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article, probably under pressure. The following text is typed from the
print edition of Lounge, Mint, Mumbai.
http://www.livemint.com/2012/
http://www.livemint.com/2012/
PATELS HAVE LET DOWN
VALLABHBHAI
As Gujaratis are finally being
convicted for their barbarism, a remarkable fact has emerged. We can observe
this fact in the name of those convicted. The latest judgement came on 4 May,
when those who murdered Ayesha Vohra, Nuri Vohra and Kader Vohra during the
2002 riots were convicted. The convicts are: Harish V. Patel, Vasant P. Patel,
Nilesh M. Patel, Mahesh G. Patel, Minesh P. Patel, Ritesh A. Patel, Ashok D.
Patel, Kirit M. Patel and Bhavesh P. Patel.
On 9 April came convictions for the
murder of 23 Muslims in Odh village. The killers are: Vinu B. Patel, Atul D.
Patel, Vijay R. Patel, Devang H. Patel, Girish H. Patel, Parkash J. Patel,
Dilip V. Patel, Harish S. Patel, Dilip S. Patel, Jayendra S. Patel, Suresh B.
Patel, Arvind R. Patel, Hemant S. Patel,
Sanat S. Patel, Manu J. Patel, Dilip R. Patel, Poonam L. Patel, Dharmesh
N. Patel, Vinu S. Patel, Natu M. Patel and Praveen M. Patel.
On 9 November, 31 Hindu men were
convicted of murdering 11 Children, 17 women and five men in Sardarpura village
of Mehsana district. The Muslims were labourers who worked on the fields of
those who killed them. The 31 murderers are: Ramesh K. Patel, Chatur V. Patel,
Jayanti M . Patel, Amrat S. Patel, Jaga D. Patel, Kachara T. Patel, Mangal M.
Patel, Bhika J. Patel, Mathur R. Patel, Suresh
R. Patel, Tulsi G. Patel, Raman J. Patel, Rajesh K. Patel, Ramesh K.
Patel, Matha V. Patel, Suresh B. Patel,
Vishnu P. Patel, Rajendra P. Patel, Prahlad J. Patel, Ramesh R. Patel,
Parshottambhai M. Patel, Ashwin J. Patel, Ambalal M. Patel, Ramesh G. Patel, Jayanti
A. Patel, Kanu J. Patel, Raman G. Prajapati, Dahya K. Patel, Mathur T. Patel,
Dahya V. Patel and Kala B. Patel. This fact of killers knowing their victims
runs common through the Gujarat riots, and t is one reason why the survivors
were able to accurately pick out the Patels who abused them.
Last month on 16 April, the trial of
85 men was completed in the massacre of 11 Muslims, including five children, in
Dipda Darwaja area of Visnagar. The accused include former Bhartiya Janata
Party (BJP) MLA Prahlad Patel, who led the mob, and the police officer who investigated
the case shoddily, M. K. Patel. A mob of 200 men, all of them Patels, murdered
and then cut the bodies of their neighbours to pieces. At a “peace” meeting
three days later, the Patel refused to hand over the remains to the surviving
members of that family, Murad Khan. Three women are accused of handling petrol
and kerosene to the men to burn the corpses. The women are Gita Patel, Madhu
Patel and Manjula Patel.
Patels, also called Patidar or
Kanbis, are the dominant peasant community of Gujarat, and the same caste as
Kurmis in Bihar and the Kunbi Patils in Maharashtra. Writer Ratilal Nayak in Atako
Kevi Rite Padi? (How Did Our Surnames Come to Be) claims that Patel is an
Arabic word. This cannot be, for there is no letter “P” in Arabic.
In my Lounge article of 10
April 2010 (“We still cling to ‘Manusmriti’”), I wrote this about Patels: “The
Patel has butchered his daughters so efficiently that now other caste must
supply brides. There is evidence he is marrying eastern Gujarat’s tribals,
bringing them into Hindu culture. The Patel is an instance of the Gujarati
becoming inclusive through violence. The Patel is the sword-arm of Gujarat’s
Hindutva movement (Pravin Togadia is Patel). Like all peasants, he is
intellectually primitive and easily roused by symbols. He’s also familiar
because he handles cattle.” Three months ago, on 7 February, The Times of
India reported the wedding of seven Patel men to tribal girls. The report “Now,
Kadva Patels welcome tribal bahus”, said the sex ratio of Patels had fallen to
700 girls for 1000 boys.
The Patel is seen by his fellow
Gujaratis as kind-hearted but quick to violence. The Kehvatkosh, which
has sayings about communities and situations, tells us this: “Patelnee vaat
Patel Jane, haath ma dando ane ghanti tane (Only the Patel, his staff in hand,
understands his obstinate self).”
H.M. Dhruv the men who defended the
men who murdered 11 children in Sardarpura, told the court the Patels were “influenced
by conditions’. The Patels’ other defence lawyer, B. C. Barot, told the courts
the men’s bahaviour was a “reaction to an action”. I disagree.
Murdering people you know as
vengeance for the murder of the people you did not know by other people you did
not know is not reaction.
After they were found guilty, The
Indian Express reported many of the Patels exited the court smiling.
Writer Achyut Yagnik (a Brahmin
married to a Patel) and I have often discussed our state and why it is the way
it is. Yagnik explains the Patel’s violence against Muslims sociologically.
“Traditionally their social status
was low,” he says, “Their rise only came
in the 19th century when the British brought the ryotwari system,
replacing zamindari.” The Patel, who was the ryot on the field, rose in
stature.
“He became ‘upper’ caste. Till then
he was ‘middle’ caste,”says Yagnik. His enthusiasm to belong to the upper
castes of Hinduism shows in his violence against Muslims. The Gujarati Kshatriyas
did not feel this contempt for the Muslims,Yagnik says, because they share his
non-vegetarianism.
Further, unlike Gujarat Baniyas and
Brahmins, Patels don’t have a caste council, so there is no internal
moderation. There is no assessment of actions, and no review.
The most feared men in Gujarat, the
Vishva Hindu Parishad’s Jaideep Patel and the frightening Babu ‘Bajrangi’ (who
told Tehelka he felt like Maharana Pratap after slaughtering Muslims)
are Patels.
The Patels line up solidly behind the
BJP and four of Narendra Modi’s nine cabinet ministers are Patels. To that
extent that they have a leader, it is Keshubhai, the 81-year-old former Chief
Minister.
As Patels begin to be convicted,
Keshavbhai said, on 12 February, that Patels “ were living in fear”. When asked
what he meant, Keshubhai said: “You have to understand by this comment”,
according to PTI. He repeated this statement on 17 April, after the
judgement at Odh. And again on 7 May, at the gathering of Patels in Veraval,
according to a report in Dainik Bhaskar. Keshavbhai invoked his
community’s mascot, telling Patels: “We are Vallabhbhai’s descendents and
inheritors. Don’t be afraid.” This then is the sentiments of Patels as they are
exposed.
What can be said of such a people
who don’t accept responsibility, and feel not guilt, not regret and certainly
not shame?
They feel only a fear of justice. It
isn’t possible for such people to reform. The outside world must come and
straighten them out.
In mutilating little Muslim girls and
boys, Patels think they’re honouring their hero Vallabhbhai.
The truth is, of course, that he
would be ashamed of them, and of belong to their community.
Aakar Patel is a writer and
columnist.
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