Hardik Patel In Letter On Mother's Day Compares Himself To Martyred Jawan

Gujarat: Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old from Gujarat who has been in jail since October on charges of sedition, has compared himself to an army jawan willing to sacrifice his life to defend India.

In a note to his parents on Mother's Day, Mr Patel urges his mother "not to shed tears for her son".  From a Surat prison, he counsels her, "There are hundreds of jawans leaving behind their mothers and families and serving the country and even attaining martyrdom."

In August, Mr Patel emerged as the sword-wielding leader of the Patels or Patidars , front-lining an aggressive demand for affirmative action  for the traditionally rich and powerful community which, for decades, supported the BJP in Gujarat. The Patels say that Gujarat has failed to create jobs in the private sector, so they must be added to the list of castes entitled to a share of government jobs and university places.

After headlining the movement which saw arson and violence in several towns, Mr Patel was arrested. Since then, the Gujarat government headed by Anandiben Patel has opposed his requests for bail and stressed that the violence his supporters encouraged resulted in damages and losses worth 100 crores . Mr Patel's lawyers have said in court that when freed, he will continue his agitation peacefully. 
Because the court is now on a summer break, it will resume Mr Patel's bail hearing in June.

To assuage the Patels, the government last month announced that it would reserve jobs and college places for the poorest among the state's upper castes - like the Patels. But  the community dismissed that proposal as an insincere platitude, alleging that it will not survive legal scrutiny- the Supreme Court has said no state can set aside more than  50% of jobs and college admissions on the basis of caste.  To circumvent that rule, states like Rajasthan have created quotas that are based on economic backwardness, rather than just caste.