|
Gujjars want tribal status, get
bullets
More than 40 shot dead by police, CM says I could be worse
WSN Bureau
 RAJASTHAN/NEW
DELHI:
Caste is casting its crooked eye on India, and corpses of men
fighting for a miserably thin slice of the reservation cake line
have failed to move the stony heart of nuclear Indian nation state.
In a repeat of last year's violence, and at a much worse level,
Rajasthan's Gujjar community people spilled out on the roads
demanding that they be included in Scheduled Tribe list which will
bring them under job and education quota of the government. The
Government's response was the one the Indian nation state has
chiselled out for its ethnic non-brahaman minorities: its policemen
fired bullets into the crowd. They killed some 14 people on day one,
the last Friday. Next day, crowds were expected to protest more, so
cops fired some more bullets, killing 16 more. These are government
figures.
Gujjar
leadership says some 41 have been killed. Bayana in Rajasthan went
explosive, soon other areas did. Rajasthan's Hindu right wing ruling
BJP party Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje was on TV: "Agar Gujjar nahi
maane, to hum se bura koyee nahi hoga" (If the Gujjars do not
withdraw, we could be even worse). Her defence? The cops were firing
in self-defence as Gujjars were burning police vehicles and
attacking cops.
Just as this WSN
edition was going to press, the Gujjars were threatening to blockade
India's capital region. Clashes broke out on Friday when people came
out in support of a 'rail roko' call given by Rajasthan Gurjar
Arakashan Sangarsh Samiti leader Prof Kirori Singh Bhainsla to press
for ST status to Gujjars. Gujjars had fought last year also,
particularly because a competing Meena caste was given ST status. In
fact, the latest violence came a week ahead of the first anniversary
of the police firing on Gujjar agitators in the state and subsequent
violence last year that claimed 26 lives.
Now, the best
response of the government has been to send columns of army marching
in, more Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawans and more CRPF jawans. In
mind-numbing response, New Delhi
and Jaipur are indulging in a slanging match. CM Raje is claiming
that she had written to the Centre asking for quota for Gujjars
since only the Centre can grant the reservation. Gujjar leaders said
she never made a clear recommendation for ST status and have
rejected her claims and the letter she wrote.
The neighbouring
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi have a sizable Gujjar population
and a backlash is feared. In Jammu and Kashmir, Gujjars threatened
to stall movement of trains between
Delhi
and Jammu from Wednesday. What is important is how the latest
developments have underlined smaller minorities even within the
larger Hindu brahamanic paradigm jostling, struggling against the
power elite, and learning the language of force, bullets and
politics on the streets. Certainly, the glue that binds the
brahamanic hegemonic India is coming undone. Check out the roads of
Rajasthan to see for yourself.
28
May,
2008
|
Read Also