By IANS
Jaipur : The Rajasthan police have started arresting Gujjar leaders in a bid to thwart the community’s plans of holding a large sit-in protest here Jan 21.
Gujjars, presently belonging to the other backward class (OBC) category, have been demanding their inclusion in the scheduled tribe (ST) category that would give them better employment and educational opportunities.
At least 26 people were killed in violent protests by the Gujjars and clashes between them and the Meenas from May 29 to June 4 last year. The Meenas, the largest community under the tribal category in Rajasthan, are against the inclusion of the Gujjars in the ST list.
One body of the agitating Gujjars, the Gujjar Sankyut Sangarsh Samiti, has announced that it will hold a protest in Jaipur while another body, the Gujjar Sangarsh Aarkshan Samiti, will hold a demonstration near Bharatpur Jan 21.
Over 150 Gujjars, including senior Gujjar leader Rajendra Singh Bidhuri, had been arrested by Thursday night.
Some of the Gujjar leaders, including Prahlad Gunjal who is the convener of the Gujjar Sankyut Sangarsh Samiti, have gone underground to evade arrest.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had Thursday had sent a letter to the centre recommending four to six percent reservation for nomadic tribes, including Gujjars, and 10 to 20 percent for Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaishyas under the economically backward class (EBC) category without disturbing the existing scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) quota.
“A special quota of four to six percent could be given to nomadic tribes without disturbing the reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,” Raje said in her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The Gujjars wanted us to send a letter to the union government, which we have done. Now it is for the central government to think about their demands,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ramdas Agarwal told IANS.
However, the Gujjars have rejected the government’ proposal and are not ready to relent.
The state government has stopped all police and administrative officials from going on leave and sought additional forces from the centre to maintain law and order in the state.