NEW DELHI/JAIPUR, 31 May 2007 — Demonstrators in Rajasthan set ablaze two police stations in Dubi and Sikandra in Dausa district yesterday.
Gujjars have been holding demonstrations to protest the state government’s refusal to accede to their demand of changing their community’s status from Other Backward Classes (OBC) category to Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Violence flared on Tuesday when at least 13 people, including a policeman, were killed following police firing during clashes between members of the Gujjar community and police at Bundi and Jaipur-Agra highway.
Lashing out at the state government for the alleged unprovoked police firing, Congress legislator from Dausa, Sachin Pilot said: “People had blocked a road to vent their anger, which is not uncommon in our country. But the punishment for such a move is not death.” Blaming the Rajasthan government for the unrest, Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded a judicial inquiry. Condemning the police firing in Dausa and Bundi, CPI(M) politburo said in a statement: “The BJP leadership which hypocritically tried to exploit the Nandigram incident should take strong action against its state government.”
Saying that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should either visit the place of the incident or sent her representative to defuse the situation, Kirori Singh Baisela, leader of Gujjar Action Committee (GAC), said: “No harm will be done to any one who comes for talks with good intentions. They will be provided security.”
He also demanded that the government should immediately announce a reasonable amount of money for the families of those killed in police firing and jobs for one of their family members.
The chief minister, expressing her readiness to hold talks with the Gujjars, said: “My doors are open for talks with the Gurjjar community over their demand for scheduled tribe status.”
