As Modi Visits Gujarat, Dalit Activist Jignesh Mevani Arrested

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Gujarat to celebrate his 66th birthday.

Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani was on Friday arrested from the Ahmedabad airport upon his arrival from Delhi. He has been taken to an undisclosed location.

Jignesh Mevani had threatened to disrupt the Prime Minister’s birthday events in Gujarat on Saturday, creating speculation as to whether or not he was arrested to maintain order, for the Prime Minister’s visit. Modi like Jignesh arrived in Ahmedabad on Friday evening.

He is scheduled to celebrate his birthday with tribals in Limkheda and the differently-abled in Navsari on Saturday.

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Mevani was in Delhi to formally launch a national movement, Dalit Swabhiman Sangharsh rally – that aims to bring together all Dalit organisations under a common banner.

Jignesh’s brother was at the airport to receive him when the arrest was made. But he was told by the Gujarat police that he would be let off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip is over, according to sources.

Modi is in Gujarat to celebrate his 66th birthday. He is scheduled to celebrate his birthday with tribals in Limkheda and the differently-abled in Navsari on Saturday. He, too, arrived in Ahmedabad on Friday evening.

Mevani had become the face of Dalit agitation in Gujarat after he initiated the ‘Una Chalo Dalit Padyatra’ in the wake of the Una dalits flogging incident in July.

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