Congress MLA Vasava backed the protests and said he would be willing to “go to jail” if needed.
Congress MLA PD Vasava from Nandod assembly constituency in Narmada district, on Wednesday, extended support to tribals, who have been sitting in protest in Gandhinagar, demanding an inquiry into the alleged fake certificates scam that “helped non-tribals acquire government jobs”. Vasava backed the protests and said he would be willing to “go to jail” if needed.
According to the tribals, who have been protesting since January 21 in Gandhinagar, many non-tribals have acquired caste certificates and landed government jobs, thus taking away the benefits that actually belong to the community. While BJP MP from Bharuch, Mansukh Vasava, originally led the protest and wrote several letters to the National Tribal Commission demanding that fake certificates be declared void with immediate effect, other tribal leaders, too, have joined the protest.
The members of Sacha Adivasi Adhikar Bachao Samiti have been protesting the decision of tribal commissioner Dilip Kumar Rana to review previously invalidated tribal certificates, citing that it would reinstate non-tribals to jobs meant for the community. Several Congress leaders, including former minister Tushar Chaudhary, have extended their support to the agitation.
PD Vasava, who sat with the protesters on Wednesday told the gathering, “This is a fight for tribal rights and truth. We know that tribal certificates are issued to people in order to benefit them for getting jobs that are actually meant for tribal communities. We are with you in this fight and
if needed, we will even make it a bigger agitation. We will go to jail and also suffer lathis if needed, but we have to ensure that the fake certificates are withdrawn and those jobs are distributed to deserving real tribals.”
Mansukh Vasava, who chaired a meeting of tribal leaders from Bharuch and Narmada in January before urging them to kick-start the agitation, said, “This is a step for all genuine tribals from all districts of the state. We are reaching out to them to ensure they know their rights and join the fight to have fake certificates exposed and suspended.”
Mansukh said that since the applications before authorities had “not yielded results”, the tribals were forced to resort to a protest in order to be heard.
Mansukh Vasava, a tribal heavy weight of the BJP, is a five-term MP from Bharuch parliamentary constituency, which, despite being a general seat, has elected ST candidates since 1989. Earlier also, Vasava has made comments against the government that left the BJP embarrassed.