Ahmedabad: A scheduled caste man from Gadalwada village in Banaskantha’s Palanpur taluka, has sought police protection for his wedding procession on Feb 6 in which he plans to ride a horse, a first for his community in the village.
The application by the groom, Mukesh Parecha, who is an advocate, cited past incidents of violence from upper-caste groups in nearby villages when Dalit weddings featured processions.
The groom highlighted that SC community members in Gadalwada have never had a wedding procession before, making this event particularly significant. “We are the first in our community to take this step, but the possibility of resistance and violence is very real,” he stated in the application.
The wedding scheduled for Feb 6 will include a procession from the groom’s farmhouse to the village at around 9.30am. In his application to Banaskantha SP, Parecha stated that previous incidents of attacks on Dalit processions occurred in villages including Saripada and Motagam, just 1-13km away, all under the jurisdiction of Gadh police station.
“This is not a hypothetical request based on assumptions. Without police protection, an untoward incident is inevitable,” Parecha stated in the application. Local Dalit leaders have voiced their support. Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani said, “This speaks volumes about what we as a society are. It also speaks about the condition of Dalits in Gujarat. Parecha’s village is in my constituency Vadgam, which falls in Banaskantha — an atrocity-prone zone. In this case, the SP must immediately intervene and help provide police protection.”