Jaipur: Ethnic Gujjars seeking job quotas continued to squat on roads and rail tracks in Rajasthan for a fifth day yesterday, the dead bodies of slain fellow protesters in full public view.
The state government warned the protesters to back down or face further police action.
"They should stop testing our patience," said G.C. Kataria, Rajasthan's home minister. "Otherwise the authorities would be forced to throw them out and very many lives could be lost."
Rajasthan Home Secretary V.S. Singh yesterday sought to quash media reports that food supplies to the Gujjar-dominated areas were being targeted.
A state government panel earlier announced a 2.8-billion-rupee (Dh241m) infrastructure project for Gujjar areas but rebuffed the plea for preferential treatment.
The trouble started last Friday when a policeman was lynched after Gujjar activists went on the rampage. As the police swung into action to quell the rioting, 37 members of the community were killed in a matter of days.
The Gujjars, already considered a disadvantaged group, are demanding that they be reclassified further down the complex Hindu caste and status system so they qualify for government jobs and university seats reserved for such groups.
Police said hundreds of Gujjars had paralysed traffic, squatting on rail tracks and a highway connecting Jaipur, the state capital, to the Taj Mahal town of Agra, as well to the country's financial capital, Mumbai.
The army and paramilitary forces patrolled the Gujjar-dominated areas.
A Rajasthan court meanwhile asked the protest leader, K.S. Bainsla, to appear before it for failing to stop members of the community from breaking the law. Separately, police filed murder charges against Bainsla for the lynching of the policeman.
Contempt notice: Bainsla says he has a case
Issued a contempt notice by the Rajasthan High Court for allegedly violating its order restraining him from resorting to violence, Gujjar leader K.S. Bainsla said he would place the grievances of his community before the bench.
"I will definitely try to appear before the court in person and speak about the grievances, injustices and torture meted out to the Gujjar community," he said. "If I remain busy, then my lawyer will represent me in the court."
High court Justice Prem Shankar Asopa's notice came after a contempt petition against 13 Gujjars, including Bainsla, came up for hearing in the court yesterday. The court has directed him to appear before it on Friday.
If Bainsla does not appear before the court, it could issue a bailable warrant for his arrest. The Gujjar leader has also been booked by the state police on charges of murder and conspiracy against the state.
Asked about the criminal cases, which carry a punishment of life imprisonment, he retorted: "Let them register as many false cases against me. They can't scare me and I will continue fighting for my community."
- IANS
|