Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat erupted with protests and violence instigated by a body that claims to represent its Patidar, or Patel, community that constitutes around 20% of the state’s 63 million population. Arguing that their livelihoods are under significant threat as a result of poor revenues from agriculture, combined with increasing bleak prospects from small and medium industries, the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti is demanding reservations in state-run educational institutions and government jobs in line with the quota received by many minority groups in India.
Excluding the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, Patidars are found all over the state with particularly high concentrations in north Gujarat and Saurashtra. Of the two dominant sub-castes, Leuva Patels are particularly dominant in central Gujarat and Saurashtra, while Kadvas are located primarily in northern Gujarat. Various minorities within the Patidars do hold the status of Other Backward Classes, such as the Chaudhury and Anjana Patels in north Gujarat.
Given their considerable population, taken as a collective, Patels are highly influential in state politics. They occupy a number of prominent positions in the state – Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and six of her cabinet colleagues happen to be from the Patel community.
Who speaks for 18 million Patels?
The Patel agitation has snowballed from a localised intra-caste issue among Kadvas, Leuvas and Anjanas in north Gujarat to a movement with state-wide traction. Over the past month, a wave of mini-protests and larger rallies has spread across Saurashtra, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, and Surat, culminating this week in a public address at Ahmedabad’s GMDC ground where 300,000 gathered to hear Hardik Patel speak.
In a recent media interview, Patel noted that he would call off the agitation only when "the demands of Gujarat's 18 million Patels are accepted". But to what extent are his actions representative of the Gujarat’s Patel community as a whole?
For almost a year I conducted doctoral research on youth (un)employment and education within a rural community in Navsari district, just south of Surat. My fieldwork tells a different story, one of numerous educated Patel youth living rurally, who are satisfied with their economic prospects, despite not holding the OBC status. Indeed, throughout our conversations, reservation quotas rarely emerged as a point of discussion. It did not constitute a pressing concern for the vast majority of young Patel men. Many of these youth, in seeking new economic opportunities in and around the city, had given up on ideas fed to them by older generations of holding out for white-collar employment.
One young man named Parthiv Patel, a 26-year-old graduate with a double honours degree in economics and psychology, expressed a distinct air of despondency when speaking about government jobs: “They [jobs] do not come. In Navsari there are too many young people and too few jobs, so we do not chase government employment.”
When speaking about government work, young men would often refer dismissively to the need to conduct "politics" – which, ironically, was used as a synonym for "corruption" – and deal in excessive amounts of black money as bribes to guarantee oneself employment.
Parthiv went on to reject the idea that young people were unable to find work. "You can find work here if you are active enough, but you should not have shame in taking it," he proclaimed. These ideas of "shame" and "laziness" were common to many youth from Parthiv’s sub-caste in the village. They sought to distinguish themselves from educated young Patel men from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds who, cushioned by the economic safety nets of their families, often engaged in “khaali (mere) timepass”.
A United Front?
In recent conversations, many of my young informants have expressed disgruntled opinions about the agitation occurring further north. "The whole of Gujarat is shut down," one young man told me over WhatsApp. "So now I cannot work in Navsari and make my living."
This resentment towards the Patels of central and north Gujarat reflects a much broader sentiment, among many young people I spoke with, particularly towards those from other sub-castes, both local and state-wide. “They are not in a rush,” one man told me, referring to a wealthier group of Patels in the village. “They only think about filling their belly, bas [enough]. Enaa koi utaavaḷa naathi [They have no sense of urgency].” He identified a distinct need to differentiate himself socially and economically from youth both within his own and across other Patel sub-castes.
Whilst appreciating the intra-caste, OBC-driven disputes that catalysed the recent emergence of Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti, on-the-ground perspectives from Navsari highlight the fact that the current movement is far from united among Patels across the state. Many young people in south Gujarat, where the solidarities and strengths of Patidar sub-castes are much less prevalent, are more interested in carving out meaningful social and economic livelihoods often with little care for reservation schemes, government employment, or the Andolan Samiti.
Viresh V Patel is a doctoral candidate at the School of Geography, University of Oxford.
Excluding the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, Patidars are found all over the state with particularly high concentrations in north Gujarat and Saurashtra. Of the two dominant sub-castes, Leuva Patels are particularly dominant in central Gujarat and Saurashtra, while Kadvas are located primarily in northern Gujarat. Various minorities within the Patidars do hold the status of Other Backward Classes, such as the Chaudhury and Anjana Patels in north Gujarat.
Given their considerable population, taken as a collective, Patels are highly influential in state politics. They occupy a number of prominent positions in the state – Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and six of her cabinet colleagues happen to be from the Patel community.
Who speaks for 18 million Patels?
The Patel agitation has snowballed from a localised intra-caste issue among Kadvas, Leuvas and Anjanas in north Gujarat to a movement with state-wide traction. Over the past month, a wave of mini-protests and larger rallies has spread across Saurashtra, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, and Surat, culminating this week in a public address at Ahmedabad’s GMDC ground where 300,000 gathered to hear Hardik Patel speak.
In a recent media interview, Patel noted that he would call off the agitation only when "the demands of Gujarat's 18 million Patels are accepted". But to what extent are his actions representative of the Gujarat’s Patel community as a whole?
For almost a year I conducted doctoral research on youth (un)employment and education within a rural community in Navsari district, just south of Surat. My fieldwork tells a different story, one of numerous educated Patel youth living rurally, who are satisfied with their economic prospects, despite not holding the OBC status. Indeed, throughout our conversations, reservation quotas rarely emerged as a point of discussion. It did not constitute a pressing concern for the vast majority of young Patel men. Many of these youth, in seeking new economic opportunities in and around the city, had given up on ideas fed to them by older generations of holding out for white-collar employment.
One young man named Parthiv Patel, a 26-year-old graduate with a double honours degree in economics and psychology, expressed a distinct air of despondency when speaking about government jobs: “They [jobs] do not come. In Navsari there are too many young people and too few jobs, so we do not chase government employment.”
When speaking about government work, young men would often refer dismissively to the need to conduct "politics" – which, ironically, was used as a synonym for "corruption" – and deal in excessive amounts of black money as bribes to guarantee oneself employment.
Parthiv went on to reject the idea that young people were unable to find work. "You can find work here if you are active enough, but you should not have shame in taking it," he proclaimed. These ideas of "shame" and "laziness" were common to many youth from Parthiv’s sub-caste in the village. They sought to distinguish themselves from educated young Patel men from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds who, cushioned by the economic safety nets of their families, often engaged in “khaali (mere) timepass”.
A United Front?
In recent conversations, many of my young informants have expressed disgruntled opinions about the agitation occurring further north. "The whole of Gujarat is shut down," one young man told me over WhatsApp. "So now I cannot work in Navsari and make my living."
This resentment towards the Patels of central and north Gujarat reflects a much broader sentiment, among many young people I spoke with, particularly towards those from other sub-castes, both local and state-wide. “They are not in a rush,” one man told me, referring to a wealthier group of Patels in the village. “They only think about filling their belly, bas [enough]. Enaa koi utaavaḷa naathi [They have no sense of urgency].” He identified a distinct need to differentiate himself socially and economically from youth both within his own and across other Patel sub-castes.
Whilst appreciating the intra-caste, OBC-driven disputes that catalysed the recent emergence of Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti, on-the-ground perspectives from Navsari highlight the fact that the current movement is far from united among Patels across the state. Many young people in south Gujarat, where the solidarities and strengths of Patidar sub-castes are much less prevalent, are more interested in carving out meaningful social and economic livelihoods often with little care for reservation schemes, government employment, or the Andolan Samiti.
Viresh V Patel is a doctoral candidate at the School of Geography, University of Oxford.
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