Even as Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday examined legal aspects of the ST status demanded by Gurjjars at a high-level meeting, the agitation kept on taking more lives as the police opened fire at violent protestors killing two of them and injuring two others during a road blockade in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district.Chances of an early end to the stand-off between Gurjjars and Rajasthan Government appeared remote with Gurjjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla ruling out a dialogue unless the state Government first accepted their demand. His remarks came a day after Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje made a fresh offer of talks with the agitators. Four policemen were also injured in clashes with the protestors, who had been blocking stretches of the road connecting Sawai Madhopur with Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh since Thursday, an official spokesman said. The firing happened after the protestors pelted police personnel with stones at Usali Darra, 12 kms from Sawai Madhopur. The deceased were identified as Kanahia Lal and Radhyeshyam.In Uttar Pradesh, about 12 people, including some policemen and journalists, were injured as protesting Gurjjars clashed with securitymen near Asafabad area. Police lathicharged a mob led by local Samajwadi Party leaders squatting on railway tracks.The mob threw stones as police tried to clear the track and indulged in arson, setting a police jeep and three motorcycles ablaze. Superintendent of Police Vijay Shankar Singh said though the situation was under control, a roadways bus was damaged and 20 people were arrested.As many as 43 people have so far been killed in police firing and violence since the agitation, spearheaded by Bainsla, began last week. Now, it has spread to areas in neighbouring Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region.In a firefighting exercise, Home Minister elicited views of the Law Ministry on the matter during the meeting which discussed options to defuse the situation. He was briefed by senior officials of the Law Ministry and the Tribal Affairs Ministry. National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar and Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta were also present at the meeting, sources said.Sources said views of states having sizeable Gurjjar population were being taken as any decision on according ST status to the community was likely to have wide-ranging ramifications. They said the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending four to six per cent quota for Gurjjars in the category of de-notified class of tribals/nomadic tribe was also under consideration.Raje, however, came in for sharp attack from the CPI(M) on Friday as it accused the BJP Government in Rajasthan of having a “murderous record” and demanded her resignation for her “gruesome record of ordering 50 police firings” during her tenure.“This is a Chief Minister who believes she has a divine right to rule. like a feudal ruler. She has deployed the Army. We want her resignation owning up the responsibility for firing on the Gurjjar agitators,” CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters in New Delhi.
