Rajkot (Gujarat): Two minors from the Koli community were raped and murdered at Junagadh's famous pilgrim site the Datar shrine this year.
An angry community reacted through protests and violence, a sign of simmering discontent.
"The Chandni incident has hurt us. It is injustice,%u201D says president, Gujarat Koli Samaj, C K Pithawala.
The incident has now consolidated lakhs of angry Kolis once part of the Congress's Kham caste alliance. And the Kolis have shifted to the BJP in the last decade.
But Modi's silence on the rapes has angered their leaders forcing a rethink on their support.
Koli sammelans were held recently as a sign of a united anti-Modi front.
%u201CThere is anger over the Government to arrest the accused even after six months,%u201D says Dinesh Makwana of Koli group.
For the family of 15-year-old Chandni, one of the victims an emotional closure can come only when the accused are punished.
"Everyone has talked enough about it. The government must catch the criminals,%u201D says Chandni%u2019s uncle, Jignesh Jhenjadia.
The BJP is desperate to retain the Koli vote in 2002, it won 39 out of the 58 seats in Saurashtra-Kutch.
Their votes are critical as Kolis form 20 per cent of the state's population
RE:Read Read Good Material, No modi or RSS brochure
by Vinal Gandhi on Dec 05, 2007 09:53 PM Permalink
An article quoted verbatim from either TOI or Rediff. ha ha ha
