil, Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Shehla Rashid and Vinay Ratan from the Bhim Army to express the way in which “attempts were being made by the government to silence them” as they were demanding a dignified life for all.
First rally
In his first rally in the Capital after becoming an elected representative, Mr. Mevani said the BJP has only practised the politics of breaking the country but he would act as a sewing machine by sticking to constitutional values and practising “politics of love” to unite the nation. “I believe in politics of unity. I believe in politics of love, not love jihad. Alpesh Thakor, Hardik Patel and I are being targeted because we demolished the BJP’s pride and arrogance in Gujarat. I will fight for justice for Dalits and Adivasis in the Gujarat Assembly as well as on the streets,” said Mr. Mevani.
Mr. Kumar said that the students of the country who have received education with the help of the taxpayers’ money will now rise to fight for democracy and raise the voices on behalf of those who fear to speak as they are being silenced. Ms. Rashid echoed his sentiments and said that the youth of the country will start a revolution and demand education, jobs and a dignified life for all which is currently being denied She also launched a helpline number to unite the youth of the country so that they could join the movement and stay in touch.
National programme
Mr. Gogoi, an RTI activist from Assam, called for a national programme to get rid of the BJP-RSS government.
“Twelve States in India have special status but after the BJP government came to power in the Centre, the autonomy of these States was compromised. Our voices are silenced with sedition cases and NSA because we speak against BJP and RSS and fight for our rights on the streets,” said Mr. Gogoi. He also spoke about the “dangerous and communally-loaded” Citizenship Bill being brought by the BJP, which he said if introduced would change the demography of Assam and other North-Eastern States.
Several speakers spoke about justice for Rohit Vemula and missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed.
They questioned the Prime Minister on his promise of “Achhe Din” and asked him to break his silence on the various injustices and attacks on Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the rally should be the beginning of a new youth movement to fight the politics of hate, lies, abuse and violence to rescue Constitutional values as his generation has failed in doing so.
