Rajasthan hit by riots over caste system

The Indian army was deployed to restore order in the tourist hotspot of Rajasthan today after nine people were left dead in rioting by 30,000 members of a caste who are demanding to be socially downgraded in order to gain government jobs and university places.

The violence began when police shot four protesters dead in running battles with thousands of Gujjars, traditionally sheep-rearers, who had gathered on a main highway and blocked traffic near Jaipur, early this morning.

When the news of the shootings spread, crowds gathered in Bundi, three hours drive from Jaipur, and police again resorted to baton charges, teargas and finally, bullets, to end the blockade. Four more protesters were left dead by the fighting.

In retaliation, a police officer was said to have been beaten to death. Riot police were also kidnapped before being released unharmed.

News reports claimed the protesters had been armed with swords, guns and sticks. Community leaders have been demanding that the government give the community special status for several years.

The army has been drafted to keep the peace in the state – although 30,000 protesters are still refusing to lift the blockade of the main highway, linking the pink palaces of Jaipur with Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.

Rajasthan's director general of police, Kanhaiya Lal, told CNN-IBN television news: "We are concerned. We have made a request to the central government and more troops are coming in. There are still people blocking the highway and carrying dead bodies on the road."

The Gujjars claim they are a tribal group in India and have been subject to thousands of years of discrimination. This analysis has allowed untouchables, the lowest strata of Indian society, and tribal groups to benefit from the country's affirmative action schemes, the largest in the world.

The issue is an explosive one in India where job and education quotas have often sparked controversy and bloody protests.

Gujjars, who make up more than 10% of Rajasthan's 55 million people, currently find themselves near the bottom of India's caste hierarchy. But, say analysts, this is not low enough to guarantee the group easy access to government quotas.

"Gujjars already benefit from some government affirmative action schemes," said Chandra Bhan Prasad, a writer on caste issues. Mr Prasad, who comes from a dalit or untouchable caste, said that the "problem for the Gujjars is that they face too much competition from rival farming castes. They want an easier competition - from the lowest castes such as dalits and tribals and therefore agitate to be socially downgraded. But their claim has no social, cultural or historical validity."

The caste system

Hindu society has four castes or varnas, with Brahmins at the top and the untouchables constituting a fifth, bottom strata.

Traditionally people in the subcontinent have been segregated, denigrated, patronised or venerated because of a social stratification designated by Hindu scripture.

Caste in India, to some extent, defines who you marry, associate with and are antagonistic to. Stories of caste abuse litter the papers: last week an expose showed that lower-caste students in the country's top medical school have been shunted into hostels away from the higher-caste medics. Caste killings are still part of rural life.

The Indian constitution sought to undo this hierarchy with a system of positive action schemes in education and the civil service for dalits and tribal groups in the early 1950s. This was later extended a decade ago to "other backward classes".

The issue is never far from the surface in India - the present government has warned businesses they may face legal sanctions if they fail to recruit widely from all castes.

Last year, dozens of medical students were injured in clashes with police as they protested against a government plan to extend reservations in universities for low castes.