America
Patidar protesters meet Modi over 'atrocities', economic reservations
New York, Sep 26
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Friday met a group of people complaining about what they said were
atrocities by police in Gujarat during the anti-reservation agitation
and asking for a changeover to a system of reservations based on
economic status.
Earlier, at least 250 people from Sardar Patel
Group US-Canada (SPG) held a protest outside the United Nations as Modi
addressed the General Assembly. They carried both portraits of Modi
welcoming him and placards about the alleged atrocities and calling for
changes in the reservation system.
Alpesh Patel, who said he led
the SPG delegation that met Modi, told IANS that they gave him 25
petitions seeking action on the alleged police atrocities and a change
in the reservation system. In addition, he said, 2,000 letters
supporting the demands were sent through the Consulate General here.
During
their meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Patel, a businessman from
Central New Jersey, said: "Modi listened to us and told us that action
was being taken on the atrocities in Gujarat. The High Court was looking
into it."
Modi did not react to their request for change in the
reservation system, Patel said. They had told him that the current
caste-based reservation system should be changed to one that is based on
economic status.
One of those at the protest, R.K. Patel from
Boston, explained their contradictory signs of welcome and protest
saying: "We are Indians first. We have a good prime minister and we
welcome him. But we want him to do something about the atrocities in
Gujarat and make the reservations economic and not caste."
In
contrast to last year when hundreds turned up to cheer Modi, there were
only about a dozen people from the Overseas BJP. But some members of the
SPG joined them in holding up their banners and shouting slogans of
welcome for Modi.
There was another protest across from them,
separated by security barriers under the watchful of eyes of police, by
Khalistan supporters. At least 500 of them held up signs demanding a
referendum in Punjab and paraded an effigy of Modi