'Five days into 2020, hundreds of Dalits flocked to a village near Gujarat’s Modasa Town. A 19-year-old Dalit girl had been found hanging from a tree. She was allegedly kidnapped, gangraped and murdered. The girl’s family alleged that the police refused to file an FIR because of caste prejudices. Three weeks have passed and although there is still no clarity about what led to the death of the girl, the investigation has been transferred to CID. A police inspector has also been suspended for negligence of duty.
'Citing spiritual and moral guidance, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 15 convicts in the post-Godhra Sardarpura riot case in Gujarat wherein 33 members of a particular community were burnt alive. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant has put them in two groups -- six of them will remain in Indore and the rest will go to Jabalpur. They will however not be allowed to enter Gujarat...'
'Elections for the students union in the Central University of Gujarat saw all five candidates fielded by the ABVP, the student wing of the ruling BJP in the State, losing. Three seats were won by Left-leaning student outfits and the NSUI, while one seat went to an independent candidate. All the five candidates fielded by the ABVP lost...'
'Congress leader Hardik Patel has been arrested in Ahmedabad for failing to appear before a trial court in a 2015 sedition case. Mr Patel's was arrested from Viramgam taluka of the city, confirmed by DCP Rajdeepsinh Zala (Cyber Crime). "We have arrested Haridk Patel from near Viramgam after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him. We will produce him before the court tomorrow," Mr Zala said. Mr Patel had been previously arrested in connection with a sedition case filed by the local Crime Branch after violence broke out during a rally in Ahmedabad on August 25, 2015...'
'A video of BJP workers purportedly raising provocative slogans alluding to the 2002 Gujarat riots while taking out a rally in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, has gone viral, prompting police to register a case. The rally was taken out at nearby Kuttiyadi on Monday, police said. In the video some BJP workers, carrying party flags are seen allegedly raising provocative slogans...'
'Gujarat showed signs of distress related to economy when state authorities recorded 294 suicides in 2018 where reason for ending life was termed as ‘poverty’. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ released on Thursday, 318 persons ended their lives citing ‘unemployment’ as the reason. The figures were 163% and 21% more than the ones recorded in 2017...'
'There are rumblings of discontent in the tribal villages around the much promoted Statue of Unity (SoU) in Gujarat. The tribal population of as many as 72 villages is opposing the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Bill 2019 that was passed by the state assembly last month. Protests by the tribals are largely going unreported by the media, or or the reports are just being confined to the local pages of the vernacular as well as English dailies.
'“Congratulations. I, citizen of India, congratulate honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). I and my family support this act.” A PRIVATE school in Ahmedabad asked its students, from Classes V to X, to write this message on postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. However, following protests by parents on Wednesday, the school management apologised and called the exercise a “misunderstanding”. The postcards were returned to the parents, who tore them up...'
'Police on Tuesday registered a case of murder, kidnap, gang rape and related charges against four persons in connection with the death of a 19-year-old Dalit girl whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village four days after she went missing on January 1. The FIR was registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following protest by hundreds of people from the Dalit community in front of Modasa Rural police station since Monday night...
'A team of policemen entered the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on Sunday evening and allegedly disrupted an event organised by the students called "IIMA stands up for democracy."... At 6 PM, a police team in plainclothes went inside the campus and told the students not to protest. When the students replied to them that they were not protesting and only discussing, the cops didn't heed and eventually, they were compelled to go inside a classroom. When contacted, Ahmedabad police commissioner Ashish Bhatia denied that police entered the campus...
