2008 Gurjar Unrest in Rajasthan - Government's Response

Government's Response

The gurjar agitation was the outcome of years of negligence from the government in addressing the demands of gurjars for their educational and economic progress, according to the gurjar leaders their demands were just and they deserved reservation as the main occupation of gurjars in areas where they lived in majority(karauli,bharatpur,sawai madhopur,dausa,dholpur) was agriculture and animal husbandry but they were deprived of reservation due to the political influence of rival communities who were not willing to share the benefits of reservation with the gurjars and the gurjar vote bank was considered to be smaller than the other communities by the government.It was therefore the mindset of the government to deny any reservation to the gurjars .The government had earlier crushed a protest of farmers demanding water in tonk district by firing at them and were employing similar tactics when a small mob was about to gather near patoli village on the first evening of the agitation .A few villagers were killed in the firing .This incident backfired at the government and the agitation intensified as the gurjars considered the villagers killed in the firing as 'martyrs' and a sense of sympathy and anger spread throughout the state.Consequently major national highways (jaipur-agra,jaipur-delhi)were blocked and the Mumbai-Delhi rail line was also blocked at various places. The government which was not expecting such a backlash was forced to call the Indian Army to maintain law and order. Jagan gurjar a dacoit from the Chambal ravines also participated in the agitation and was seen waving rifles on various T.V news channels. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 25 May said there is a limit to everything and that her government will not allow Gurjars to take the state to "ransom". "It is shocking that notorious dacoits and goonda elements, wielding arm and ammunition, have joined Kirori Singh Bainsla and are indulging in arson and violence. Such things will not be tolerated," Raje stated. The government will not allow anyone to take the state to ransom and law and order into their own hands, she warned. Raje alleged "a political party from a neighbouring state was instigating and pumping money" to fuel the violence in the state. She said the government is open for talks to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner and regretted that Bainsla has been rejecting her appeals. Expressing anguish over the violent incidents that have rocked the state since the past two days resulting in death of 37 people, Raje said there is limit for "bearing such violence and arson" and warned of stringent action against those who take the state to ransom. She said it was very unfortunate that the violence comes in the wake of the Jaipur bombings which claimed 66 lives.

On 26 February, the Chief Minister announced that she would write to the Prime Minister of India recommending placing Gurjars in the category of de-notified tribes, setting aside a reservation of 4-6 per cent for them. With post-mortem examination and the last rites yet to be performed on the bodies of 18 persons killed in police firing, the Rajasthan government on made it clear that a commando operation would be the “last option” for the recovery of the bodies now in the custody of large congregations of Gurjars at Karwadi village in Bayana tehsil of Bharatpur and at Sikandra in Dausa district. “We could have recovered the bodies in less than two hours using force. However, we will not do that considering the chances of further bloodshed,” Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore told journalists here that the “Gurjar reservation is a national issue. The Cabinet has decided to write to the Prime Minister requesting him to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers to review the National Scheduled Tribe Policy document of 2006.”

However, on 27 May Kirori Singh Bhainsla rejected Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's proposal for additional reservation for the agitating community. Bainsla’s rejection of the proposal was unexpected, as he had earlier welcomed Raje’s move to recommend in a letter to the Prime Minister four to six percent special reservation for the community.