Ahmedabad/Vadodara/Rajkot/Surat:

Road/rail blockades, rallies and incidents of stone pelting and forced closure of educational Institutions and shops have taken place across Gujarat today during the Bharat Bandh of Dalit organizations to protest against a recent decision of the Supreme Court pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The Bandh supporters pelted stone on the vehicle of Mamlatdar in Gandhidham city of Kutch district while unruly mob damaged several shops in Junagadh, Rajkot, Rajula and some other place. They also stopped Botad-Bhavnagar passenger train near Sarangpur while a similar incident also took place in Valsad.

At some places they also attacked police which in retaliation used baton charge. After one such incident police arrested around 10 people near Rajkot civil hospital. A police van was also damaged in stone pelting in Rajkot.

In Ahmedabad a protestor tried to cut the vein of his hand for writing slogan on local Amedkar statue in Sarangpur area. He was taken to hospital. Bandh supporters took out rallies at various places and also burnt tyres to block various highways including NH8 in Surat, Dhanera Highway in Banaskantha, Syla- Ahmedabad highway in Surendranagar.

Congress, Left parties and other opposition parties have extended full support to the bandh.

The Student wing of Congress NSUI along-with bandh supporters forced close several colleges in Ahmedabad and other places.

As a precautionary measure the routes of several ST and city buses have also been diverted. The bus depot in dalit dominant Sarngpur has been emptied to prevent any untoward incident.

In Vadodara, the sweeper community also joined the bandh supporters and unloaded their trash trolleys on road.

Groups of bandh supporters were shouting slogans. Congress supported independent MLA of Vadgam Jignesh Mewani also joined the bandh supporters in Ahmedabad this morning.

Meanwhile police has been deployed at all the important points including courts etc in the wake of the bandh. The gates of local court in Ghee kanta area of Ahmedabad were closed as large number of bandh supporters gathered near it. The protestors also forced shut the cinema halls in Bardoli.

Large number of bandh supporters including opposition leaders/activists have been arrested/detained/rounded up during the violent protests.

Notably, the NDA government today filed a petition seeking review of the Supreme Court order diluting the provisions of the act.

On March 20, a bench of the Supreme Court banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the SC/ST Act. The apex court said public servants can’t be prosecuted without the approval of the appointing authority, and private citizens too should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law. It further ruled that preliminary inquiry in a case under the Act would be conducted by the Deputy Superintendent of Police to ensure the allegations are not frivolous.

Rallies by bandh supporters were also organized at places like Patan, Himmatnagar, Tharad, Navsari, Bharuch, Junagadh, Palanpur, Tharad, Dhanera, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Gondal, Amreli, Tapi, Sanand among others .

DeshGujarat