India

Hardik Patel pledges national level movement for Reservation

Hardik Patel, the face of the Patidar agitation in Gujarat, announced Sunday that he won’t allow any political party to join his agitation and that he wants to turn the stir into a national movement.

“We are not here to meet any ministers. Political parties are not welcome in the agitation,” said Patel.

“We want to take our movement to every part of the nation and have come to Delhi to make future plan of action. We want the support of Jats and Gujjars.”

The 22-year-old, however, chose not to reveal his next course of action in the national capital. “I will announce it from Surat on Monday,” said Patel whose agitation led to violent clashes that resulted into death of 7 people.

Interacting with the media at the Press Club, Patel strongly defended his demand for reservation for Patels or Patidars, saying they are not getting jobs due to reservation.

“The Patels may be a progressive community. But millions of Patel youth are sitting unemployed as they are unable to get jobs due to reservation,” Patel said in his press interaction. The Patidars are one of the state’s most affluent communities, but they say they are struggling to compete with less privileged castes for government jobs and university places.

India sets aside a proportion of jobs and places for Dalits, known as “untouchables”, and for other so-called “backward castes” and tribals under measures intended to bring victims of the worst discrimination into the mainstream.

But the policy of “reservation” causes resentment among other communities who say it freezes them out.

“Due to reservations, the country is 60 years behind. The government needs to give reservations to all the needy communities,” Patel said on Sunday.

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