After undertaking ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from South to North and ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’ from East to West before the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Congress party is now eyeing Gujarat. Notably, after the Congress party achieved better than expected results in the Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi asserted that they will win Gujarat assembly elections in 2027. Now, the grand old party has organised a ‘Nyay Yatra’ in the state.
The Gujarat phase of the Nyay Yatra commenced on 9th August from Morbi and it will cover approximately 300 kilometres before it culminates at the capital Gandhinagar. According to media reports, Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may also join the yatra. According to Congress, the aim of this yatra is to demand ‘Justice’ for the victims who lost their lives in tragedies that took place in the state in the past few years. This includes fire incidents in Surat’s Takshila Complex in 2019 where 22 students lost their lives and the TRP Game Zone fire incident in Rajkot, earlier this year.
The Congress party has alleged that the Gujarat government has failed in ensuring Justice to the victims of these tragedies. As a result, the party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi will hit the streets to demand ‘Justice’ for these victims.
However, the Yatra has suffered a major setback as parents of the victims of the Surat fire incident case have refused to participate in the ‘Nyay Yatra’ citing that no Congress leader came out to help them in the last five years. They argued that the party wants to play politics in the name of ‘Nyay Yatra’ and for that they have been making efforts to court them and persuade them to join the Yatra. However, they added that they have told the party that they will not join this Yatra as they don’t want to be a tool for any political party.
At a time when Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party claimed to hit the roads for the victims’ families, the latter refused to join the march. They categorically noted that they don’t want to be the political arms or tools for the Congress party and that they will not allow them to play politics with the name of their deceased loved ones.
These assertions have been made by the parents who lost their children in the Surat fire incident that broke out in a coaching centre located on the third and fourth floors of the Takshashila Complex in 2019, five years ago.
As a result, the stance of the parents of the Surat fire incident victims has created a cause for concern for the Gujarat unit of the Congress party. It is being said that for the last 10-15 days, several Gujarat Congress leaders have been making efforts to court and persuade these parents to join the Yatra. However, the families of these victims have expressed unhappiness with the politicisation of the deaths of their deceased children.
Recently, they released a statement categorically stating that they will not be involved in the political agenda of the Congress party under any circumstances. They added that they will not join the Yatra adding that they, however, have no opposition to the Congress party. They emphasised that those who never cared for them in the last five years, are now calling them for political gains and taking advantage of them in the name of Nyay Yatra, which according to them is unacceptable. They have issued an appeal to the Congress party that if it is interested in seeking Justice for the victims, it should keep politics away and help them in the Judicial process.
Out of the 22 victim families, some of them spoke to OpIndia and explained their reasons for not joining the Congress Nyay Yatra. While speaking with OpIndia, they also shared their ordeal, the current status of the ongoing court cases, their concerns with the judiciary and the government, as well as their demands.
‘Not a single Congressman has changed in five years, why are they remembering us now?’: Parents of the Surat fire incident victims
The parents stated that even though five years have passed since the tragic incident, no Congress leader approached us to help us. But now they are inviting us to join the Yatra.
One such parent, Chatur Vasoya told OpIndia, “We have not supported Congress’ Nyay Yatra and the only reason for doing so is that our struggle is not political. For the last five years, we have not taken side with any political party. We have clearly said that any leader who wants to help us, should keep aside their party flags and join our struggle as a common citizen. But even after five years, not a single leader has come to help us.”
He added, “We decided that we will not be a tool for any political party. No one from the Congress party or their leader has visited Surat till date. When the incident took place, some leaders attended the funeral procession of the children. But since then, not a single leader, be it Congress worker, corporator, an MLA or a national level leader, has sided with us.”
Like Vasoya, another guardian Jaysukhbhai Gajera also told OpIndia, “Even after half a decade since the accident, no Congress representative came to meet the families of the fire incident victims. So now there is no point in joining this Yatra.”
He added, “Even if the intention behind the yatra is good…it may be that some of the people who are joining the yatra actually want to ensure justice. But there will be many who want us to attend the Yatra for their political gains. We don’t want anyone to extract political gains out of our dead children.”
Congress leaders Jignesh Mevani, Pal Ambalia and others have been contacting us for several days: Aggrieved parents
A parent named Dinesh Kevadia said that several Congress leaders have been contacting him for over 10 days in connection with the Yatra.
He said, “Now the Gujarat Congress leaders have been contacting us for ten-fifteen days. Leaders like Jignesh Mevani and Pal Ambalia want to persuade us to join the Yatra. But they basically want to reap sympathy in the name of our deceased children. We felt that they were going in the wrong direction, so we refused to join the Yatra. It has been clearly said that if they want to help us, they could do so by helping us in the judicial process.”
Rahul Gandhi came to Surat several times but never met the aggrieved parents
The parents of the Surat fire incident victims lamented that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came to Surat several times for party related work or to attend court proceedings in defamation cases against him, but he never took care to visit the families of the victims.
Chatur Vasoya said, “There was a case against Rahul Gandhi in Surat. He has appeared before Surat court four times. At times, we were also present in court in connection with our cases. But in these five years, he did not remember the guardians of Surat fire incident even once. So what’s the point of calling and inviting us now? We have no political opposition, but we do not approve of the way they want to take political benefit out of it. We don’t want politics, only Justice. If you have the guts to bring us justice, keep aside your party flag and help in our fight in court cases. Be it BJP, Congress or any other party, they are all the same for us.”
Regarding the Congress party’s political campaign on the tragic deaths, he said, “When the tragedy took place, Congress was strong in the municipality, if they wanted to help us, they should have taken care of us at that time. This is because the centre has gained some strength and they gained some support in Rajkot after the fire tragedy in that city…they are trying to increase their reach. They can do rallies, campaigns, and we have nothing to do with it, but not in the name of our children. If you want to help, fight the case, nobody has stopped you from it? It is only acceptable if BJP or Congress comes with their own flag,” alluding to the fact that they can help in personal capacity not as politicians.
Parents raise the demand to hold trials in fast track court
The parents asserted, “It is clear that the Congress party will not be able to give us justice. Taking to the streets like Rahul Gandhi will not bring justice. It is the court’s job to do justice and the case is ongoing in the courts. About 75% of our cases are before the courts and the remaining 25% will also reach the court. Our only demand is that our case be fast-tracked. We have also drawn the attention of the Chief Minister towards this.”
However, they said that it is a shame for the government if so many incidents happen and urged the government to pay attention.
Most of the parents have demanded that the case be tried in the fast track court. However, they added that they have already submitted appeals in the High Court and the Gujarat government has also recommended the High Court to try the cases in a fast-track court. They have demanded that the government should again make an appeal in this regard so that the deceased children can get speedy justice.
Jaisukh Gajera further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a corruption-free India will come true only when the culprits in such cases are punished swiftly and severely. When such tragedies happen because of corrupt officials, the accused know that they will get bail easily. But if the government pays attention to it and changes the rules as needed, such accused will be punished early and corruption will be controlled when they witness severe punishment in such cases.
The parents, however, added that the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have supported them in their fight but they never tried to take sides or politicize the issue. But now they demand that the government should make efforts on their part to ensure that the cases go through fast track courts.
Aam Aadmi Party exploited their grief
The aggrieved parents alleged that not only the Nyay Yatra organised by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, but also the Aam Aadmi Party and its leadership took advantage of the situation of the families of the deceased victims.
They said, “When the Aam Aadmi Party won many seats in Surat municipal corporation, leaders including Kejriwal came to Surat and held meetings and rallies. They took us along with them saying that they want to pay tribute to our children. Later they promised that they will take our matter to Delhi and raise the issue in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. But after leaving Surat, they forgot everything. It is from that incident that we learned the lesson to stay away from any such party leaders.”
