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Hardik Patel

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Hardik Patel
હાર્દિક પટેલ
Born (1993-07-20) July 20, 1993 (age 31)[1]
Chandan Nagri near Viramgam, Gujarat[2]
CitizenshipIndia
Alma materSahajanand College, Ahmedabad[3]
Known forPatidar reservation agitation
Parent(s)Bharat Patel (father, b. 1966)
Usha Patel (mother, b. 1972)[2]
RelativesMonica Patel (sister, b. 1995)

Hardik Patel is a young political activist who is fighting for the inclusion of the Patel caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in order to qualify for reserved quotas in education and government jobs. Hardik claims inspiration from Indian freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel,[5] Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad.[6]

Personal life

Hardik Patel was born on July 20, 1993 in Chandan Nagri, Gujarat to Bharat and Usha Patel. In 2004 his parents moved to Viramgam, a town 10 km away, to give their children a better education. Hardik studied from Class VI to Class VIII at Divya Jyot School in Viramgam, before moving to K B Shah Vinay Mandir, where he studied till Class XII. He was an average student and a cricket enthusiast.[3]

After completing Class XII, Hardik started helping his father, Bharat, to run a small business of fixing submersible pumps in underground water wells. Bharat, a former BJP worker, met current Chief Minister of Gujarat and herself a member of the Patidar caste, Anandiben Patel, when she held the Mandal assembly seat, in which Viramgam falls.[7]

In 2010 Hardik joined Sahajanand College, Ahmedabad for a B. Com. degree. HE completed his B.COM degree with grace marks. He ran for the post of general secretary of the college students' union and was elected unopposed.[2] While still in college, Hardik opened a potable water stand at the Viramgam Bus Stand as an act of social service.[2] In 2013 Hardik Patel graduated from college with less than 50% marks.[8]

In 2015 Hardik's sister, Monica, started a B.A. degree in English as an external student.[4]

Political activism

Sardar Patel Group

On October 31, 2012 Hardik joined the Sardar Patel Group (SPG), a Patidar youth body, and within less than a month, became president of its Viramgam unit.[7][9] Interaction with it's 50,000 strong membership revealed that Patidar youth faced challenges while securing private sector jobs because of a slow economy while they were shut out of government jobs because of reservation quotas and the expectation of bribes.[10] He found that some Patidar farmers saw their agriculture land acquired for urbanisation and industrialisation, while Patidar businessmen faced failure of their traditional businesses due to competition from online retailers.[6] He discovered that the diamond industry, a traditional source of wealth and employment for the Patidars, was in limbo. More than 20,000 small firms had shut down and thousands of unemployed Patel diamond cutters and polishers had returned to their villages.[11]

In 2015, Hardik was ousted from his post with the SPG after a conflict with its leader, Lalji Patel.[7]

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti

In July 2015 Hardik's sister, Monica, failed to qualify for a state government scholarship. Hardik was upset when a friend of Monica's qualified for the same scholarship through the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota even though she had scored lower marks.[4] Recognizing that affirmative policies were benefiting other castes but not Patidars, Hardik formed the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), a non-political organization[12] that aims to get Patidars included in the OBC quota.[13]

Patidar reservation agitation

Main article: Patidar reservation agitation

Using social media to spread his message and gather supporters,[5] Hardik addressed his first rally in Visnagar, Gujarat on July 6, 2015.[14] Since then, Hardik has organized several rallies across Gujarat, drawing millions of people through his oratorial skills.[14] His rallying slogan is "Jai Sardar".[15][16] In his speeches, Hardik claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to deliver on his election promise of widely inclusive prosperity through the Gujarat model of business-friendly policies.[17][4]

On August 25, 2015 Hardik was briefly arrested by Ahmedabad City Police when he went on fast after a rally held earlier in the day had dispersed. He was charged under section 151 of Indian Penal Code for 'knowingly joining or continuing in assembly of five or more persons after it has been commanded to disperse'.[18] Violent protests broke out in response, forcing the Gujarat state government to impose a curfew and call in the Indian Army.[19]

On August 31, 2015 in recognition of his leadership and organizational skills, Hardik was introduced to a gathering of Gujjar and Kurmi communities from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as "the future prime minister of the country".[13]

Hardik aims to take his protest movement nationwide.[20]

References

  1. ^ Meghdoot Sharon (24 Aug 2015). "Meet 22-year-old Hardik Patel, the face of Patel agitation in Gujarat". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Parimal Dabhi (30 Aug 2015). "Sunday Story: The Angry Young Patel". Indian Express. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  3. ^ a b Roxy Gagdekar (27 Aug 2015). "A budding cricketer who changed his line". Mumbai Mirror. Times of India. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d David Barstow and Suhasini Raj (27 Aug 2015). "Caste Quotas in India Come Under Attack". New York Times. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  5. ^ a b Mahesh Langa (28 Aug 2015). "Get rid of quota or make all its slave, says leader of Patel group". The Hindu. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  6. ^ a b Sandipan Sharma (31 Aug 2015). "'Kitne haath tode maine, maloom?' Meet Hardik Patel, Patidar poster boy and man without a plan". FirstPost. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Well-funded, organized and massive: Who's behind Hardik Patel's war machine?". Times of India. 27 Aug 2015. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  8. ^ "Who is Hardik Patel". Times of India. 25 Aug 2015. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  9. ^ Leena Misra, Parimal Dabhi (2 Sep 2015). "Lalji Patel: 'I let Hardik run social media, he made it seem he was the leader'". Indian Express. Retrieved 2 Sep 2015.
  10. ^ Rajeev Deshpande & Vishwa Mohan (31 Aug 2015). "No political force but force of Patidar society behind stir: Hardik Patel". Times of India. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  11. ^ Rohini Mohan (1 Sep 2015). "Indifferent to facts, but Hardik Patel knows how to play reservation-victim role like no other". Economic Times. Retrieved 1 Sep 2015.
  12. ^ Saubhadra Chatterji & Mallica Joshi (31 Aug 2015). "Hardik Patel wants his protest to go India-wide". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Patel quota protest: Rally in Madhya Pradesh today, Hardik Patel lays out pan-India agitation plan". Indian Express. 31 Aug 2015. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015. Cite error: The named reference "hardik_ie_2015-08-31" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b Geeta Pandey (26 Aug 2015). "Hardik Patel: Face of Gujarat caste protests". BBC. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  15. ^ Ghanshyam Shah (28 Aug 2015). "The shrinking, the rage". Indian Express. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  16. ^ Rahul Kanwal (30 Aug 2015). "I am the next Sardar Patel, says Hardik Patel". India Today. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  17. ^ Rupam Jain Nair (31 Aug 2015). "Sword-wielding Hardik Patel threatens Modi's "model" in India". Reuters. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  18. ^ "Patidar rally youth leader Hardik Patel arrested in Ahmedabad". Business Standard. 25 Aug 2015. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  19. ^ Rishi Iyengar (26 Aug 2015). "Riots Break Out in India Over a Dominant Caste's Attempt to Gain 'Backward' Status". Time Magazine. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.
  20. ^ "Hardik Vows to Take Reservation Movement Nationwide". Indo-Asian News Service. New IndianExpress. 30 Aug 2015. Retrieved 31 Aug 2015.

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