Efforts to buy peace: Gujjars agreed to autopsy on victims

As the Gujjar agitation demanding ST status is amplifying to different parts of the country, and the State and Centre together yet to come out with some kind of alternative, the Vasundhara Raje administration in Rajasthan has been able to soften Gujjar’s stand to some extent as the community on Sunday agreed to post-mortem on victims.

The Gujjar leadership has allowed autopsy on the bodies of deceased agitators but with certain condition as they demanded a team of doctors including two doctors from the same community.

It is to mention here that bodies of 37 Gujjars killed in police firing are waiting to be cremated. 12 bodies are still kept in Bayana with wooden caskets on ice slabs, where the administration had sent doctors. Apart from as per sources, 14 bodies were kept at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

Earlier the Gujjars demanded the post-mortem to be carried out by AIIMS doctors but the medical institute expressed its inability to conduct the autopsy; after which a team of doctors of the state health department were permitted to conduct the post-mortem at different agitation sites.

Gujjar leader Col. (Retd) Kirodi Singh Bainsla and his hundreds of supporters camping on the rail tracks near Dhumaria station, close to Bayana town in Bharatpur district, are still not willing to come to a dialogue with the state until their earlier demand of complete ST status comes into effect.

The Gujjars are demanding Schedule Tribe (ST) status to get benefits in terms of reservation in education and jobs. Last year (May 29-June 04) as well 26 people were killed and several others injured in police firing while agitating for the same.

As Gujjars presently belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and being a politically influential community with presence in several regions of North Indian, the issue is now a boiling one both for local and central administration.

Keeping in mind the intensity of agitation, army, paramilitary troops and policemen have been deployed in Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli districts and other sensitive areas to maintain law and order.

Raje government on Friday has sent a proposal to Centre citing 4-6 pc reservation under a new category of Nomadic non-Scheduled Tribe.