Congress, Dalit outfits to stage protest against IPS officer tomorrow
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Posted On October 22, 2024
Ahmedabad: Workers of the Congress and Dalit organizations in Gujarat will hold a protest against IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian on Wednesday over his alleged misconduct with MLA Jignesh Mevani.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Vadgam MLA Mevani said 500 to 700 Dalit youths will join the protest outside the DG’s office in Gandhinagar.
“On Oct 23, Congress MLAs and 500-700 Dalit youths will go to the DG’s office to ask questions to IPS officer Pandian. The Congress and Dalit organizations of Gujarat will organize a programme and press for not just his suspension, but termination,” Mevani said.
Last week, Mevani handed a letter to Gujarat assembly speaker Shankar Chaudhary, in which he alleged that Pandian, the additional director general of (ADGP) of the SC/ST cell, had insulted him when he went to meet the officer at his office in Gandhinagar.
The Congress leader said he had an altercation with Pandian when he met him over the issue of illegal encroachment on nearly 3,000 acres of land allotted to Dalits for agriculture during the Congress regime.
“We went to meet Pandian to present before him issues affecting the Dalit community regarding the encroachment on land allotted to Dalits, especially in villages of Kutch and Surendranagar districts,” he said.
He said that instead of listening, Pandian misbehaved with him. According to Mevani, who is a working president of the Gujarat Congress, he and Gujarat Congress scheduled caste department chairman Hitendra Pithadiya had gone to make the representation to Pandian.
After entering the chamber, Pandian allegedly told them to keep their mobile phones outside. Mevani sought to know the rules or law under which Pandian was asking them to keep their phones outside the chamber.
In his letter to the speaker, the legislator claimed that the officer got agitated and asked his staff to take the mobile phones, alleging that they (Mevani and Pithadiya) could be recording the conversation on their phones. pti
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news is originally published in timesofindia.com and was used solely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights
