Rewind to 1990, and an image that is for ever lodged in my memory. India Gate, Rajpath, and an injured Delhi policeman crawling, pulling himself towards safety. Fear of looming death written in his eyes. The newspaper got his photograph that close. And the accompanying caption mentioned that his service pistol had been stolen by the agitators. For reasons that are peculiarly provincial I found that to be the most disturbing part of the photograph. Since memory is frighteningly short, it is worth recounting that the photograph was taken during the siege of Delhi by agitators demanding the inclusion of Jats as an Other Backward Class. Delhi was well and truly surrounded then. Amongst Jat friends we’d remark that historically whenever Delhi has been raided by them, the rulers have had to bite the dust. In a few months that was to happen again. And nine years down the line, Jats were the latest beneficiaries of OBC categorisation.

Back to a blistering Barmer afternoon of May 30, 2007, and the shock in the district at being connected to the events of almost a thousand kilometres away. That was the cremation of Babu Lal Chowdhury, a young police recruit. He was part of a detachment of 100 policemen sent from Barmer to help other districts cope with the Gurjjar reservation mobilisation. And came back home a corpse split open by sword strikes. Doctors in Kota gave up hope as soon as he was wheeled in. His daughter is nearing five months. And to give the incident the most gruesome of caste ironies, he was a Jat, and died when trapped between the mob and a temple!

... contd.