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Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008
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Autopsy over but uncertainty persists

Sunny Sebastian

Gujjars undecided on disposal of the bodies; Vasundhara Raje renews appeal for peace

We will hand over bodies to the families once autopsies get over: Dausa Collector
Stop rail-road blockade and come to the negotiating table: Chief Minister tells protesters

— PHOTOS: PTI/LAKSHMAN IYER

Deadlock ends: Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla arrives to witness the post-mortem of firing victims in Pilupura village of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. (Right) Doctors get ready to do the autopsy.

JAIPUR: After long-winding talks and political dillydallying, autopsies were carried out by Monday on most of the victims of police firing on Gujjar protesters, even as Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje made a fresh appeal for peace and reiterated her “willingness” for talks on the issue of recommending Scheduled Tribe status to the community.

The post-mortem examination, which started in the morning with uncertainty — as there was no concrete agreement between the government and the Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Samiti (Gujjar agitation action committee) on the final disposal of the 38 bodies — took a long time.

The bodies in the possession of the authorities were transported to the police-firing site at Sikandra in Dausa and in Pilupura in Bharatpur to meet the demand from the Gujjar leadership, led by Kirori Singh Bainsla. The Gujjar leaders had agreed to the autopsy — after holding on to the bodies for 11 days in the case of Pilupura, and 10 days at Sikandra — on the condition that the examination would be carried out on all the bodies at the sites where the victims had fallen.

The bodies of two persons who were killed in firing last Friday at Kushalipura in Sawai Madhopur were kept for post-mortem examination till late evening at the site where huge crowds squatted.

In all, three medical teams comprising three doctors each carried out autopsies on 16 bodies at Pilupura where tents were erected and mobile surgical vans were stationed nearby. In Sikandra, four medical teams with three doctors each carried out the job. One medical team was sent to Kushalipura.

To make sure that the Gujjars got convinced about the “genuineness” of the post-mortem examination, each team had at least one doctor of Col. Bainsla’s choice.

Yet uncertainty continued over the fate of the bodies — some of which are in a state of decay — as the Gujjars sat on a “mahapanchayat” at Pilupura at the end of the post-mortem examination there to decide on the next step.

“We will hand over the bodies to the families once the process gets over,” Rajesh Yadav, Collector, Dausa, told The Hindu. “It is for the family members to decide what they want to do with their dead,” he said. There were apprehensions about the Gujjars continuing their protests with the bodies.

The day remained violence-free though rail traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur, Agra-Jaipur and Jaipur-Gwalior sectors remained suspended. Attempts to damage rail tracks were reported at Chauth Ka Barwada on the Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur route. A bandh call given by the Gujjars in Jodhpur was only a partial success.

Ms. Raje appealed to the Gujjar protesters to stop the blockade of road and rail traffic and come to the negotiating table. “A solution will be possible only with talks,” she said in an address to the citizens through the electronic media. “The obstruction of traffic has put the people of the State to much difficulty besides causing great inconvenience to students appearing for examinations. The agitation has seriously affected tourism and investment in Rajasthan,” she stated.

Ms. Raje reiterated her commitment to the uplift of each section of society. “The whole State is one family for me. The Gujjar community also is an inseparable part of this family,” she said.

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