Visiual from the protests in Mandsaur last year. (PTI)
Sandeep Patidar, the elder brother of Abhishek Patidar, who was killed during the farmers’ agitation in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur last year, has alleged that he was warned by a Sub Divisional Magistrate against attending Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Mandaur on Wednesday. He was also asked to stop his parents from attending the rally.
Sandeep, 21, who was provided with a job at Bhanpura tehsil office by the government after the death of his brother, said he received a call from the SDM office on Tuesday night.
“I received a call from our tehsildar’s driver on Tuesday night, saying that the SDM wants to speak to me, and the driver shared the SDM’s mobile number with me. When I spoke to the SDM, he asked who all from my family are going to Rahul Gandhi’s rally on Wednesday. When I told him my parents will be going, he asked me to tell my parents not to go. He said aagey se nirdesh mile hain unhe ke mujhe suchit kiya jaaye ke aapke parivar se kal wahan koi na jaaye. (He said he had received instructions from higher-ups to inform me that no one from my family should go to the rally),” Sandeep said, showing the call records on his phone, claiming he spoke to the SDM for 1:18 minutes.
“The SDM said that since I’m in a government job, attending the rally might create problems for my job, so I should call up my parents and tell them too, to not attend the rally. I did tell my parents afterwards, but only to share what had transpired,” he said.
On Tuesday, their father Dinesh had told The Indian Express that, “I have nothing to do with any political party but I will certainly go. The government wants to throttle the farmers’ protests, but it was Congress and social activists such as Yogendra Yadav who amplified our voice and farmers’ situation has only worsened since last year,” he says.
Talking to The Indian Express, SDM, Garoth, R P Verma said: “He is one of the government employees under me so I merely told him that he is a government officer and so he should not attend the rally. The area where the rally is being held is not even under my jurisdiction.” Verma denied Sandeep’s claims that he asked Sandeep to stop his parents from attending the rally. “Why would we instruct him so?” he said.
This comes days after Abhishek’s other brother, Madhusudan, was asked to submit a bond of Rs 25,000 against attending Rahul’s farmers rally. “I had received a notice instructing me to submit a bond of Rs 25,000 against attending Rahul’s rally,” he said. However, when the administration’s move was criticised, the notice was soon withdrawn. “Officials claimed ke notice galti se aa gaya tha (that it had been sent by mistake), and withdrew it,” Madhusudan said.