International Herald Tribune
Dozens killed in caste riots in northwest India
Sunday, May 25, 2008

JAIPUR, India: Government officials invited leaders of one of India's lowest castes for talks as the death toll rose to 37 on Sunday from three days of bloody demonstrations over caste classification.

The police repeatedly opened fire on violent protests by Gujjars on Friday and Saturday in half a dozen villages and towns in the western state of Rajasthan.

The Gujjars want to reclassify their caste to a lower level, which would allow them to qualify for government jobs and university places reserved for such groups. The government has refused.

Twenty-one people were killed in clashes Saturday, Rohit Kumar Singh, the state information commissioner, said Sunday. The Gujjars did not immediately respond to the state government's offer of negotiations, he said.

Police officers in Sikandra fired at protesters who had torched a police station and two buses Saturday and shot and wounded a police officer, said Amanjit Singh Gill, Rajasthan's director general of police.

Protesters also burned down a police station in the nearby village of Chandra Guddaji, Gill said.

Fifteen demonstrators died Friday when the police fired live ammunition and tear gas to halt rioting, Singh said. A police officer was also beaten to death.

At least 70 injured people were hospitalized in Jaipur, the state capital, and the town of Dosa.

Demonstrators blocked a major highway linking Jaipur to Agra - site of the Taj Mahal - stranding thousands of people. Thousands of army, police and paramilitary forces patrolled villages to control the violence.

Gujjars took to the streets after a government panel set up to look into their demands recommended a $70 million aid package but ruled out caste reclassification.

Gujjars are considered part of the second-lowest caste group. The Hindu caste system was outlawed soon after independence from Britain in 1947, but its influence remains powerful, and the government awards aid packages based on the classifications. Twenty-six people died in Gujjar riots in the same area last year.


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