Mevani, 400 agitators detained during protest; released later

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and 400 agitators, including several women, were today detained for trying to gherao the head office of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) here today.
The agitation had been called by Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) and Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch to press for their various demands, including permanent job status to sanitation workers of the civic body working on contract basis for the past many years.
To draw government's attention towards their demands, Mevani, along with advocate and social activist Amrish Patel, led the agitating workers and their supporters to the AMC building in Gol Limda area of city this afternoon.

After reaching the main gate of the AMC office, these agitators confronted with police, who were deployed in large number to control the situation.
After some heated exchanges, Mevani, Patel and around 400 agitators were detained by police and taken to the city police headquarter in Shahibaug area.
"We detained around 400 agitators, including women, as they tried to stop people from entering in the AMC office and tried to block the road. We released them later. No one was injured during the detention," Assistant Police Commissioner of "D" division, Baldev Desai, said.

Talking to media after his detention, Mevani alleged that the Gujarat government is persecuting people for raising their voice.

"Constitution does not have any place in the so-called Gujarat model, as people are not even allowed to raise their legitimate demands. They are not made permanent even after serving for almost 30 years on contractual basis," he said.
"It is very sad that government is not even ready to talk about this serious issue. Gujarat government is persecuting people for raising their voice," Mevani told reporters before he was taken to Shahibaug in police van.
Mevani has been leading the agitation against the state government on various dalits issues following the Una dalit flogging incident of July.