The Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan for 5% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions took a violent turn on Sunday, as the protesters opened fire, torched vehicles and hurled stones on the police force in Dholpur district, 270 km east of Jaipur. The police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob.
Dholpur Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh said half-a-dozen policemen were injured in the clash, but the protesters did not succeed in their attempt to block National Highway-3 connecting Dholpur to Gwalior.
Unidentified miscreants reportedly climbed the nearby houses on the sides of the highway and opened fire from country-made pistols.
The traffic on the highway was cleared within an hour after the agitators gathered on the road and halted vehicular movement. Mr. Singh said the vehicles torched in Kotwali area included a police jeep, a car and a bus.
Agitation spreads
The agitation spread to other areas in the State on the third day of Gujjar Aarkshan Sangharsh Samiti’s blockade of Delhi-Mumbai railway tracks at Sawai Madhopur district’s Malarna village.
The protesters also blocked the Karauli-Hindon and Bundi-Bhilwara roads and briefly disrupted traffic on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway.
Trains diverted
The sit-in on the railway tracks which began on Friday evening has forced the West Central Railway to divert, cancel or partially terminate about 200 trains during the last two days.
As many as 26 trains in the Kota division were cancelled till February 13.
Shocking, says CM
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who returned here from his two-day tour to New Delhi, told reporters that though the government was willing to hold talks with Gujjars, it was “shocking that the violence has occurred despite [Gujjar leader] Kirori Singh Bainsla’s call for a peaceful protest.”
“It seems that some anti-social elements sneaked into the crowd of Gujjars in Dholpur and gave a violent turn to the agitation,” Mr. Gehlot said, while calling upon Col. Bainsla to lift the “illegal blockade” and come to the negotiating table.
As thousands of protesters continued to occupy the railway tracks between Malarna and Meemod railway stations, over a one-km-long stretch, Col. Bainsla — who is leading the agitation — said Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh had come to the protest site on Saturday “without any agenda.”
“Our stand is very clear. We will get up from here only after getting 5% reservation,” he said.
“We will remain on dharna. We do not want to talk to the government. We are waiting for it to give the order for 5% reservation,” Vijay Bainsla, son of Col. Bainsla, said.
