SPREADING TROUBLE: Gujjars block traffic at Khajuri Chowk in New Delhi on Friday, protesting against the police action in Rajasthan. Similar protests were held in Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. -- PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

JAIPUR: Gujjars' agitation for Scheduled Tribe status took a turn for the worse in Rajasthan on Friday with clashes between them and Meenas claiming four lives at Lalsot in Dausa district. The Meenas are opposing the Gujjar entry into the ST fold for fear that their share of reservation benefits would be eroded.

On the fourth day of the agitation, huge armies of Gujjars and Meenas clashed in the surroundings of Lalsot, a small town where hamlets and settlements of the two communities stand cheek by jowl. One Meena and three Gujjars were killed and more than two-dozen persons injured, said V.S. Singh, Principal Secretary, Home. Since May 29, the death toll in violence and police firing in the State has crossed 24.

In another development, reports that a Meena youth, a compounder, was killed by a group while on his way from Karauli to Masalpur led to tension between the two communities. However, it later turned out that the killers were from the same community.

Armed with lathis and swords, the Meenas, who had given an ultimatum to the Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Samiti to lift the blockade on National Highway 11 between Jaipur and Mahuwa, made their way to Nangal-Rajawala to attend a `jati panchayati' (caste gathering). Minor confrontation between the two communities was reported from Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Alwar districts, besides Dausa. At one place in Dausa, their members came face to face when the Meenas tried to repair a main water pipe allegedly broken by the Gujjars.

Army jawans were holding fort in 12 districts. Shoot-at-sight orders were issued in Bharatpur and Sawai Madhopur. The Meenas held caste panchayats at many places in Karauli and Sawai Madhopur and warned of forcible removal of the blockade on NH 11. Mobs damaged a railway bridge at Isarda-Chouth Ka Barwada in Sawai Madhopur.

Meanwhile, talks between an eight-member Gujjar Mahasabha team, led by Roop Singh, and the Group of Ministers, deputed by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, could not make much progress.

The Gujjars were insisting on the government agreeing, in writing, to their demands and forwarding a recommendation, along with the reports of Collectors, to the Centre.

Gujjar Mahasabha leader Kirori Singh Baisla said there would be one more round of talks. "If this too fails, there will not be any more talks with the Government," he told The Hindu on the phone.

Governor's appeal

Earlier, Governor Pratibha Patil appeared on television and appealed to the groups involved and the general public to maintain peace.

Ms. Raje also appealed to the public for cooperation in restoring peace. "Democracy provides enough scope for settlement of issues with the help of a dialogue," she said.

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