Surat: Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel, who is lodged in a jail in Surat on sedition charges, wrote a letter to his parents on Mother’s Day on Sunday.
According to a report, the letter addressed to his father reads 'Hardik has not committed any crime by asking for justice for his community'. In the letter, he compares himself to an army jawan who lays down his life for the country.
Read: Patels to step up quota stir; to invite Nitish, Mamata, Uddhav for rallies
Hardik claimed the BJP government wants him and his family to be weakened. He exhorts his parents to remember him as a martyr who fought for the country against this ‘dictatorship’ and an ‘unjust government.’ He asks his mother to remain strong and never give in to the machinations of the authorities.
In the letter, Patel reserves special criticism for Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, claiming that his father helped her in campaigning for the 1997 elections in the state and she has now turned on his family by putting him in jail.
Hardik asked his father to visit the families of all those killed during the Patidar agitation and seek pardon on his behalf for he is unable to help them. Finally, Hardik vows to continue the agitation for securing the community’s rights in jobs and education.
Read: Gujarat govt opposes Hardik Patel’s bail, says agitation was seditious
On Friday, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti announced to intensify its agitation over the Patel quota issue, adding that it would invite prominent politicians from other states, including Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray to address the rallies. The organisation, which is spearheading the Patel quota movement, said that it would organise several rallies till the end of this year to highlight their demands and the next round of agitation will start from Visnagar in Mehsana district on May 8.
The decision comes in the wake of Gujarat government's recent decision to provide 10 per cent reservation for Economically Backward Classes (EBC).
