The Indian constitution lays down in clear and categorical terms that no one in India should be deprived of their basic rights. The biggest challenge, however, has been to ensure that the Historically Backward Classes or Dalits, as they are popularly referred to, join the mainstream of the Society. The constitution and our founding fathers did a remarkable job in paving the path for the upliftment of the downtrodden and depressed class.
However, this ‘facility’ called reservation resulted into another problem. People formed groups and groups got bigger, soon the groups started flexing their electoral muscles and hence started the nefarious game of reaping unfair advantages. A game that left the socially forward yet economically backward people cheated and angry.
Hardik Patel claims to be one such angry man. In his own words – “He wants justice for his people- Patidars”. He believes that people of his community face injustice and neglect due to the unfair reservation policy. Hardik was an average student who somehow managed to complete his graduation from Sahajanand college after two unsuccessful attempts. While Floundering at studies, Hardik Patel showed remarkable political aptitude. He contested for the post of general secretary of Sahajanand college Student Union in and won it unopposed.
Hardik’s claim of being the sole custodian of Patidar rights is nothing more than an eyewash as Hardik is more concerned about staying relevant, relatively popular and attain political influence rather than lending out a helping hand to the Patidar Community or even reaching out to them. These are not figments of my imagination, There are way too many incidents which highlight the hypocrisy of Hardik Patel.
Hypocrisy 1: Hardik promoted his own “Political Startup” – Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), while he was a part of the Sardar Patel Group (SPG). Due to which, he was expelled from SPG by Lalji Patel. Moreover, complains were lodged against him for failing to return Rs. 2 lakh to SPG which he owed to the party.
Hypocrisy 2: In 2015, Hardik’s sister Monika scored 84% in class XII but failed to qualify for a state government scholarship for Bachelor’s degree while her OBC friend qualified for the scholarship with just 81% marks. This incident sparked the rebellious side in Hardik and became the immediate cause behind the launch of PAAS.
Hardik Patel’s hypocrisy, however, is evident from this simple fact that he is not against reservation for OBCs. At first, he said, “I’m not against reservation for SC/ST or OBCs“, but the next moment he claimed- “OBCs with 45% marks steal seats from our smart Patels“.
A Pure factual inconsistency. According to a state medical admission official, “Out of 4256 open seats in medical admissions, Patels got 1099 seats. This is nearly 25%. It’s about the same every year.” The cut-offs for open seats and those reserved for socially and economically backward classes only differ by 2 to 3 percentage points. The reputed BJ Medical College, for instance, requires a minimum of 95% for open category, and 93.10% for backward class students.
Hypocrisy 3: The biggest hypocrisy of Hardik Patel was the way he carried out protest rallies in Gujarat. The rally on July 23 at Visnagar became violent and agitators burned vehicle, destroyed public property and burned the office of BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel. The Kranti rally of 25th August, where 500000 people joined the protest, turned violent when Hardik Patel was taken into custody. The state was gripped with tension as numerous vehicles were torched and the residences of “Patel” ministers were attacked by “Patel” mobs. The Police department suffered a damage of Rs. 200 crore. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation faced a loss of Rs. 12 crores. At least 10 people died in the Patidar agitation.
However, until September 2015, Hardik Patel and his supporters did not submit any application to the state OBC Commission to include Patidars in OBC category. Upon being asked if he had applied formally to the OBC Commission for inclusion, he said, “No, all that will take too long“. If they never submitted any application to the OBC Commission, then there was no logical reason to carry out a violent protest in the first hand. It was only in October 2016, that Hardik Patel decided to formally appeal to the OBC Commission. 10 people were killed. Properties worth Crores were destroyed. All because of the unruliness of a 22-year old so-called Patidar leader who wasn’t even serious about the very group he claims to represent.
Hypocrisy 4: Hardik Patel says that he is fighting for Patidar, Gurjar, and Kurmis. However, he supported the inclusion of Jats in OBC category in Haryana, which was opposed by Gurjars in Supreme Court. Gurjars are OBC is Rajasthan and ST in some other states. Rajendra Mavi from the All India Gurjar Mahasabha asked Hardik how he could support the Jats’ inclusion in the OBC list.
Hypocrisy is central to dirty politics. Every generation sees the rise of a new hypocrite. A person who would go to any extent to woo a caste bloc or a religion or a linguistic or racial minority and sow in them, the seeds of fear, and anguish and make them feel like the victims of institutionalized oppression. The Hypocrite will play to the gallery, invoking fear and pride, depending on the audience. Hardik Patel is one such hypocrite who is trying to impress upon the gullible Patels that they are being neglected by the state machinery and being oppressed simultaneously.