Gujjar agitation: Capital on alert

The government appeared to take the situation seriously enough for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar.

Till now, the Gujjar agitation had disrupted train traffic passing through Rajasthan but spreading of the agitation to Delhi could prove to be a tough task for the government to handle.

Meanwhile, tension mounted as the five-day-old Gujjar agitation spread to new areas in Rajasthan today, even as the state government clamped the National Security Act in 15 violence-hit districts.

Police teargassed Gujjar protesters who blocked the Delhi-Jaipur national highway, even as the agitation spread to Tonk and Banswara. Hopes of a breakthrough were dashed with Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla rejecting a letter by the chief minister to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recommending 4 to 6 per cent reservation for Gujjars in the category of denotified tribes.

Hundreds of Gujjar youths put up blockades on National Highway-8 near Kotputali, 130 km from Jaipur, leading to jams on either sides of the road, the police said. The police first resorted to lathicharge and later used teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

In Tonk district, about 200 km from Jaipur, police used teargas against Gujjars who were forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters and blocking roads, the police said. At least 10 people including two policemen were injured when protesters indulged in brickbatting at Ghas village, 12 km from Tonk, according to police sources.