"Ram Pyare used to work in a factory that manufactured ceramic tiles in Himmatnagar in northern Gujarat.
He had just finished dinner on 28 September - it was a breezy night, he recalls - when he heard a commotion outside. More than 20 locals stormed inside, he says, "armed with bamboo sticks and iron rods". They beat up the workers while hurling abuses at them and warning them to never return to Gujarat.
"I would have been lynched if the security guard had not helped me sneak out of the back door," he adds.
Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long been heralded as an example of economic development. Its labour-intensive industries - such as textiles, jewellery and ceramics - draw a large numbers of migrants from poorer states in the north. An estimated 10% of Gujarat's more than 60 million people are believed to be migrants.
ImageGETTY IMAGES
ImageGujarat's labour-intensive industries attract migrant workers from poorer states
But growth has stalled in recent years because of the twin shocks ofdemonetisation and the goods and services tax . The surprise cancellation of 86% of currency notes by the government in November 2016 hit small traders and businesses; and the new, uniform tax code also cost them as they struggled to adapt to it. Many cash-only businesses in the informal sector were forced to close or register for the first time.
Gujarat's farmers too, like those across the country, have been struggling in the face of stagnant incomes and crop prices.
With general elections round the corner, opposition political parties have been banking on this frustration.
Demands for job quotas have played an increasing role in the state's politics. Days prior to when the attacks began on 28 September, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said his government was drafting a law to ensure that 80% of the jobs went to people from Gujarat ."
Read the last line. Understand that Delhi ALWAYS viewed Muslim Kashmiris through a religious lens, hence always had a need to CONTROL them despite their legitimate concerns of cultural erosion (or even worse atrocities by Hindu mobs which we see elsewhere) and economic damage from non-kashmiri migration.
Yet when Mr Patel riots because of similar economic/cultural dilution concerns, Delhi doesn't treat Mr Patel as some fifth column terrorist or traitor but rather negotiates and panders to his whims.
Do not you know that we such a bad people???
I don't mind bad people who don't at the same time pretend to be yoga teleporting, litter picking, incredible Indian democracy fairies. India should stop pretending it is "secular" or "democratic" and consequently enjoying the trappings of such titular privilege.