By IANS
Jaipur : The agitating Gujjars this time seem to be determined to go ahead with their mahapadav (mass sit-in) slated to be held here March 10.
Sankyut Gujjar Aarkshan Sangarsh Samiti (SGASS), an influential Gujjar organisation, told the state government that under no circumstances the mahapadav would be cancelled.
“Even if the government imposes national security act or arrest Samiti leaders or members, we are not going to cancel the padav,” Attar Singh Bhadana, a leader of the organisation, told reporters Saturday.
“We have already requested the government to give us a proper place for mahapadav. We do not want to hold it in Muhana on the outskirts of the city,” he said.
“If the government fails to provide us the space we would be forced to organise it in front of the state assembly,” Bhadana warned.
The Samiti had earlier planned a mahapadav in Jaipur on Jan 21. However, the sit-in was deferred after the Samiti leaders held talks with Vishwendra Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Bharatpur.
“At that time we assured that we would wait for a positive response from the government for 10 more days. But nothing has happened till now, so we have decided to hold mahapadav now,” Bhadana said.
Gujjars, presently belonging to the other backward classes (OBC), had held protests all over Rajasthan from May 29 to June 4 last year demanding their inclusion into the scheduled tribe category that would give them better employment and educational opportunities.
Normal life was paralysed and at least 26 people were killed in the violence that was heading towards a caste war between Meenas and Gujjars.