Gurjar protest: Who will blink first?
The deadlock between Rajasthan government and Gurjars continued on Monday. Even after four days into the agitation, which claimed 37 lives and left 50 other injured.
By TNN |
JAIPUR: The deadlock between Rajasthan government and Gurjars continued on Monday. Even after four days into the agitation, which claimed 37 lives and left 50 other injured, Gurjars are firm on their demand for negotiations only after the state government sends a letter to the Centre recommending the ST status to the community which falls under OBC category.
And if at all dialogue happens before that, Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti leader Kirori Singh Bainsla said that chief minister Vasundhara Raje should visit the agitation site and hold talks with community members.
���We will not leave corpse of our people before the matter resolves.
If she wants to listen to grievances of her people, she should come to us,��� Mr Bainsla said. Ms Raje had flown to Bayana, 15 km from the agitation site, on Sunday and stayed for about 40 minutes for parleys with the Gurjar leader but Mr Bainsla had turned down the invitation saying that the chief minister lacks courage of conviction.
Meanwhile, the chief minister, on Monday, sent a letter to the Centre reiterating her previous demands based on Chopra committee report. ���The chief minister has asked for relaxation in parameters which ascertain the qualification of communities as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution. Ms Raje has also sought for granting Gurjars an additional quota of 4-6%, over and above the present quota, by including them in denotified category.
She has urged for a meeting with chief ministers of states to build a concensus on Gurjar reservation issue which has ramifications on other states as well,��� Parliamentary affairs and PWD minister Rajendra Rathore said.
���We have sacrificed a lot. And if at all there���s good news for us, we want to hear it from the horse���s mouth. Then only we will decide the future course of action,��� Mr Bainsla reportedly said.
It may be noted that there���s nothing new in the letter written to the prime minister. ���The chief minister has written a similar letter to the prime minister in January 2008 after the recommendation of Chopra committee report. It will hardly make any difference,��� says a Congress leader.
Earlier, the state government lodged an FIR against Mr Bainsla accusing him of killing a policeman and damaging government properties during the agitation.
Reiterating the infiltration of dacoits and anti-social elements into the agitating Gurjars, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria warned Gurjars of dire consequences if they indulge in violence and disrupt the peace.
The state government is ready to play the waiting game as Gurjars refuse to budge under any circumstances.
���It���s a test of nerves. If the state government makes up its mind to go for a military operation, every thing will be finished in no time. But it will cost several lives and a life-time discontent among the Gurjar community. We don���t want that.
The solution is over the table. Let���s see when fatigue sets in for Gurjars and they give in. We are prepared for a longer waiting game,��� industries minister Digambar Singh said.According to sources, army is closing in on the Gurjars who are laying siege on a 2-3 km stretch of the railway track to mount pressure on them.
And if at all dialogue happens before that, Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti leader Kirori Singh Bainsla said that chief minister Vasundhara Raje should visit the agitation site and hold talks with community members.
���We will not leave corpse of our people before the matter resolves.
If she wants to listen to grievances of her people, she should come to us,��� Mr Bainsla said. Ms Raje had flown to Bayana, 15 km from the agitation site, on Sunday and stayed for about 40 minutes for parleys with the Gurjar leader but Mr Bainsla had turned down the invitation saying that the chief minister lacks courage of conviction.
Meanwhile, the chief minister, on Monday, sent a letter to the Centre reiterating her previous demands based on Chopra committee report. ���The chief minister has asked for relaxation in parameters which ascertain the qualification of communities as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution. Ms Raje has also sought for granting Gurjars an additional quota of 4-6%, over and above the present quota, by including them in denotified category.
She has urged for a meeting with chief ministers of states to build a concensus on Gurjar reservation issue which has ramifications on other states as well,��� Parliamentary affairs and PWD minister Rajendra Rathore said.
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Reacting to Ms Raje���s initiative of ���putting the ball in Centre���s court���, Mr Bainsla said that the chief minister should come down to the agitation site to inform what she has written to the Central government. ���We have sacrificed a lot. And if at all there���s good news for us, we want to hear it from the horse���s mouth. Then only we will decide the future course of action,��� Mr Bainsla reportedly said.
It may be noted that there���s nothing new in the letter written to the prime minister. ���The chief minister has written a similar letter to the prime minister in January 2008 after the recommendation of Chopra committee report. It will hardly make any difference,��� says a Congress leader.
Earlier, the state government lodged an FIR against Mr Bainsla accusing him of killing a policeman and damaging government properties during the agitation.
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Politics is also simmering over the reservation issue as former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh had set off to meet Mr Bainsla at the agitation site. But police detained them on the outskirts of Bharatpur at Ooncha Nangla citing security reasons. Reiterating the infiltration of dacoits and anti-social elements into the agitating Gurjars, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria warned Gurjars of dire consequences if they indulge in violence and disrupt the peace.
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���Dacoit Jagan Gurjar with his armed men has joined the prostesters. Mr Bainsla and hundreds of his supporters���with some of the dead bodies of those killed in police firing���are squatting on the rail track. We will not allow them to do politics over dead bodies. We have been appealing them to remove the blockade of railway tracks and highways. If they don���t listen to our pleas, we will have to resort to forceful action. If they cross the limits, it will be matter of a couple of hours for us to throw them out,��� Mr Kataria warned.The state government is ready to play the waiting game as Gurjars refuse to budge under any circumstances.
���It���s a test of nerves. If the state government makes up its mind to go for a military operation, every thing will be finished in no time. But it will cost several lives and a life-time discontent among the Gurjar community. We don���t want that.
The solution is over the table. Let���s see when fatigue sets in for Gurjars and they give in. We are prepared for a longer waiting game,��� industries minister Digambar Singh said.According to sources, army is closing in on the Gurjars who are laying siege on a 2-3 km stretch of the railway track to mount pressure on them.
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