Mayawati appeals to West UP Gujjars to maintain calm

Lucknow, June 3 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today appealed anew to the Gujjars of Rajasthan to exercise restraint while urging the community in Western UP to maintain peace.

''I have already isued an appeal to the Gujjars of Rajasthan to maintain peace... (I am) making the same appeal to the agitated Gujjar community of Western UP as well,'' she told a news conference here this afternoon.

Being largely non-committal on the violence having spread to some parts of Uttar Pradesh on the issue of reservation, the UP Chief Minister said the matter in Rajasthan could be settled with the peaceful negotiations.

Earlier on Friday last, she had suggested to the BJP government in Rajasthan to evolve a ''middle ground'' to resolve the situation.

''BSP ki Rajasthan mein Bharatiya Janata Party ki sarkar ko salah hai ki woh beech ka rasta nikal kar mamale ko suljhane ka prayas kare (BSP suggests the BJP government in Rajasthan to adopt the middle ground approach in order to defuse the situation),'' she had said.

She had termed it 'unfortunate' that Gujjar and Meena communities were fighting in Rajasthan.

It may be recalled that a volatile situation had emerged in Rajasthan following demand by Gujjars to include them in the list of Scheduled Tribe (ST) to enable them to avail the reservation benefit. The violence has since spread to Westrn UP districts which witnessed some destructive actions by the agitationists.

Meanwhile, the Gujjar community today announced a new strategy to carry on with the protest.

Gujjars are holding agitations in UP to protest the May 29 police firing on the community in Dausa in Rajasthan, which left 15 dead.

A report from Meerut said the Gujjars would continue their agitation in western UP and to give pace to their protest, the community has established a control room at the house of their senior leader Nepal Singh in Begum Bagh of the city.

The Gujjars also organised a panchayat, led by senior leader Bhagwat Singh, whereby it was decided to hold a Mahapanchayat on June 6 in Meerut and to review the demonstations in western UP so far.

Passengers faced hardships when the Gujjars stopped the Khurja-Meerut bus for around 30 minutes. Besides, the demonstrators staged a 'dharna' at the district headquarters and burnt Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia in effigy, a report from Bulandshahr said.

Meanwhile, the ongoing agitation by the Gujjars has disrupted day-to-day life and affected economy of the Taj city.

The Taj city that is also known for its footwares is breathing hard these days to fulfil the demand of leather products due to stranded transport. Tourism that is the biggest revenue generator of this city is also suffering due to rail and road blockade caused by the protesting community.

Geographical positioning of the city which places it close to Rajasthan has disconnected it from southern India, as transport lay stranded for Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

A mob, led by the Gujjars, staged demonstrations and blocked the highways, including the Delhi-Hardwar National Highway, at several places of western UP, leading to traffic snarls.

Besides, the demonstrators disrupted rail traffic on several routes and burnt the Rajasthan Chief Minister in effigy.

UP had sent three companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) to Rajasthan on the request of that government.

Besides, four PAC companies have been deployed in Agra to maintain calm in Gujjar-dominated areas. While two companies have been attached with Khairagarh police station, the remaining have been attached with Siyana police station.

UNI