Jignesh Mevani’s rally in New Delhi brings fiery youth leaders on a single platform to mount a challenge to the BJP and fight against atrocities on Dalits and other marginalised sections of society.
ALTHOUGH PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modipretendsnot to hear anything nowadays, neither he nor the Bharatiya Janata Party could have missed the hunkar (loud roar) that went up on January 9 from Parliament Street in the heart of the national capital,close to the BJP headquarters on Asoka Road. Responding to a call by Jignesh Mevani, Dalit activist and newly elected Member of the Gujarat Assembly from Vadgam, for a Yuva Hunkar Rally (youths’ show of strength), hundreds of people gathered outside the Parliament Street police station defying prohibitory orders. Surrounded by water cannons and security personnel armed with tear-gas launchers, leader after leader raged against Modi’s anti-people policies. Typically, such rallies, which are held often in Delhi, are filled with students and activists and have minimal media presence. But this gathering was markedly different. Every media house was in attendance and remained there for the entire duration of the programme, which went on for several hours.
Mevani quipped that the next day’s headlines would show Umar Khalid, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader, offering a packet of chips to Jignesh Mevani onstage, followed by a debate that “the nation wants to know”why?!AsMevanimadehis exit, he was hounded by the media and had to literally make good his escape through the crowd.
Until a few months ago, Mevani used to participate freely in such gatherings and leave the scene without being mobbed. One could not have imagined such a situation. So what has changed?
Mevani’s electoral victory in Gujarat was a shot in the arm for the movement against fascism. He played a pivotal role in bringing leaders from across the country on to a single platform, and the January 9 rally was just the beginning, he said.
This story is from the February 2, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the February 2, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.
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