Gujjar agitation: Highway cleared, rail track remains blocked

On the fifth day of the Gujjar agitation, police on Monday cleared the Jaipur-Agra national highway of the protestors even as the rail track continued to be blocked amid a stand-off with the government over the community’s demand for five per cent reservation. The stir suffered a setback in Dausa district where locals challenged the agitators and helped police in clearing the NH-11, which was blocked on Sunday, police said.

However, the Delhi-Mumbai rail route and a state highway in Sawaimadhopur district continued to be blocked by hundreds of Gujjars who are squatting to press the demand for five per cent reservation for government jobs.

The Gujjars had on Sunday threatened to intensify the agitation, which has mainly remained confined to Bharatpur and Dausa, and spread it across the state. Meanwhile, there was a deadlock over the venue of next round of talks between Gujjars and the government after one round held in Bayana ended in a failure.

The government had asked Gujjar representatives to come to Jaipur on Monday to discuss the issue at length but their leader Kirori Singh Bainsla is adamant on holding the talks in Bayana only, which is nearly 15 kilometre away from Pilukapura where the community members have blocked the railway tracks.

“We will not go to Jaipur for the talks. We will hold talks in Bayana only. I have given a letter to the government for this,” Bainsla said. The agitation, which was started on Thursday last week, would be called off only when the government fulfils the demand, he said.

“After discussion with our members, it was decided today to not go to Jaipur. We are open for the talks but we will not go to Jaipur, as proposed by the government, and any talk will take place in Bayana,” said Himmat Singh, spokesperson of the Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti.

District collector Ravi Jain said the Gujjars were being convinced to accept the government's proposal to go to Jaipur.

“Jaipur is the right place to hold talks in detail and we are trying to persuade the Gujjars,” he said.

In Dausa, locals, alleging misbehaviour with women and girls, challenged the agitators, who were outsiders, and helped the police to clear the NH-11 connecting Agra and Jaipur.

“The agitators were outsiders and created nuisance in the area. They blocked the highway, set ablaze a roadways booking window on Sunday. Some women and girls were also allegedly teased and shops were robbed. So the locals got united and chased the agitators away from that area,” IG, Jaipur, D C Jain said.

Local people, including those belonging to the Gujjar community, opposed the agitators and helped in removing the blockade on the highway.

The police and paramilitary forces are patrolling the highway where the traffic has been restored, he said.

A roadways booking window was torched by the agitators in Sikandara on Sunday.

On the fifth day of the agitation, Delhi-Mumbai rail tracks in Bharatpur and a state highway in Sawaimadhopur continued to be blocked causing inconvenience to travellers.

Several trains have been cancelled or diverted.

Since the Gujjars relaunched their agitation after seven years on Thursday last, one round of talks took place on Saturday between the Gujjar leader Bainsla and a committee comprising Health minister Rajendra Rathore, Social Justice minister Arun Chaturvedi and Food minister Hem Singh Bhadana.

However, the meeting ended in a failure with Gujjars saying the government did not come up with any concrete proposal.

Himmat Singh alleged that the government was trying to build pressure on them. “My farmhouse in Dausa was today raided by several policemen. It is a pressure tactics used by the government,” he alleged.

Bainsla, meanwhile, went to a hospital for a medical check up. The spokesperson said it was routine medical check up which was due.

Police have already booked Bainsla and his supporters for rioting, sedition, damaging public property, endangering life, obstructing public way, criminal conspiracies in three cases lodged on May 21, the day when they started the agitation, and Sunday.