The reservation ghost is back again, this time in Rajasthan, and the Gujjar community went on rampage to get inducted from the OBC category to Schedule Tribes list. At the time when the BJP had assumed power in Rajasthan with a promise to Gujjar community that it would mount pressure on the central government to include the community in the schedule Tribes list from the OBC category.

With this quota transformation, the Gujjar community would get more benefits than their current tag. However, the state of government did nothing to fulfill its promise even completinmg three years in office.

Ramakrishna Goud, a Gujjar leader, told media that the Gujjar community badly feeling betrayed by the government. The government had promised us to do the necessary act to include us in ST list. Now, three years have been completed, the Gujjars are still where they were.

The protest from the community has disturbed the routine life in Rajasthan and the adjoining states e also being disturbed by the kind of protest being done by the Gujjar protestors. According to the report, protesters had pelted stones to police vehicles and in return the police opened fire indiscriminately. The firing was so indiscriminate in nature that three Rajasthan police officers became injured by the bullets fired by their colleagues.

Among the 14 dead, 11 persons were poor residents from Patoli, Peepalkheda and Bundi villages. Today, the protestors have blocked off large segments of the highway that connects Delhi to Jaipur, and Agra. The state government has called army to control the situation and by the late evening yesterday, six army battalions, four Rapid Action Force companies, and paramilitary reinforcements from the Centre had tried hard to bring the situation under control.

The report says that there was a warning for the possible outburst from Gujjar community on this matter since last month, but the state administration did not take any notice on this warning. The Dausa superintendent of police, Rahul Mahajan, the district the clashes broke out first, said that they were not ready to face such violent outburst in the region.

The Gujjar Mahasabha, who is leading the agitation for ST status in Rajasthan, had earlier warned the state government to put forward the matter to the Centre by May 29 or they should be prepared for the dire consequences. Both the political leaders and the police did not take the warning seriously

Dausa MP Sachin Pilot said on the whole matter that the police firing on Gujjars were redolent of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He said further that the BJP government earlier failed to keep its promise up and now the government is ordering the police to open fire on protestors. What kind of a government is this?’

On the other hand, the protesters have demanded for the CBI probe in the firing incident. They have also demanded to punish additional superintendent of police (Dausa), Kishoreshahi Meena. This is being said that Meena had ordered the police to open fire.

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Image: Telegraph