JODHPUR, May 31: Four more people have died in clashes between an ethnic group demanding more government aid and police in northern India, bringing the death toll this week to 17, officials said on Thursday.
Police on Thursday shot dead two protesters belonging to the Gujjar community in Rajasthan state's Sawaimadhopur district after a police station was set ablaze, police inspector-general Ajit Singh said.
“Police opened fire after a huge mob went around torching government buildings and vehicles in the district's Boli town,” Singh said by telephone from the state capital Jaipur.
Another protester died overnight when police opened fire, while a fourth died of bullet wounds sustained on Tuesday when the Gujjar shepherd community went on a rampage.
A total of 17 people including at least two policemen have died in the violence and more than 100 been injured in the desert state bordering the Indian capital.
Talks between state officials and ethnic leaders failed to quell the protests. Some 20 vehicles were torched as the violence spiralled on Thursday.
“The situation is not yet under control. We are in talks with those who are demonstrating for reservations,” State Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said.
The Gujjars want to be included among the “scheduled castes,” India's socially and economically weakest communities for whom state aid and jobs are “reserved.” The trouble spread to the Indian capital on Thursday with Gujjar men and women blocking busy intersections and pelting rocks at private vehicles, a police spokesman said in New Delhi.Gujjars, who have a large presence in the national capital, were demonstrating against police gunfire in Rajasthan.
“Stop the butchery,” the protesters screamed at a blocked flyover in eastern Delhi. They also blocked Rajasthan's main highway linking Jaipur to New Delhi and the Taj Mahal town of Agra.
Approximately 10 trains linking Jaipur with Delhi and Agra -- India's “golden triangle” for tourism -- were also cancelled.
In an army show of strength, heavily-armed troops rode military trucks through deserted highways in the area, officials said.
The unrest prompted the US embassy in India to issue a travel warning to its citizens.
“Several important highways in the state of Rajasthan have been closed due to ongoing riots by Gujjars, an ethnic group protesting against exclusion from certain government benefits,” said a US embassy statement.
“American citizens planning travel to and from Jaipur and nearby areas in eastern Rajasthan are advised to postpone travel by road until order is established by Indian authorities.” Gujjars make up some six million of Rajasthan's 55 million population.—AFP
