Quote, unquote, quota

Caste tension seems to be subsiding in Rajasthan. Time will tell if this calm is a sign of an impending catastrophe

Akash Bisht Lalsot, Dausa

A funeral like despondency desended on the small town of Lalsot in Dausa district of Rajasthan since five people died here in clashes between the dominant Meena community and Gujjars on June 5, 2007. The town came to a standstill after violent clashes at Ghata village near Lalsot; armed forces had taken over this small town. The tension continues, hidden but tangible, in the everyday 'caste struggle' inside the arid interiors of this sharply divided, feudal landscape, where caste politics calls the shots.

The violence at Ghata started after a huge mob of heavily armed Meena men (in tens of thousands) attacked peacefully protesting Gujjars (just about 150 villagers) who were demanding their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes category of reservation. Ramsharan Gujjar, a resident of Digo village, was one of the dead. He was brutally beaten up and stabbed several times by his Meena counterparts in Lalsot till he bled to death. His father, Nathulal Gujjar, and his wailing family, sit outside their small thatched house in Digo with tragedy writ large on their faces.

The entire village is mourning. “It's been three days since I heard the news of my son being dead and since then we haven't eaten anything. The Meenas killed my son because they don't want us to prosper. My son and other Gujjars who died in the agitation have become martyrs and their deaths won't go in vain. They sacrificed their lives for a better tomorrow of our community and we will make sure that we get what we deserve,” said sobbing Ramsharan. The rest of the Gujjars around his house raised slogans in support.

The week-long agitation left more than 26 dead and hundreds injured — two policemen and 24 Gujjar men died in the violence. The Gujjars, under the leadership of Col (retd) Kirori Singh Bainsala disrupted normal life, damaging public and private properties. To bring things under control, the Rajasthan government formed a three member committee and promised to submit its report in three months. The agitation was later declared as “a national shame” by the Supreme Court while criminal cases were lodged against some Gujjar leaders.

Days after the protests, remains of the agitation could be seen all along the Jaipur-Agra highway. At Sikandra, 40 kilometres from Dausa, burnt tyres were scattered on the roadside while charred buses on the highway have become a tourist attraction. Foreign tourists on the national highway photographed these burnt buses while Gujjar men armed with sticks posed around them as if they were their prized possession. “We dug roads, burnt tyres and blocked the highway to get the Rajasthan government's attention. Or else, the government would have ignored us as they have done in the past,” exults Rajesh Gujjar, a young truck driver from Bhalpur village.

All along the NH-11, elderly men could be seen sitting smoking hukka, predicting the future course of the next round. An elder complains, “The government has again betrayed us by filing police cases against our leaders. They wanted to pacify the movement and once that was achieved they filed criminal cases against our men and have forced them to flee. The Meenas also attacked and killed our people but no action has been initiated against them. Would you call this justice?”

The Gujjars believe that the BJP-led state government has compulsively alienated them and has made only false promises. They argued that it was Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who promised them a berth in the ST category during the assembly elections in 2003. However, some believe, that the primary reason behind the unrest is the 'administrative rise' of the Meenas who are strong and have used the quota to reach the higher echelons, both politically and otherwise. “Just take a look around and the difference between the two communities is starkly visible in entire Rajasthan. We have been socially and politically alienated by the government,” complains Dayaram Gujjar in Dausa. Pointing towards a posh Meena locality he says, “We live in jhopar pattis while they live in palatial houses. If we had been granted the ST status, we too would have been different.”

Bainsala, in an interview to Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar said that he appealed to his community to maintain peace but the police in collusion with Meena leaders attacked the Gujjars that led to violence. According to Jairam Singh Gujjar of Patoli, a Gujjar leader, “We had no options but to resort to violence as our men were being shot by police while the Meenas staged a planned attack on us and the trucks that carried our food supplies.” 

Sivaram Gujjar, 25, is nursing his bullet injury at the MMS hospital in Jaipur. “I was smoking Beedi with my friends when the police started firing,” he said. “First, we thought that they were rubber bullets but when I was hit on the shoulder, I realised that it was a real bullet. I lost consciousness. When I was brought here I realised that most of the people were shot at the back.”

Moreover, according to a report released by the '20 member human rights fact-finding team' that visited five districts where people were killed: “The resorting to firing by the police was unwarranted, excessive and inhuman.” The report mentions that at Bundi one person was killed on the spot on the fourth floor, not visible from the ground, suggesting that the shot was aimed from a distance. Two others were killed near a makeshift tent and two more who were running away onto the adjoining hill. The team noticed that the behaviour of the police was brutal too. In Patoli-Peepal Khera, the police opened fire on people even though the highway was not blocked. At least three of those killed were shot in the back.

The report holds the government and the administration responsible. Months before the agitation took off, the administration and the police were aware that Gujjars were holding secret meetings in and around Dausa and Patoli to decide when the movement could be launched. “The police were well aware that the rally was to be organised at Patoli but instead of initiating any steps to disperse the mob, the Police lathi-charged and fired at us,” informs Sriram Gujjar of Patoli.

In Thikaria, a Meena-dominated village, there is a sense of jubilation; the agitation's withdrawal is being branded as a victory. “They (Gujjars) don't deserve to be in the ST category and we will go to any extent to stop their entry,” says Ramdas Meena, local politician and businessman. Meenas complain that Gujjars don't want to educate their children and just want to enter the ST quota because of jealousy.

All is not well with the Gujjar leadership too. Bainsala, an unknown name a few days back, has become the undisputed leader; in the process he has made enemies in his own community. At a Gujjar mahasabha at Pushkar on June 8, some leaders noted that Bainsala has betrayed them and has “shook hands” with the Raje regime. A police officer at Dausa confided that there is clear fallout in the Gujjar leadership. Earlier, Bainsala was universally accepted as a Gujjar leader but the situation has changed drastically. Some Gujjar leaders want to share the limelight that Bainsala is getting and want to cash on the agitation that grabbed the eyeballs of the entire nation. Says the police officer, “The situation is still very tense and while most of the Gujjars support Bainsala's decision to withdraw the agitation there are some who can spell bigger trouble later for their personal gains.”

Tension seems to be subsiding in Rajasthan but only time will tell whether this calm is for real or yet another preparation for a bigger battle in the days ahead. “If our demands are not met in three months, Rajasthan would burn and it will soon engulf the entire nation,” warns Sriram Gujjar. His entire village of Patoli agrees and nod their heads.