Akalis deplores killings of Gujjars in police firing

New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) Akali Dal(Amritsar) President Simranjit Singh Mann today condemned police firing on agitating Gujjars in Rajasthan and alleged that the ruling BJP did not believe in the rule of law.

Describing as ''just and genuine'' the demand of the Gujjars for ST status on a par with the Meena community in Rajasthan, the Akali leader said the BJP was playing ''vote-bank politics of pitting one community against the other''.

''At the same time, the BJP government is also playing the 'Hindutva card' by unleashing a wave of terror on 'Bangladeshis' living in slums in Jaipur on the pretext of looking for terrorists responsible for the recent blasts which rocked the city,'' Mr Mann said.

Urging the state government to stop ''police repression'' of Gujjars and Bangladeshi migrants, the Akali leader alleged that the marginalised communities and minorities in the state were feeling ''suffocated''.

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