Gujjars' stir spreads to MP

Bhopal, May 31 (UNI) The pro-reservation agitation by Gujjars across Rajasthan spread to neighbouring Madhya Pradesh also, with several hundred Gujjars staging a demonstration and blocking road traffic for a few hours at Neemuch today.

The demonstration was in support of the demand to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Gujjars, at present listed in the OBC category in Rajasthan, where the agitation had turned violent.

Few hundred members of the Gujjar community, led by Neemuch Block Panchayat President Umrao Singh Gurjar, staged a demonstration at Fawwara Chowk and resorted to road blockade for sometime.

They also submitted to the district authorities a memorandum addressed to the President of India demanding ST status to Gujjars and government job and compensation of at least Rs 5 lakh to next of kin of those who died in police action against the agitators in Rajasthan.

Road and rail traffic between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh remained disrupted as the agitators in the desert state had targeted trains and buses.

Several buses of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation plying through different routes in western Madhya Pradesh remained suspended. Many trains passing through Rajasthan have been diverted via western Madhya Pradesh.

UNI