Gujarat: Radhika Vemula, mother of late Rohith Vemula who ended life at University in Hyderabad in January, unfurled the national flag on August 15 at the grounds of a large state-run school in Una. The small town in Gujarat made headlines after four young Dalits were tied to a car, stripped and flogged after being wrongly accused of killing a cow last month.
While, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the country, spoke of the social harmony and his government’s commitment to upholding the rights of the weakest sections of society, here in Una thousands who gathered said that they were tired of such promises.

On the day of Independence, thousands of Dalits gathered here pledged they will not remove dead cows or skin them, a grueling and poorly-paid task forced upon the lowest castes.  

Kanhaiya Kumar, the student from Jawaharlal Nehru University who was infamously arrested on charges of sedition in February, addressing the crowd attacked Modi and said, “You have exposed the Gujarat model of development.”

A section of people from Ahmedabad who were present along with Muslims from Una and other parts of the state, who expressed solidarity, held demonstration in Una which began 10 days ago. They demanded basic rights to Dalits – like land that was allocated but never handed over to Dalit farmers. They also warned to organize large demonstrations if their demands were not met.