Jignesh Mevani Interview: 'Fascism Is Fascism. It Will Ruin Our Country If We Stay Silent Any Longer'. By Betwa Sharma
VADGAM, Gujarat - As
far as "youthquakes" go, it is no exaggeration to say that
Gujarat has witnessed one in the form of Jignesh Mevani, Hardik Patel and
Alpesh Thakor -- three young leaders who have given the Bharatiya Janata Party
its toughest electoral fight since the Hindu nationalist party came to power in
the state in 1995. Over the past few
months, Mevani, a rising Dalit leader, Patel and Thakor, faces of the Patidar
community and Other Backward Classes (OBC) respectively, have set aside their
ideological differences and come together for the sole purpose of defeating the
BJP in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election. Earlier this week,
Mevani, who is fighting his first election as an independent candidate, told
me, "Fascism is fascism. It will ruin our country if we stay silent any
longer." Whether Mevani wins or
loses on Monday, the 37-year-old Dalit leader's fiery and irreverent rhetoric
targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi has irked the BJP. Last week, party
president Amit Shah accused him of taking funds from an
"anti-national" group. In one of the many communal remarks made
during the course of the campaign, Hindu nationalists used the term 'HAJ' to describe the trio of Hardik,
Alpesh and Jignesh and 'RAM' to describe Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani,
Shah and Modi.
When I first spoke with Mevani in August, 2016, the big question
was whether he would be a flash in the pan or succeed in fanning the Dalit agitation
that had erupted in Gujarat after a chilling episode of caste violence. On July 11, 2016, four Dalit men were tied to a car and
thrashed by cow vigilantes in the town of Una for skinning a dead cow. A viral
video of the public flogging triggered widespread protests, with Mevani
emerging as the face of the Dalit movement in the state. At the time, Mevani, a
law graduate who had worked for some years as a journalist, told me that he would not let the fledgling movement die.
"Dalits need to realise that they can be what anyone else can be," he
had said. When I saw him in his
constituency of Vadgam, just over one year later, Mevani was holding a rally
with Congress Party (now) president Rahul Gandhi. When I met him, a few days
later, he was gathering people who would stay vigilant when votes are counted
on December 18. Dressed in a green khadi shirt, black trousers
and sports shoes, the Dalit leader stood out among the throng of politicians
dressed in white kurtas and sandals. He laughed and said,
"Well, I guess I have kept my promise to HuffPost. I think it
is evident that I'm here and here to stay."
Mevani, however, is
walking a tightrope. On the one hand, the Dalit leader is working with the
Congress to defeat the BJP. In fact, the Congress has not fielded a candidate
in Vadgam, a seat which it has won thrice since 1998, to give Mevani his best
shot at winning. On the other hand, Mevani refuses to be co-opted by the Grand
Old Party, which he believes would be contrary to the ideological underpinnings
of the Dalit movement. For over an hour, Mevani
spoke about walking the tightrope, his dream of taking down the BJP, life
lessons, and dressing like a politician.
Fascism is fascism.
It will ruin our country if we stay silent any longer:
Edited excerpts:
Are you nervous about
the election result?
No, I feel like I've
already won. I was under the impression that contesting electoral politics is
something that doesn't go with me. But the kind of love and affection that I've
got from people in my constituency is stunning, sublime and supreme. It is devastatingly
great. The figure that will come out on the 18th can go in my favor or against
me, but I've won a lot of hearts. The amount of youth that I could engage with
is an investment for the future. It will be a major breakthrough if I win.
If you don't win?
I will continue with
the struggle. Our movement is political. Politics is not just about electoral
politics. I'm not shying away from that ever.
Why have you made
beating the BJP your life's mission?
The BJP originates
from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) which is a fascist force rooted in
an ideology that can be traced back to Hitler and Mussolini. They can go to any
extent. They can destroy whatever little democracy that we are left with. They
can destroy our goal of creating a secular and socialist democracy. If the BJP
comes to power in 2019 then this country will be a banana republic. Then, I
should not be surprised that you get killed for doing a story and you should
not be surprised if I get killed for organizing a rally. That is what fascism
is. I want Dalits, who are 18% of the population in India, to mercilessly vote
against the BJP in 2019.
You are working with
parties and people from all kinds of political backgrounds, convictions and
agendas. How do you reconcile your differences?
When you are fighting
against fascism, against the BJP, each pro-poor face has to come together and
keep aside their ideological disputes and problems. Fascism is fascism. It will
ruin our country if we stay silent any longer. There are contradictions between
the Patels and Dalits, Dalits and OBCs, OBCs and Patels. But still Alpesh,
Hardik and I are together because our principal contradiction is against the
BJP. We all feel that we are the victims of the "Gujarat model." But
that does not mean that the contradiction that lies beneath will not surface.
It will and we will resolve it.
Has the past year
changed you?
It has made me more
pragmatic and wise. I've learned to navigate the politics. Gujarat produces
great social activists but they remain stuck. They are not able to do anything
electorally and there is not much expansion on the ground. In politics, you
learn to carve your way out.
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