India protesters refuse to relent
By Narayan Bareth
BBC News, Jaipur
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6706889.stm

Gujjar protesters blocking a road with six bodies of their dead
Thousands of protesters are continuing to sit on the roads
Three days after 14 people were killed in violent clashes in India's Rajasthan state, tribal protesters are refusing to cremate six of their dead.


Several tens of thousands of protesters are continuing to sit on the highway along with the bodies of their dead.

Some 25,000 members of the nomadic Gujjar tribe are blocking a key national highway along with the bodies.

Officials say the situation across the state is very volatile.

The Gujjars are demanding that they be included in an affirmative action quota which would give them access to government jobs and other benefits.

The trouble started on Tuesday in the state's Dausa district when police fired on Gujjar protesters who had blocked the main road connecting the city of Jaipur with the tourist destination of Agra where the Taj Mahal is located.

Unrest spreading



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The unrest has now spread across the state, with properties and vehicles vandalised and road blocks set up every five kilometres.

A strike call by protesters has shut several towns, including Kota and Ajmer, although the state capital, Jaipur, continues to function normally.

The situation in the towns of Karauli and Bharatpur is also tense.

Train services across the state have been disrupted, with protesters uprooting rail tracks in many places.

Bus services to the state from the Indian capital, Delhi, have been cancelled.

The first round of talks between the state government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and leaders of the Gujjars on Wednesday night failed to break the deadlock and the two sides are due to resume their dialogue again later on Thursday.

Thousands of soldiers have been deployed across the state to keep peace.

Catch-22

Wary police officers say the situation has become more complicated as a rival tribal group, the Meenas, has also taken to streets now.

The Gujjars - a large and politically-influential nomadic tribe spread across north India - want to be categorised as an official tribe so that they may benefit from affirmative action quotas which will give them access to government jobs as well as places in state-supported schools and colleges.

If the government accedes to their demand, it falls foul of the Meena tribe which is already in the official tribes list and at present corners most of the benefits meant for them.

Meenas do not want to share the benefits with the Gujjars.

The government is now in a catch-22 situation.

If they accede to the Gujjars' demands, the Meenas threaten to launch protests.

If they refuse the Gujjars' demands, the protesters threaten to escalate their action.

The issue of affirmative action is a sensitive one in India, with many poor communities arguing that it is the only way millions of under-privileged people can benefit from India's economic boom.

But those opposed to it say it is a cynical move by politicians to gain more votes from politically influential communities who make up a large percentage of the country's population.