Bharatpur/Jaipur

A day after their failed talks with the government, Gujjars intensified their agitation today for five per cent quota by blocking highways in parts of Rajasthan and threatened to expand it across the state even as their leaders were booked for rioting and endangering lives.

The community members, who started the renewed agitation on Thursday last by disrupting rail traffic on Delhi-Mumbai tracks in Bharatpur, today blocked National Highway 11 at Dausa and a state highway in Sawaimadhopur district to build pressure on the state government.

The Gujjars, who held talks with the government in Bayan town in Bharatpur yesterday, said they were intensifying their agitation as they had been offered no concrete proposal to meet their demand.

Led by Kirori Singh Bainsla, who had spearheaded a similar agitation in 2008, Gujjars assembled at Sikandara in Dausa early this morning to pay homage to 21 people who were killed on the same day in 2008 during the violent agitation.

After that, the Gujjar members blocked the highway at Sikandara. The Sawaimadhopur-Sheopur state highway in Khandar area of Sawaimadhopur district was also blocked late last night where the Gujjars are squatting, police said.

Traffic on both the highways has been diverted to other roads and police has been deployed around the area to maintain law and order, police added.

“Several hundred people blocked the highway at Sikandara this morning while the Sawaimadhopur-Sheopur state highway is also blocked since last night,” the police said.

Himmat Singh, spokesperson of Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said the agitation would be expanded in the state if there is no fresh and concrete proposal from the government.

He said the meeting yesterday was inconclusive because the government had “nothing new” to offer.

On the other hand, police have booked Bainsla and his associates, including Himmat Singh, for rioting, damaging public property, endangering life, obstructing public way, criminal conspiracies.

The meeting yesterday took place between a committee of three ministers comprising Health Minister Rajendra Rathore, Social Justice Minister Arun Chaturvedi and Food Minister Hem Singh Bhadana, and a delegation of Gujjar leaders led by Kirori Bainsla, who is a retired Army officer.

“They assured us that the government would strongly represent in the High Court to get the matter resolved. This is what they had assured us earlier too but nothing happened.

So there was no point in accepting their offer yesterday,” Himmat Singh, who participated in the meeting, told PTI.

“We are ready to talk to the government but it is for the government to take an initiative.

They offered to hold another meeting on Monday in Jaipur but Bainsla will discuss this with our people first and any decision will be taken tomorrow,” he said.

Himmat Singh threatened that if the government failed to provide any workable proposal, the agitation would be intensified across the state.

“Similar agitations would also be launched in other parts of the state if the government does not fulfill our demand,” he said.

On the other hand, police have lodged three cases against Bainsla and his men on May 21, the day when they started the agitation, and today.

Two cases were registered on May 21 and one case was lodged today with Bayan police station, Sub Inspector Bayana Police station Bhanwar Singh said.

“The cases have been registered against Kirori Singh Bainsla, Himmat Singh, Bhura Bhagat, a few more named people and around 2500 other unnammed people in different sections of IPC and PDPP act,” he said.

Two cases were registered by railway authorities and one by the SHO Bayana police station, he said.

PTI