Gujjar violence: Left demands judicial enquiry

New Delhi, May 30: The Left parties today demanded a judicial enquiry into the police firing on agitating members of the Gujjar community in Dausa and Bundi in Rajasthan in which 14 people were killed and accused the Vasundhra Raje government of ''inept handling of a political matter''.

The CPI(M), CPI and the Forward Bloc, while expressing shock at the deaths, condemned the incident and demanded that the families of those killed be compensated.

The CPI(M) Polit bureau said the failure of the government to deal with the matter politically led to the violence and deaths in the police firing yesterday, while the CPI and the Forward Bloc said the Gujjar community was agitating in support of a legitimate demand.

The Army was deployed in two national highways cutting through Rajasthan after 14 people, including a policeman, were killed in police firing in the state's three districts during violent protests by the Gujjar community, who have been demanding inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

The CPI(M) Polit bureau in a statment said the agitation took place because of the promise made by the the BJP before the elections to provide the Gujjar community with ST status.

''The BJP government headed by Ms Vasundhra Raje has become notorious for its heavy-handed police repression on popular movements. The Kisan movement faced brutal repression and six people were killed. The BJP leadership which tried to exploit the Nandigram incident should take strong action against its state government,'' the CPI(M) said.

CPI senior leader S Sudharkar Reddy said the police firing was ''totally wrong'' and the BJP, which made the election promise, gave up the issue after coming to power in Rajasthan.

The CPI leader further remarked that the Gujjar community has a separate ST/SC and OBC status in some states.

''In some states, they have OBC status, while in some others, they have SC/ST status. In Rajasthan, they have been demanding the status of the STs, which is quite legitimate,'' he said.

Forward Bloc General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Debvrat Biswas also echoed the same view that, ''the Gujjar community has a legitimate demand''.

Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, after losing political credibility was now fomenting trouble on some other front to distract people's attention, he said.

UNI

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