New Delhi: In Narendra Modi's Gujarat, a group of upper cast men attacked a Dalit youth for wearing traditional attire. In the Sabarkantha district of the state, attackers allegedly beat up the youth after he posted a photo of himself wearing a traditional headgear (safa) and sunglasses on Instagram, The Wire reported.
Local reports suggested that the incident took place on July 17 in Sayebapur village of Sabarkantha district's Himatnagar taluka. The victim was a 24-year-old, identified as Ajay Parmar, who is a three-wheeler driver. As per the FIR he filed, he was attacked by a group of four men from the Darbar community, who consider themselves upper-caste Kshatriyas.
The accused group allegedly beat Parmar at the Navanagar bus stand for updating his Insta Display Picture wearing the traditional attire. According to them, only people from the Darbar community have the right to wear the attire, and they asked Parmar to remove the picture.
Further, another group of men slapped him later at his village, citing the same thing. His family is the only Dalit family residing in the village, whereas others are from the Darbar community.
The FIR names four people, identified as Kirpalsinh Rathod, Manusinh Rathod and his son, Hitendrasinh Rathod and Shukalsinh Rathod.
According to what Parmar told the Deccan Herald, his father had called the local police to save him from the group who attacked him, but they arrived only an hour later. Meanwhile, police said that the accused had fled the village and were investigating the case.
It is not the first time Gujarat has reported a case of this nature. There was another incident of a Dalit person being assaulted for wearing upper-caste attire in June 2023. In another incident later the same year, a Dalit person was asked to be assaulted for asking his salary to his employer, who was a businesswoman. The man was made to mouth her footwear and apologise.
In an incident in February this year, a Dalit groom was assaulted for riding a horse during his marriage procession.