Gurjar agitation holds Rajasthan to ransom

Jaipur: Rajasthan has promulgated the National Security Act in 15 districts as the Gurjar agitation continued for a fifth day on Tuesday.

The Union Home Ministry is also taking steps to protect Delhi from the threat of Gurjar protests on Thursday.

Rajasthan is simmering and is on the edge with the heat being felt in New Delhi too. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened a meeting to discuss the Gurjar issue.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan High Court asked Gurjar leader Colonel (Retd) Kirori Singh Bainsla to appear in court on May 30 to explain why action should not be taken against him for destroying public property.

Even the Vasundhara Raje government is putting pressure on Bainsla and has withdrawn the Y-category security given to him after last year's agitation.

Col Bainsla, however, is undaunted.

"If a notice has been issued to me, I will try and present myself before the honourable High Court," Col Bainsla, who is camping in Pilupura village of Bayana district, said.

Also the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit has set up a committee to find a way out of the violent agitation launched by the Gurjar community for inclusion into the list of Scheduled Tribes.

BJP, which is in power in Rajasthan, is worried that with elections in the state later this year, the Gurjar agitation could cost it electorally. But for now it is the people of Rajasthan who are paying a price.

Essential supplies have been affected with Gurjars even threatening to stop milk supply.

Train services, too, are hit and passengers like Pradeep Sharma are having a torrid time.

Sharma had to buy fresh tickets after his train to Shimla was cancelled.

"This agitation in not democratic. We don't know if their demands are justified or not but we're facing a lot of inconvenience and we have children with us," Sharma said.

Tourism too has taken a beating. Delhi, Agra and Jaipur form the Golden Triangle with Jaipur alone attracting about 10 per cent of foreign tourists.

Foreign tourists like Martha are now regretting making the trip to Rajasthan.

"All the roads around Bundi were closed so we couldn't leave Bundi," Martha said.

After failing to handle the agitation with the Raje government s busy maneuvering its political equations in an election year, the Gurjar leaders are refusing to relent.

The question that the man on the streets is asking is when can he get on with life.