By IANS
Badi (Rajasthan) : The Gujjars in Rajasthan will court mass arrests from Oct 2 to press for their community’s inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes category. The decision was taken Thursday at a public rally (maha panchayat) of the community held at this town in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district.
The Gujjars, who are opposing the state government’s decision to give three more months to the high powered Justice Jasraj Chopra committee, which is looking into their demand for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, decided to launch the protest coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
“We in no way accept the Vasundhara Raje government’s decision to extend the term of the committee. We would fight for our cause of getting tribal status and lodge our protest by courting arrests at all divisional headquarters in Rajasthan,” Prahlad Gunjal, a Gujjar leader said.
The head of the Gujjar Sangharsh Aarkashan Samiti, Col. K.L. Bainsla, however, seemed to be leaning towards the government.
He in his speech favoured a month’s extension to the committee. But his proposal was immediately rejected by the maha panchayat, and signs of friction among the community’s leaders could be observed.
All the speakers in the meet flayed the Rajasthan chief minister for giving more time to the Jasraj Chopra Committee to examine the issue whether Gujjars should be given the Scheduled Tribe status in the state. .
Earlier in the day, thousands of Gujjars gathered in Dholpur for a massive show of strength by the community, prompting the district authorities to beef up security and closely monitor the situation.
Many Gujjars also came from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to join those from Rajasthan for the mass gathering.
The gathering assumed significance in the light of the decision by the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party government Wednesday night to extend till Dec 15 the tenure of the Justice Jasraj Chopra committee.
The committee was originally to submit its report on Wednesday (Sep 12) at the end of its three-month tenure, and Gujjar leaders had threatened an agitation if it was given an extension.
Gujjars are currently classified as other backward classes (OBC) in Rajasthan. They had held widespread protests from May 29 to June 4, 2007, demanding Scheduled Tribe status, triggering large-scale violence in which 26 people were killed.