By IANS
Jaipur : Gujjar leaders late Wednesday insisted on a set of conditions before holding talks with the Rajasthan government to work out a peace formula, a day after 14 people were killed in an upsurge over the community's demands for better job and educational opportunities, even as protests spread further.
The state government earlier in the day formed a cabinet committee for discussions with Gujjar leaders. However, no talks were held till late in the evening as the community representatives insisted on their demands.
The Gujjar leaders have asked the state government to pay compensation to the families of the deceased and also formally recommend to the central government that the community be granted the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
It was to press for their demand for the status that led to protests and violence in at least three districts Tuesday.
"We really want to defuse the crisis and the chief minister (Vasundhara Raje) has invited Gujjar leaders to hold talks with us on the issue," Home Minister G.C. Kataria said here.
Even as the state government late evening made efforts to convince them to join talks, the protests began spreading to other parts of the state.
The army was called to control law and order situation in Bayana in Bharatpur district, over 170 km from here, where a mob burnt government offices and set to blaze vehicles.
"We had to fire in the air as a violent mob laid siege to the Bayana police station after setting fire to a courtroom, a sub-divisional magistrate's office and some other government buildings," Superintendent of Police Anand Srivastava told IANS.
He said that the town was tense and the army's help was sought to control the "volatile situation".
There were no reports of any casualty in the firing or in the arson so far, he added.
In Bharatpur and Karauli, protesters had damaged railway tracks while there were reports of clashes between mobs and police in Karauli, Bhilwara and Dholpur districts.
Army personnel were deployed around Patauli on the Jaipur-Agra highway, the place that witnessed worst of the clashes Tuesday.
Putting further pressure on the chief minister, Panchayati Raj Minister Kalu Lal Gujjar and four legislators of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) threatened to resign in the wake of Tuesday's violence.
As Tuesday's violence had taken place when the Gujjar protesters had blocked a highway to press their demands, all bus services between Agra and Jaipur, Delhi and Jaipur and Jaipur and Kota were suspended as a precautionary measure.
About 9,000 trucks were stranded at various points along the national highways passing through the state.
Several trains between Delhi and Jaipur have also been cancelled.
Tuesday's violence saw police and Gujjars, a largely farming community that rears cattle, clashing in Bundi and Patauli near Dausa. Wednesday also got off to an explosive start with protesters torching police posts in Atal Band area of Bharatpur town, about 175 km from here, and in nearby Deeg.
Gujjars, constituting around 10 percent of the state's 56 million population, are demanding the Schedule Tribe status so they can be eligible for government sops in education and employment.