India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Gujjar agitation erupts again : 36 killed in clashes

	May 26, 2008

Members of the Gujjar community have intensified their agitation in Rajasthan for Scheduled Tribe status. They fought pitched battles with the police and tried to disrupt rail traffic at several places, digging up rail tracks. In the resulting clashes with the police and security forces, at least 36 people died on May 23 and 24.



Eighteen people were killed in police firing at Sikandra in Dausa district on May 24. Almost an equal number were killed inGujjar-Police clashes in the Bayana area of Bharatpur district on May 23.



In an attempt to defuse the crisis, the state government has invited the convener of the Gujjar Arakshan Sanghrash Samiti, Kirori Singh Bainsla for talks.



Protesters, numbering 2,000-2,500, armed with weapons, attacked the Sikandra police station and tried to set fire to it on May 24.



They shot a CRPF sub-inspector in the leg and beat up three policemen after snatching their rifles.



Police opened fire after teargas and rubber bullets failed to disperse the crowd, which burnt two vehicles and damaged a cabin of the Rajasthan Roadways.



“The attack was planned. We will not tolerate this kind of terror from anyone,” the DGP said. In the two-day violence, 19 police personnel sustained pellet injuries.



Eyewitnesses at Sikandra said they counted 12 persons fall¬ing to bullets as police opened fire.



The Jaipur-Agra stretch of NH 11 - the focal point of the May 2007 agitation, which claimed 26 lives - witnessed roadblocks during the day even as Bainsla staged a dharna with 12 bodies at Pilupura in Bayana.



The Centre has rushed more forces and on the state gover¬nment’s request the Army has taken out flag marches in the af¬fected areas to restore confidence in the people. Three compa¬nies of the CRPF and two of the Rapid Action Force have been de¬ployed.



The state government has ordered a judicial inquiry into Friday’s violence by a former judge F.C. Bansal.



In May last year, the Gujjar agitation in support of their demand for Scheduled Tribe status had resulted in 26 deaths. The immediate provocation for last week’s protests was the announce¬ment of a special package of Rs.282 crore by the state government for the development of five Gujjar dominated districts. The package fell short of the community’s demand.





Controversy over detention of Bangladeshis in camps



Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are engaged in a war of words on keeping Bangladeshis in virtual detention camps in the state. Denying that he had ever written a letter to the Rajasthan Gov¬ernment asking it to keep Bangladeshis in virtual detention camps in the state, Home Minister Patil told Vasundhara Raje on May 21, “Stop playing politics and follow the law of the land.”



In a television interview, Patil said the Rajasthan Chief Minister and the state government are perfectly entitled to deport illegal Bangladeshis without seeking any permission from the Centre. But he said they must ensure that not every Bangla¬deshi is treated as an illegal resident or a terrorist.



Patil also hit out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narnedra Modi who had described the Centre’s intelligence reports as being like “weather reports.” He said, “I do not know what the Gujarat Chief Minister is trying to say. Does he want exact informa¬tion, on what date, what time, there will be a terror strike ?”



Patil said that Vasundhara Raje’s utterances on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi migrants only exposed her weakness in tack¬ling terrorism.



On its part, the BJP has demanded what it called an unquali¬fied apology from Home Minister Shivraj Patil over the illegal migrants issue, and for his purported comments equating Sarabjit Singh with Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.



The BJP has also decried the Prime Minister’s call for setting up a federal agency to tackle terrorist incidents. Senior party leader Arun Jaitley said, the need is for strong anti-terror laws. Ridiculing the Prime Minister’s suggestion, Jaitley said, “it is ironical that after being in prime-minis¬terial office for four years, the Prime Minister has finally woken up to the harsh and cruel reality that prevention and investigation of terrorism in India is on the verge of collapse.”



The CPI(M), on its part, has criticised the BJP government in Rajasthan for giving what it called a communal twist to the recent serial blasts in Jaipur. The party accused he BJP of exploiting the bombings for political gains by provoking the sentiments of the majority community.