Peace prevailed in most parts of Gujarat today after sporadic incidents of violence on Saturday following the arrest of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel and his supporters in Surat for defying prohibitory orders.
As a precautionary measure, para-military forces deployed yesterday in Ahmedabad, Surat, Mehsana and some other cities and towns after violence have not yet been withdrawn.
As the situation improved, the ban on the Internet services and social media sites were progressively withdrawn from one after another city since this afternoon, apparently to enable the agitation leaders to spread the message of peace among its supporters and by evening the ban was totally lifted from all over the state.
Hardik and his supporters were released by the police around midnight last night and he issued an appeal to the people to cooperate with the police to maintain peace and harmony in the state.
In a statement today, Hardik said the PAAS had decided to “take a break” in its agitation for reservation for the Patels till the law and order situation returned to complete normalcy in the state.
He said the agitation would continue till the Patidars achieved their goal of reservation on lines with the Other Backward Classes, but take a break to allow the situation to return to normal before it announced the next programme of agitation.
“Core committee of the PAAS has decided to continue pro-quota agitation peacefully. We do not want scuffle with the police. The PAAS will announce future programs only after restoration of peace in the state. We have instructed all 144 conveners in all districts to spread the message of peace among youth and women of Patidar community,” Rishikesh Patel, member of PAAS core committee said on behalf of Hardik.
Besides Hardik’s appeal, heavy rainfall all over the state after a prolonged dry spell of over a month also helped dampen the spirit of agitation. Though in several cities and towns, including in Jamnagar, Vadodara and Unjha, Patidars, particularly the women, took out small rallies beating vessels with rolling pins, the situation remained under control and the rallies soon dispersed.
State Director General of Police PC Thakur had imposed the ban on the Internet services yesterday after they found the agitating PAAS leaders to be using the social media to spread the message of Hardik’s arrest and the call for protest “Chakkajam” to block the traffic.
In Surat, Hardik today called on his supporters injured in the police lathi-charge after the August 25 mega rally. He also called on to express sympathy with the family members of a teen-aged victim of police misbehaviour after her arrest following the mega rally.
