Gujarat: Caste Struggle For Power

An unjustified demand for reservations by a dominant group has engulfed Gujarat in a caste struggle for power.

- Kumar Anshuman

It Is not difficult to find the entry gate of Matrushakti Society on India Colony Road of Bapu Nagar in Ahmedabad. Once we enter the gated complex, a deafening silence welcomes us, disturbed only by the occasional dog bark and in complete contrast with the buzz of activity outside. We see a young man coming towards us. Without speaking, he guides us to the house of Shwetang Patel, the 33-year-old who died in police custody on the night of 25 August after having allegedly participated in mob violence to attract public attention to the demand of Gujarat’s Patels for OBC status—a demand that several pundits consider unreasonable, given the social status of this powerful and affluent community.

An old man is lying on a cot in an open veranda. His moist eyes blink, but there is no body movement. He is Naresh Bhai Patel, Shwetang’s bed-ridden father who has had complete paralysis for two years. “He can’t speak or move,” says Purvish Bhai Patel, Shwetang’s cousin, “Shwetang was the only earning member of the family.” Inside the house, a few women are seated on the floor in silence. An A4 size picture of the deceased is visible on a wooden stand. Among those present are his mother Prabha Patel and sister Palak who performed the 33-year-old’s last rites a day earlier.