Was a Dalit ration shopkeeper discriminated towards in Gujarat; Fact Check

It is being claimed within the media and social media that there was caste discrimination towards a Dalit shopkeeper in a village in Gujarat. It is being instructed that within the Kanosan village of Saraswati taluka of Patan district, folks refused to take grains from the ration store run by a Dalit man after which the collector transferred their ration playing cards to the store in a close-by village. However, the complete declare is fake and deceptive.

This complete matter is being given the angle of Savarna versus Dalit. Many posts about this had been additionally seen on social media. Dilip Mandal shared an article in ‘The Indian Express’ and wrote, “Those who cannot buy ration from Dalit shopkeepers, how will they make a Hindu nation? They can not even make a Hindu village.”

ये बनाएंगे हिंदू राष्ट्र? ये?

दलित दुकानदार से राशन नहीं ख़रीद सकते।

ये बनाएँगे? इनसे एक हिंदू गाँव नहीं बन पाएगा। https://t.co/hSIrAuznp2

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) September 22, 2023

Apart from this, many such posts had been seen. Hitendra Pithadiya, who heads the Scheduled Caste cell of the Congress and has been in controversy for spreading pretend information previously, quoted The Indian Express report and wrote, ‘This is a Hindu Rashtra, which follows the Gujarat model of hatred, violence and discrimination’. He additional claimed that each one the villagers had been Hindus and that they collectively boycotted a Dalit shopkeeper working a ration store. He then made different feedback asking who gave the collector the facility to move this order and why the collector was selling casteism.

This is Hindu Rashtra for you on the sample of the Gujarat Model of hatred, violence, and discrimination.

The residents are all Hindus who’ve boycotted the Dalit Shopkeeper who runs the FPS of the village.

Overall Caste Hindus have a superiority complicated, and they’re… https://t.co/3nFDP49tpQ

— Hitendra Pithadiya 🇮🇳 (@HitenPithadiya) September 21, 2023

There had been additionally some media stories by which the problem has been given a Dalit versus Savarna angle. The Telangana Today report, titled ‘In Modi’s Gujarat, officers overtly help casteism towards Dalit’, begins with a query that learn, “Is the government machinery in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State of Gujarat openly supporting casteism by validating the economic boycott of a Dalit by ‘upper caste’ villagers?”

The report by Telangana Today. Image Source: Telangana Today

The report additional quoted “reports from Ahmedabad” as saying that the Patan district collector has suggested 436 ration card holders of Kanosan village in Saraswati taluka to buy ration from close by Endla village in order that they don’t have to purchase grains from a rationing store run by a Dalit man within the village. It was additionally written that a lot of the ration card holders, who belong to the Thakor neighborhood, had stopped shopping for grains from a budget grain retailers of Dalits for the final 18 months. Citing stories, it was mentioned that two years in the past, the controversy began when the shopkeeper refused to provide meals grains to a Thakor.

Taking ahead the narrative of Savarna versus Dalits, the report highlights how alleged “atrocities” towards Dalits are on the rise in Modi’s Gujarat. The similar was bolstered by citing an RTI reply. Nowhere within the report does the villagers point out why they boycotted the shopkeeper.

Some stories had been additionally seen within the Gujarati media. News18 Gujarati’s report begins with this – “Caste discrimination is allegedly seen in many areas even today. Recently, the case of Kanosan village in Saraswati taluka of Patan district has come to light”, it mentioned. It added, “The villagers did not take rations from the ration shop operated by a Dalit. In the midst of this situation, the Patan district collector transferred all the 436 ration card holders of the village to the adjoining village Adla.” The report additionally mentioned that the village is dominated by the Thakor neighborhood. TV9 Gujarati additionally reported with the headline ‘Kanosan village of Patan in disputes regarding caste discrimination’.

The Indian Express report’s headline is deceptive, the report itself says that there isn’t any discrimination

All these social media posts and stories are primarily based on a report by The Indian Express, which was printed on September 21, 2023. The headline of this report is deceptive, which strengthened the narrative of Savarna towards Dalits. The headline is – “In Gujarat, villagers won’t buy ration from Dalit’s shop, collector transfers all cards to nearby village”. (Archive hyperlink) But this report itself exhibits that there’s nothing like casteism and the villagers stopped shopping for grains as a result of they weren’t getting sufficient meals grains.

The Indian Express report quoted the collector’s order in accordance with which the villagers alleged that they weren’t getting meals grains on time and that the amount of meals grains mounted by the federal government in the course of the time of Corona pandemic was additionally not being given in sufficient amount. When villagers complained to shopkeeper Kanti Parmar, he threatened to implicate them by submitting a case below the ST/SC Act. He ultimately complained to the native administration.

The similar report additionally quoted statements from shopkeeper Kanti Parmar and a few villagers. According to this, the villagers accused Kanti Parmar of submitting a false case and mentioned that this was the explanation why they didn’t go to his ration store to purchase the meals grains. Kanti, however, denied the allegations.

“After receiving complaints from the villagers that they were not getting enough food grains from the ration shop and the shopkeeper was threatening to trap them, we demanded that the ration card be transferred to a nearby village,” mentioned the village sarpanch.

The Indian Express report. Image Source: The Indian Express

To resolve the dispute, the district administration had recorded statements of a complete of 268 ration card holders within the village, out of which 260 had sought permission to buy ration from a neighbouring village. In March, the mamlatdar of Saraswati village had additionally held a gathering with the villagers and an identical demand was made in it. Subsequently, the district collector issued an order permitting 436 ration card holders of the village to buy ration from close by Endla village.

The dispute was happening for two years, and fearing the specter of submitting a case below the SC/ST Act, the villagers stopped shopping for grains

Divya Bhaskar’s report says that this dispute between the ration card holders and the shopkeeper has been happening for the final two years. Police circumstances have additionally been filed towards one another in the identical controversy. The controversy began over the allotment of amount of foodgrains acquired as per the rule. The report additionally mentioned that when prospects raised their voices over sufficient meals grains, the shopkeeper threatened to implicate them by submitting a case below the ST/SC Act. Due to this, shoppers began shopping for grains from close by villages. The dispute ultimately reached Gandhinagar. After this, the collector transferred the ration card holders to the close by village in order that the dispute didn’t escalate additional and no untoward incident befell within the village.

Therefore, there isn’t any fact within the allegations that villagers should not shopping for from the store as a result of it’s run by a Dalit. They had been shopping for from the identical store earlier however stopped later because of the unavailability of sufficient inventory and the shopkeeper’s risk of case.

The Gujarat authorities additionally clarified that the motion was taken not because of caste discrimination, however due to the complaints of the villagers.

It has additionally been clarified by the Food and Civil Supplies Department of the Government of Gujarat that the choice to switch the playing cards of the ration card holders of Kanosan village will not be the results of any caste discrimination. An announcement about The Indian Express report mentioned that on August 21, 2021, the villagers lodged a grievance alleging that the shopkeeper was not giving sufficient meals grains and misbehaving. The complaints had been then discovered to be real when the matter was investigated by the mamlatdar of Saraswati taluka. On the opposite hand, fed up with the shopkeeper’s behaviour, ration card holders began shopping for meals grains from different locations.

“After extensive scrutiny, inconsistency and discrepancy in the stock of the shop were found, resulting in the seizure of material worth Rs 51,397 and transfer of ration card holders to nearby Endla village to address the concerns of the consumers,” it added.

Denying the allegations of any form of discrimination towards the shopkeeper, the state authorities mentioned that the motion was taken not on account of any form of discrimination however in response to a grievance filed towards the shopkeeper. The objective of shifting cardholders who purchase meals grains from ration retailers to close by villages was to make sure that they get an sufficient amount of meals grains on time and that the loopholes recognized in the course of the investigation may very well be eliminated.

OpIndia additionally tried to contact the District Supply Officer of Patan to get extra info on the matter, however no contact may very well be established. The report will likely be up to date as soon as a response is acquired.