Will convert to Islam with family if BJP does not act against MLA's husband: Cong Dalit leader
Ahmedabad: Congress Junagadh City SC/ST Unit President Rajesh Solanki has threatened to convert to Islam along with his entire family and many other Dalits if the Gujarat state government did not seek the resignation of BJP MLA from Gondal Geetaba Jadeja and arrest her husband, as the MLA’s son had allegedly assaulted Solanki’s son in May.
Solanki also heads the Junagadh District Backward Class Committee, a Dalit organization, while his son, 26-year-old Sanjay Solanki, is a leader of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). Sanjay was allegedly assaulted by Jadeja’s son, 25-year-old Jyotiradityasinh Jadeja, also called Ganesh, in May.
The Congress leader met the Junagadh District Collector on Wednesday and collected application forms for government permission for religious conversion, reports The Indian Express.
Solanki had warned before the media on Saturday, July 6, that he, along with around 150 members his extended family, would convert to Islam if action was not taken on the MLA. He gave a deadline of August 15 for the resignation of the BJP legislator and the arrest of her husband for involvement in the assault on Sanjay.
Jyotiradityasinh was booked on May 31 after a police complaint was filed by Sanjay, accusing the MLA’s son and his acquaintances of kidnapping him from Junagadh after a verbal duel over Jyotiradityasinh’s driving. Sanjay complained to the police that he was taken by the group to Gondal, threatened with a pistol, stripped and forced to apologize while the entire scene was recorded on a mobile phone. The police arrested Jyotiradiyasinh and 10 others on charges of attempt to murder and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All the accused are presently in judicial custody.
Rajesh Solanki, however, has alleged the involvement of Jyotiradityasinh’s father Jayrajsinh, a former three-time MLA from Gondal, in the kidnapping and assaulting of Sanjay.
Addressing reporters in Junagadh on Wednesday, he said that Gujarat had reported at least 5,000 cases of atrocities on Dalits during the 25-year rule of the BJP in the state. The state government, however, had failed to protect the citizens of Gujarat, he added.
He stated on Thursday that he had given the Gujarat government time till August 15 to take action in the case of assault on Sanjay and warned that his family would take out a protest rally to Gandhinagar and submit memorandums to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. He added that, if the government did not respond positively to their demands, the family would convert to Islam as it made no sense to be part of a religion whose members refused to acknowledge them as fellow Hindus and assaulted them, but were happy to marry their daughters to people who offer namaz.
Junagadh Additional DC NF Chaudhary confirmed that Solanki had collected the forms for conversion, adding that no filled up form had been submitted to them yet. He also said that the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act empowers a district magistrate to ascertain if any individual is seeking conversion out of duress, or if someone is luring an individual to convert.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Goa stampede: Police directives on CCTV cameras, barricades not implemented ahead of temple fest
Panaji(PTI): The committee managing the Shree Lairai Temple failed to implement the Goa police's directives to install CCTV cameras for the annual festival, during which six people lost their lives in a stampede, an official said on Monday.
The official, quoting the minutes of a meeting held days before the tragedy, said the temple committee was also requested to make necessary arrangements for queues with proper barricading wherever required.
The temple authorities, however, said there wasn't enough time to install the CCTV cameras, as the meeting was held just a couple of days before the event.
Six people were killed, and more than 70 sustained injuries after a stampede broke out during an annual festival at Shree Lairai Temple at Shirgao village of North Goa in the wee hours of Saturday.
The police, district administration and Shree Lairai Temple committee held a meeting on April 30 ahead of the festival, during which the temple authorities were asked to install CCTV cameras at the entry and exit points and place "proper barricading wherever possible".
The meeting was attended by then Superintendent of Police (North) Akshat Kaushal, then Deputy Superintendent of Police (Bicholim) Jivba Dalvi, Deputy Collector (Bicholim) Bhimnath Khorjuvekar, Temple committee president Dinanath Gaonkar and others.
The minutes of the meeting, a copy of which is with PTI, state, "The temple committee is asked to install CCTVs at all the entry and exit points, crowded areas, near temple and Homkhand, along with CCTV control room for which police staff also would be provided."
As per the minutes, the temple committee was also requested to make necessary arrangements for queues with proper barricading wherever required and asked to assist the police in crowd control and management during the festival.
When contacted, temple committee president Dinanath Gaonkar said they didn't have enough time to install the CCTV cameras.
"You require at least 10 to 15 days to install these cameras. The meeting was held only a couple of days before the festival," he said.
Gaonkar said the barricading was not done as devotees had suffered injuries because of it in the past.
The temple committee said they have deposed before the fact-finding committee probing into the stampede and provided all the details.
