Seeking ST status: Anger in Rajasthan boils over, 14 dead

Caste tensions simmering for the last five years boiled over in Rajasthan when an agitation by the Gurjjar community, demanding they be moved from the category of OBC to Scheduled Tribe, turned violent today. At least 14 persons were killed and over 80 injured in clashes and police firing in three districts, prompting authorities to deploy six columns of the Army.

Highways linking Jaipur with Agra, Delhi, Kota and Sawai Madhopur were blocked by agitators who hurled stones and clashed with the police in Dausa, Karauli and Bundi districts.

Police lathicharged, lobbed teargas shells and opened fire in Dausa and Bundi to disperse Gurjjars who had given a call for a 'chakka jam' to press their demand.

At Peepalikheda, some 40 km from Dausa, more than 20,000 Gurjjars gathered to block the Jaipur-Agra highway. As people began collecting around 5 am at Patoli village, the police present there used teargas to scatter them. But by 7 am, they were back on the streets. Officials said police had to open fire after they were attacked with lathis, sharp-edged weapons and stones.

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria said: "The mob attacked the police first and cut off a constable's hand and the leg of another. The police had no choice except fire."

Within hours, Gurjjars from neighbouring villages gathered at Patoli and moved towards Peepalikheda. By 9 am, more than 20,000 had gathered in the fields, forcing the policemen to leave.

The crowd then set vehicles on fire, attacked a police chowky, stopped government and media vehicles, damaged roads and disrupted traffic on the National Highway.

Refusing to cremate the bodies of five persons killed in the firing, the crowd demanded a written assurance from Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje that they would be granted ST status.

Col Kirodi Singh, president of the Gurjjar Reservation Committee, told The Indian Express: "The police had no reason to fire at a crowd which had gathered for a peaceful protest. We demand an inquiry by a third party — the CBI or a judicial inquiry."

... contd.

ALSO READ

30 yrs of marriage, few days to deportation to Pakistan

India pins hope on tactics that helped end past Chinese incursions

'Railway official was eyeing lucrative electrical post'

Pawan Bansal won't quit, Congress decides to weather new storm