Quota agitation by Gujjars turns vicious

The Gujjar community agitation demanding five percent quota in jobs and education turned harsh with shots being discharged and police vehicles burnt in Dholpur region and protestors blocking, road and rail traffic in numerous territories in Rajasthan. Gujjars in the territory of Rajasthan are set to restore their yearly agitation over the issue of reservation.

Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (GASS) leader Kirori Singh Bainsla threatened to call a strike in the state if the community and four other castes are not given five percent reservation in government jobs and education. Making the community's goal clear, Bainsla emphasized the interest for fresh quota at a community meeting held in Ajmer. They had given the state government a 20-day deadline.

Bainsla said the community will block railroad tracks of in Dausa, Bijayanagar, Sawai, Modhpur and Kota, which will cause gigantic disturbances in rail traffic among Delhi and Mumbai. They are additionally expected to block roads over the state to disrupt traffic too.

Some unidentified protestors pelted stones on the police and furthermore fired eight-nine shots in air during the Agra-Morena Highway blockade.The instigators also set a fire three vehicles, including two jeeps and a bus. The present circumstance in Dholpur is tense.

Seven trains were canceled and nine diverted after the Gujjar people group proceeded with their sit-in protest on rail tracks in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district for the third day in a row. The agitation spread as Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla refused to call off the stir.

The agitation has influenced the train movement in NWR and West Central Railway (WCR) zones of the Indian Railways making burden to average citizens

Recently a government delegation had met Bainsla to hold talks but both sides could not reach an agreement, resulting in the agitation for the third consecutive day.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the Congress-drove Ashok Gehlot government of overlooking significant alerts given by the Gujjar leaders.

In their election manifesto, Congress had guaranteed reservation for Gujjars. The Congress government has neither given a complete loan waiver to farmers as guaranteed nor has it given unemployment allowance. They have additionally failed to convey on their promise of Gujjar reservation

Every country is free but community itself does not have high preference for education. Literacy rate among Gujjar women is very low.

A Gujjar women does not just lack behind in the field of education however early marriage framework, extreme poverty and migrant lifestyle has also shaded them. This time when Indian girls are making their names in various fields, these Gujjar ladies are looking through their spaces in the present socio-political situation of the state.

Gujjar people group comprises about 14% of the total population in Jammu and Kashmir and more than 1.4 million women of this community are confronting discrimination. The main Government department working for Gujjar Affairs in Civil Secretariat, i.e., state advisory board for the advancement of Gujjar people group has 16 staff individuals from Chairman to efficient and surprisingly, not even single Gujjar women have served this board since its foundation or establishment. You have hardly any rights in Gujjar community.

Kapil Rampal, Director of Ivory Education says, “I have a very stringent opinion about reservations on the basis of caste and social class. According to me, India indeed is a personification of secularism for thousands of years as it has taught and preached the world to live in harmony even after so much of diversity in beliefs and social class. Reservation on the basis of caste will yield a tale of woe which will have an irrevocably destructive effect on our society. Firstly, they should try to be a responsible citizen of the country at least for 5 years and then demand for quota”.

A glance at the marital status of females in Gujjars and Bakarwals recommends that among the Illiterates average marriage age is excessively low in contrast with the educated population. The average rate of marriage for the illiterate population is 17.1 in contrast with the 19.2 of the educated population.

Gujjars and Bakarwals women marry at younger ages than Gujjars and Bakarwals men, which is a typical practice among the Indian tribes.

At the same time Gujjars do uncivilized protest every year and lot of accidents are also done by Gujjars community. This is basically a social class agony which is expressed in a wrong way. To stop this, people shouldn’t sit on rail tracks. Their demands can only be met after amendments in Constitution.