Times of India: Ahmedabad: Monday, March 31, 2025.
The state police department has disclosed through a Right to Information (RTI) response that 27 villages across Gujarat are currently under police protection with some under protection for more than a decade.
The RTI application was
filed by advocate Kaushik Parmar from Mehsana, seeking details on
police-protected villages in the state.
The response, provided to Parmar on March 21, points to the lingering effects of caste-based and communal fissures. Among the villages under prolonged police protection is Lolia in Bagodara taluka of Ahmedabad.
Police presence has been in place here since July 1, 2013, after the murder of a dalit man following a dispute over open defecation. According to RTI documents and police sources, a violent altercation took place when the victim was attacked over the issue, resulting in the murders of two of his family members. Even after a decade, authorities deem the village too volatile to lift the security cover.
Another case that garnered significant public attention is that of Mota Samadhiyala in Una taluka of Gir-Somnath district, the site of the horrifying Una flogging case.
In 2016, four brothers Ashok, Vashram, Bechar and Ramesh Sarvaiya were stripped and publicly flogged by self-proclaimed ‘gaurakshaks' (cow vigilantes) for skinning a dead cow.
The incident triggered a massive agitation and was even debated in the Lok Sabha.
The RTI response from the district superintendent of police stated that police protection continues in the village due to ongoing tension and security threats.
Gariadhar in Bhavnagar has been under police protection since 2018, following violent clashes between savarna and dalit communities over an electricity connection dispute. Fearing a resurgence of violence, security forces continue to monitor the situation. Expressing outrage over the findings, Parmar said, "It is a sorry state of affairs in Gujarat where dalits have to live in fear. Until there is police protection, they are safe. Otherwise, they will be attacked, tormented, and tortured."
The state police department has disclosed through a Right to Information (RTI) response that 27 villages across Gujarat are currently under police protection with some under protection for more than a decade.
The response, provided to Parmar on March 21, points to the lingering effects of caste-based and communal fissures. Among the villages under prolonged police protection is Lolia in Bagodara taluka of Ahmedabad.
Police presence has been in place here since July 1, 2013, after the murder of a dalit man following a dispute over open defecation. According to RTI documents and police sources, a violent altercation took place when the victim was attacked over the issue, resulting in the murders of two of his family members. Even after a decade, authorities deem the village too volatile to lift the security cover.
Another case that garnered significant public attention is that of Mota Samadhiyala in Una taluka of Gir-Somnath district, the site of the horrifying Una flogging case.
In 2016, four brothers Ashok, Vashram, Bechar and Ramesh Sarvaiya were stripped and publicly flogged by self-proclaimed ‘gaurakshaks' (cow vigilantes) for skinning a dead cow.
The incident triggered a massive agitation and was even debated in the Lok Sabha.
The RTI response from the district superintendent of police stated that police protection continues in the village due to ongoing tension and security threats.
Gariadhar in Bhavnagar has been under police protection since 2018, following violent clashes between savarna and dalit communities over an electricity connection dispute. Fearing a resurgence of violence, security forces continue to monitor the situation. Expressing outrage over the findings, Parmar said, "It is a sorry state of affairs in Gujarat where dalits have to live in fear. Until there is police protection, they are safe. Otherwise, they will be attacked, tormented, and tortured."
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