New Delhi - Talks between India's north-western Rajasthan
state and the minority Gujjar community to end two weeks of Gujjar
protests have hit an impasse after starting on a positive note, news
reports said Tuesday.
The Gujjars, who raise livestock and sell dairy products, have
been holding protests since May 23 to exert pressure on the state
government to accept their demand to be classified as a scheduled
tribe to qualify for government jobs and quotas in schools.
More than 40 Gujjars were killed in clashes between demonstrators
and police in Rajasthan. The Gujjars want to be downgraded in
official social status in order to benefit from India's affirmative
action policy.
Talks that opened between a 37-member Gujjar delegation and
Rajasthan ministers in the eastern Bayana town on Monday evening had
ended on a conciliatory note, the Hindustan Times daily reported.
As a result of headway made in the preliminary discussions, the
Gujjar leadership called off a nationwide strike planned for Tuesday
and said they would hold further talks with the government.
But Gujjar leader KS Bainsla on Tuesday made fresh demands as a
pre-condition for further talks, nullifying efforts by officials to
end the Gujjar agitation.
Quoting senior officials, the PTI reported that Bainsla had
demanded the withdrawal of murder charges against 20 protestors and
release of arrested female activists as pre-conditions for talks.
A written commitment by Bainsla about holding the next round of
talks was also retracted, the report said.
During the talks on Monday, the Rajasthan government agreed to
stop police raids in Gujjar-dominated villages and restore water and
electricity supplies in the areas which were turned off to break the
protests.
As for their main demand that the state government recommend their
case for job quotas to the federal government, the Gujjar leaders
said they had reminded the government ministers to accept their plea.
In the violent protests spread over the desert state, Gujjar
demonstrators disrupted train services, destroyed public property and
attacked police stations leading to the clashes.
The latest violence came one year after protests by Gujjars in
Rajasthan claimed 26 lives.
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