More than one lakh Gurjjars, mostly from Rajasthan, participated in the Gurjjar mahasabha, organised by expelled BJP MLA Prahlad Gunjal at Jhalawar on Sunday.

Col Kirorilal Bainsla, who attended the meet, said that the community would wait till September 12 for the state Government to announce the inclusion of Gurjjars in the ST category and if it fails to do so, then an agitation would be launched again.

“The three-month deadline comes to an end on September 4, 2007 but we will wait till September 12. However, if a letter is not sent by then, we will again launch an agitation on September 13 during the Dholpur mahasabha,” said Col Bainsla.

Heavy rains did not deter the Gurjjars from attending the mahasabha on Sunday and those gathered at Jhalawar were keen to hear what their community leaders had to say on the reservation issue. Most Gurjjar leaders were of the opinion that the agitation should be peaceful and non-violent. “It’s important that we respect democracy. We have earned a reputation of being violent, but now we need to ensure that our demands are met in a peaceful manner. The state Government is in the wrong by not fulfilling the promise it made. We deserve the reservation but we have to win our right non-violently,” said Dausa MP Sachin Pilot, who also attended the mahasabha.

Other speakers included Prahlad Gunjal, Attarsingh Bhadana and other Gurjjar leaders from Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The speakers repeated their demands seeking Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s resignation on moral grounds and also a CBI inquiry into the police firing at Peeplikheda on May 29 during the Gurjjar agitation.

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