June 03, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1428

JAIPUR, June 2: Protesters from an ethnic Indian group demanding special government privileges blocked roads and damaged railway tracks on Saturday, stranding thousands in a fifth day of protests that has killed 23 people.

Violence erupted across north and western India after ethnic Gujjars began demanding they be declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) which entitles them to government jobs and college quotas.

The demand has been opposed by Meenas, a tribal group, who fear they will lose their own quota slice, leading to violent clashes between the two communities.

On Saturday, a mob torched a police post in Rajasthan, where the protesters had also blocked several key roads, officials in Jaipur said. Gujjar protesters removed a portion of railway tracks in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, throwing train services out of gear.

“Services of about 25 trains have been affected,” B.P. Pandey, a railway official, told Reuters in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm in Rajasthan and neighbouring Haryana on Saturday, urging people to desist from violence.

In the past two decades, more castes and communities under Hinduism’s ancient hierarchy have been demanding special quotas to garner government jobs and college places through affirmative action programmes.

Gujjars, spread across north and western India, are mainly shepherds and farmers.

There are several groups that benefit from government affirmative action — Scheduled Castes (SC), made up of ‘untouchables’ and which is the lowest tier, and Scheduled Tribes (ST) made up of tribal groups are the next tier.

The third tier are Other Backward Classes (OBC), made up of a host of lower castes, including Gujjars.

Gujjars now want to be relegated to the ST group, where they believe competition is less fierce for jobs and college places.

The Meenas, a powerful community in Rajasthan, have cornered a large slice of the existing tribal quota for government jobs and college places in the state, and their leaders say they do not want the Gujjars to win places at their cost.

Gujjar leaders and Rajasthan authorities held talks on Saturday to resolve the issue.—Reuters