The perpetual unrest growing in the state over SBC (special backward classes) and EBC (economically backward classes) reservation demands is a source of headache for Rajasthan government now. The leaders were pondering over Gurjar reservations already, when the Rajputs staged a protest demanding the government to grant quota in academic institutes and officers yesterday.
If you missed the heat of Rajput protests, here’s what you need to know about the Rajput agitation.
- Hundreds of supporters and protestors of Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena assembled outside the Rajasthan State assembly on Friday. They also staged protests at BJP Rajasthan office and Jyoti Nagar colony. Consequently, ministers Yunus Khan and Pushpendra Singh were forced to stage talks with the protesters twice a day.
- For those who don’t know, Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena is the same group that assaulted film director Sanjay Leela over the Padmavati controversy in Jaipur last month. This time, the protest was led by former ministers Shughdev Singh Gogamedi and Rajendra Ghuda.
- The incident attained speed when several protesters gathered outside the BJP office to raise slogans against the government. They demanded reservation for economically backward classes amongst the upper castes, including Rajputs in Rajasthan. Some of them raised slogans in support of Anandpal Singh, the notorious gangster.
- Along the lines of SBC reservations, the protestors asked the government to:
- Restore the reservation for Rajput farmers (Karsa Rajputs)
- Extend the upper age limit for non-reserved communities from 35 years to 40 years
- Hold government vacancies until the EBC act was implemented
- Welfare board to be set up for non-reserved communities
- A special policy for the upper classes, something similar to the Dev Narayan scheme.
- The Rajput protesters gathered outside the BJP office were armed with iron rods and batons. Initially, when no one paid heed to their requests, the mob went crazy and vandalized a car. They demolished the hoardings and posters displayed outside the BJP office and pelted stones at police officers.
- Later, approximately 200 protesters moved to the Vidhan Sabha (state assembly). They also broke into Jyoti Nagar colony and assaulted the police barricade there. Amidst these protests, the occupants of the area were forced to lock themselves up in fear and pressure.
- The government called in senior police officials to discourage them. The police set up a 3-tier security barricade to prevent them from attacking the state assembly building. Police commissioner Sanjay Agarwal and Deputy Commissioners Manish Agarwal, Ansuhman Bhomia and Ashok Gupta reached the venue to control the mob.
- Knowing that they couldn’t breach tight security set up by Rajasthan Police, the angry crowd set a garbage pile on fire. The reserved battalions of RAC (Rajasthan Armed Constabulary) and the Special Task Force (STF) were employed to forcefully vacate the area.
- While ministers Singh and Khan were trying to knock some sense into the protestors, Parliamentary affairs minister Rajendra Rathore issued a public statement assuring them that the government will make every effort to implement the 2015 EBC act as soon as possible.
- For starters, they requested the government to exercise ban on the upcoming release of Padmavati. They demanded CBI probe for investigation of Chatur Singh’s encounter. Unfortunately, the government had to accept their demands to appease them. Though the government said that if they find any objectionable scenes in the movie, they’ll surely ban the movie in Rajasthan.
So this was what happened in last 2 days in Jaipur. To put out the flames of these protests from spreading all over the city, the government is committed to eliminate legal and constitutional hurdles in the process and pay heed to their requests.
We aren’t saying it is wrong to put one’s views in front of the government; the citizens must realize their limits. Rather than destroying public properties and causing unrest in state, one should keep their demands in a responsible way.
