Low-caste Indian group reaches agreement with government and ends protest
AP
Posted: 2008-06-18 09:56:52
JAIPUR, India (AP) - Leaders of one of India's lower castes
reached an agreement with the government of a western Indian state
on Wednesday - ending weeks of often violent protests, officials
said.
The Gujjar tribe began protesting on May 23 to demand that the
government of Rajasthan state reclassify them as members of the
lowest caste, allowing them to benefit from government quotas in
higher education and government jobs.
On Wednesday, after two days of talks with Gujjar leader Kirori
Singh Bainsala, the state's chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia
told reporters that her government will create a special category
for Gujjars and two other tribal groups, the Banjaras and Rewadis,
and grant them 5 percent of reserved seats in government jobs and
educational institutions.
The Gujjar leader said he welcomed the announcement.
"The agitation will be called off," Bainsala told reporters in
state capital Jaipur.
The Gujjars are considered part of the second-lowest group,
known as Other Backward Classes, a step up from the Scheduled
Tribes and Castes, the lowest classification.
Wednesday's announcement does not reclassify them as a Scheduled
Tribe as they had earlier demanded but creates a special category
for them within the Other Backward Classes.
Soon after India's independence from Britain in 1947 it became
illegal to discriminate against someone based on the Hindu caste
system. But its influence remains powerful, and the government sets
quotas for jobs and university spots for the different caste
groups.
Gujjar villagers had blocked roads and rail tracks and held
angry protest rallies all over Rajasthan and in parts of the
northern state of Uttar Pradesh and around the capital New Delhi
demanding reclassification.
The riots had begun after a government panel recommended a US$70
million aid package for the Gujjar community, but ruled out caste
reclassification.
Forty three people were killed in the violence, most of them
shot by police during protests in Rajasthan, while one policeman
died after a beating and one protester was trampled to death. Most
of the deaths took place during the first two days of protests.
Twenty-six people died in Gujjar riots in Rajasthan last year.
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06/18/08 09:56 EDT