Low-caste rioters stone police in India
Hundreds of lower-caste Indian protesters torched buses and attacked police with rocks on Monday in New Delhi to demand greater government benefits, police and witnesses said.
Members of the lower-caste Gujjar group called for a general strike in New Delhi to support their campaign in northwestern Rajasthan state, where clashes with police and a rival caste have killed at least 25 people in recent days.
Although India officially banned caste discrimination decades ago, lower social groups such as the Gujjar, who are traditionally farmers and shepherds, still face widespread disadvantages.
On Monday, several groups of protesters carrying sticks disrupted traffic at several places in the capital, said Rajan Bhagat, the New Delhi police spokesman.
They carried placards reading "Stop atrocities against Gujjar community."
Police fired tear gas and used bamboo batons to disperse nearly 500 protesters who set two state-run buses on fire and hurled rocks at police. They also blocked roads leading from New Delhi to outlying areas, witnesses and news reports said.
Effigies of Vijay Raje Scindia, Rajasthan state's top elected official, were burned. Scindia has been holding talks with Gujjar leaders to end the violence.
The rival lower-caste Meena group, which already receives special government treatment, is opposed to sharing employment and education benefits with the Gujjars. Clashes between both sides left four people dead Friday.
Gujjars comprise 7 per cent and Meenas nearly 12 per cent of Rajasthan's 54.8 million people.
Most of the violence has occurred in Dausa town in Rajasthan, including repeated attacks on government offices, railroad stations and vehicles.
The protests have disrupted transport to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, from Rajasthan's capital Jaipur.
In an attempt to right historical wrongs, India's federal and state governments have over the past decades established quotas for lower caste groups to ensure they get government jobs and university spots.
Gujjars are already classified as one of India's thousands of "Other Backward Classes," which gives them some preferential treatment.
However, they want to be redefined as a "Scheduled Tribe," an even lower classification that would open up more opportunities.
© 2007
AP DIGITAL
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