59 Facts About Jignesh Mevani

Jignesh Mevani is an Indian politician, lawyer, activist and former journalist serving as the representative of the Vadgam constituency in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly since 2017.

Jignesh Mevani is a member of the Indian National Congress party.

Jignesh Mevani is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch.

Jignesh Mevani was born on 11 December 1980 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to a family of Dalits from the village of Meu in Mehsana district.

Jignesh Mevani grew up in a lower middle class family, his parents had become government clerks, and resided in the Dalit populated locality of Meghaninagar in Ahmedabad.

Jignesh Mevani's father worked at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and his mother at the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

Jignesh Mevani began his higher secondary education in the core stream of science, dropped out and completed his schooling after switching to humanities.

Jignesh Mevani attained his graduation in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the HK Arts College, affiliated with the Gujarat University.

Jignesh Mevani was particularly impressed by Saumya Joshi who was an associate professor and dramatist at the college and by the faculty member Sanjay Bhave who introduced him to various historical and contemporary figures of social activism in Gujarat.

Jignesh Mevani was influenced by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and the human rights activist Mukul Sinha during this period.

In 2004, Jignesh Mevani shifted to Mumbai and became a journalist with the Gujarati language news magazine called Abhiyaan.

Jignesh Mevani worked at the magazine for three years before quitting journalism to become an activist.

Jignesh Mevani briefly worked for a Gujarati language daily newspaper during this period.

Jignesh Mevani started his activism through trade unions, and returned to Gujarat in 2008.

Jignesh Mevani worked with the RTI activist Bharatsinh Zala with whom he visited several places to study the causes and issues leading to farmers' suicides.

Jignesh Mevani worked with the activist lawyer Girish Patel and the Gandhian activists Chunilal Vaidya for farmers' rights, land reform and the development of sustainable rural economies.

In 2009, Jignesh Mevani had led a JSM survey in the districts of Surendranagar and Ahmedabad to study the distribution of surplus government land to landless Dalits under provisions of the Gujarat Agriculture Land Ceiling Act.

Jignesh Mevani was encouraged to pursue a degree in law in order to be better equipped to assist individuals in need of legal representation.

Jignesh Mevani enrolled in the DT Law College of the Gujarat University while continuing his campaign over land issues during his studies.

Jignesh Mevani graduated for a second time with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2013, and became a practising activist lawyer at the Gujarat High Court, representing landless Dalits in their cases.

Jignesh Mevani joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 and became its Gujarat spokesperson.

In 2015, Jignesh Mevani initiated a public interest litigation at the High Court for the allocation of 56,873 acres of surplus government land to landless labourers in Gujarat.

Jignesh Mevani rose to national prominence during the protests following the Una flogging incident.

Jignesh Mevani was one of the key organisers of the event, and was appointed the convener of the committee.

Jignesh Mevani gave a speech during the assembly and was received with a wave of approval from the participants.

Jignesh Mevani was instrumental in making the issue of land reform and the allocation of land to landless Dalits a major demand of the protest reasoning that if Dalits had the land, they would not have to engage in their traditional occupations such as skinning and disposing of dead cows.

Jignesh Mevani's speeches drew massive crowds which was credited to his understanding of Dalit issues combined with oratorical skill.

Jignesh Mevani coined the slogan "Gaaye nu puchhdu taame rakho, aamne amaari jameen aapo" which came to be in widespread use throughout the protests.

Jignesh Mevani presented a charter of 10 demands of the UDALS which included justice for the victims of the Una atrocity, alternative livelihood options, legal frameworks for the protection of Dalits against similar atrocities and 5 acres of land for every landless Dalit household in the state, along with a 30 day ultimatum seeking a response from the government.

Jignesh Mevani was involved in the efforts of UDALS to form an alliance with the large network of Julahas composed primarily of Dalit converts to Islam, another targeted community in atrocities on the pretext of cow protection.

The protests led by Jignesh Mevani inspired a similar protest from Banjaras in Rajasthan in response to another assault by members of the Bajrang Dal on the pretext of cow protection.

On 9 January 2017, Jignesh Mevani announced the beginning of an agitation during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

The dismissal prompted the RDAM and Jignesh Mevani to commence plans for disrupting the summit by reviving the idea of the rail roko agitation which had been cancelled earlier in October 2016 with the beginning of the negotiations.

On receiving the news, Jignesh Mevani announced that they would sit on a dharna outside the Dhanera police station.

Maderia was elected as sarpanch of Bhangal village, an year earlier in the panchayat elections and Jignesh Mevani adopted the election symbol of sewing machine which Maderia had used in his election.

Jignesh Mevani had appealed to other parties to not field candidates in the constituency stating that his fight was primarily against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Jignesh Mevani's candidacy was endorsed by the Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the Thakor community activist Alpesh Thakor who had joined the Congress.

Jignesh Mevani won the election with a margin of over 18,000 votes.

In 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, Jignesh Mevani won the election with a margin of over 5,000 votes.

On 6 October 2018, Jignesh Mevani attended a panel discussion of Dalit leaders, activists and academics at Jaipur, Rajasthan.

In February 2019, the president and the vice-president of the HK Arts College were forced to cancel an event where they had invited Jignesh Mevani and resigned thereafter under pressure from Bharatiya Janata Party affiliated students union leaders.

In December 2019, Jignesh Mevani opposed the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Bill on the justification that it would adversely effect the tribals in the area, stating that they were displaced from 70 villages when the government forcefully snatched their lands for the construction of the statue.

Jignesh Mevani was suspended for 3 days on grounds of indiscipline after alleging that the Treasury benches followed the Manusmriti and not the Constitution, according to him the bill violated the provisions of the Schedule 5 of the Constitution of India.

In March 2021, Jignesh Mevani was suspended for a day on grounds of indiscipline from the Gujarat Legislative Assembly by the speaker Rajendra Trivedi.

Jignesh Mevani was demanding the arrest of a police officer and had questioned the Home Minister, Pradipsinh Jadeja on whether he was related to the officer who was allegedly present at an incident where a Dalit RTI activist was beaten to death by a group of upper caste men.

Jignesh Mevani was arrested by the Assam Police on 20 April 2022 after he made a tweet criticising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with charges under the Indian Penal Code sections for criminal conspiracy, hurting religious sentiment and threat to peace.

Jignesh Mevani stated that the arrest came as a surprise to him but he was not afraid and would continue to fight for the rights of the deprived, adding that the arrest has only gone to highlight the real situation of the country and the motives of the government.

Jignesh Mevani was arrested at midnight from his residence in Gujarat and transported to Kokrajhar district, Assam, where his anticipatory bail was initially rejected by the district court which stating that the hearing for it will be held on a later date.

Activists and opposition parties including the Indian National Congress organised a protest outside the Kokrajhar police station where Jignesh Mevani was being held with plans to move the case to the Guwahati High Court if necessary, while several other activists and supporters of Jignesh Mevani announced their intention to escalate the protests to Delhi.

Jignesh Mevani's lawyer stated the new charges were a later fabrication as there was no mention of this allegation during the 3 day custody or in the court hearing arguments.

Jignesh Mevani's supporters have stated that Gujarat Police has been threatening and harassing Jignesh Mevani's family and associates since his arrest.

Jignesh Mevani was elected from Vadgam constituency again in 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election as an INC candidate defeating his nearest rival and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Manilal Vaghela.

Jignesh Mevani is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, who identifies himself as a social liberal and Ambedkarite.

Jignesh Mevani subscribes to the school of thought in Ambedkarism, propounded by Anand Teltumbde, according to which social transformation is not achievable by solely focusing on caste as it leads to repeated division within the movement and that it needs to forge a class unity among all marginalised groups.

Jignesh Mevani states that "one can not preach self respect to empty stomachs" and that land reform is a vital tool which can bring about important structural changes for the annihilation of caste.

Jignesh Mevani is a vocal supporter of labour rights, including the dismantlation of contract employment.

Jignesh Mevani has advocated for the sanitation workers to be made permanent and offered benefits akin to other government jobs.

Jignesh Mevani is an advocate for unity between anti-fascist groups, and endorses the formation of a joint platform between all anti-Sangh Parivar and leftist groups.

Jignesh Mevani has taken the stance that he intends to oppose them wherever they are as they threaten the Constitution of India.