Suspended Jignesh Mevani burns ‘anti-tribal’ Statue of Unity bill

GANDHINAGAR: Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani burnt a copy of The Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Bill, 2019, outside the assembly complex on Tuesday. The stated aim of the bill is to develop the Statue of Unity (SOU) as a tourism destination. Mevani called the bill, which will be tabled at the ongoing session of the

Gujarat

assembly on Wednesday, “anti-tribal”. Mevani was suspended for the entire three-day winter session of the assembly on Monday.

“Under the pretext of the Statue of Unity, which has been built at Kevadiya against the wishes of tribal communities living around it, the government plans to snatch land and displace tribal people from 70 more villages there,” Mevani said. He urged Dalit and tribal MLAs to come together and oppose the bill when it is tabled on Wednesday.

“The bill is completely anti-tribal. As such, the government is not protecting the constitutional rights of tribal people. A bill like this will deprive local tribal communities of all their rights and grant licence to the authorities to throw out tribal people from their own land,” the MLA said.

The bill provides for “development of the area and management of tourism in and around the Statue of Unity at Kevadia by providing necessary infrastructure through effective planning and administration”.