Following his arrival, Mevani addressed a large public gathering at Ramdev Pir no Tekro in Ahmedabad’s Vadaj area, saying, “If this government does not withdraw cases registered against Dalits during the Una protests, Gujarat will be closed on June 1.”
On Tuesday, Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani addressed supporters at a public rally in Ahmedabad’s Ramapir Tekra, Old Wadaj.
Jignesh Mevani, a Vadgam MLA who returned to Gujarat after being released from Assam custody, has called for a Gujarat Bandh on June 1 if the state government does not withdraw cases filed against Dalits during a public agitation in 2016 protesting the alleged public flogging of a few community members in Una.
Mevani, who was detained by Assam police in connection with two separate cases, was recently granted bail by a local court.
“The cases should be withdrawn in the same way that the Patidar agitation cases were withdrawn… It was a good thing they did (withdraw the cases against the Patidars)….. “We are in favor of it,” he stated.
Mevani saluted the judge who granted him bail with some criticism of the Assam police. “These days, there are fewer people with spines than those with strong spines.” But I, Jignesh Mevani, an accused person, applaud the judge for having a strong spine.”
People may wonder why Assam police came all the way to Gujarat to arrest a sitting MLA, but Mevani explained that it was because he has been fighting the BJP and RSS across the country and has been administering pledges to people not to vote for the BJP or attend RSS shakhas.
Mevani stated that he would never delete the tweet for which he was arrested because he said nothing but asked the Prime Minister to issue an appeal for peace in communally troubled areas.
Referring to the second case filed against him, in which a female police officer claimed Mevani assaulted her, he stated that while he was being transported to Kokrajhar, the female officer was forced to sit next to him instead of in the front or rear seat of the vehicle. Mevani claimed that he suspected a conspiracy to fix him right then and there.
Mevani thanked the entire Congress leadership in Delhi, Gujarat, and Assam for their support, saying, “Rahul Gandhi woke up from sleep in the middle of the night for me and instructed all the top leaders of the party to ‘stand strongly with Jignesh until he is released from jail.'”
