A 28-member Gurjjar team finally began talks with the Rajasthan government on Friday, with former director general of police Masood Chowdhary making the case for ST status for the community citing “historical and sociological instances”. BJP MP Ram Das Agarwal, who was part of the government’s nine-member team, said the two-hour session was cordial and that discussions would resume tomorrow.“The BJP leaders said they wished us well, as opposed to the Congress that they claimed had done nothing for the community,” said Delhi MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was part of the Gurjjar delegation.The Rajasthan government is said to be working on two proposals, and these are likely to be placed at tomorrow’s talks.“The Gurjjars cannot be given ST status; it’s not in the purview of the state government. The sooner the Gurjjar community leaders understand this, the better for them. The BJP government made a case for de-notified tribe status for them, something that is not acceptable to them,” said a leader close to the Chief Minister.Another leader from outside Rajasthan, involved closely with the talks, however had another take: “The government could reformulate its response to the 1999 letter sent by the Union Government (to the state). While the then Congress government chose not to respond to the letter then, in its response last year, the Vasundhara Raje government forwarded the Justice Chopra formula, without recording its own view. If the state government were to reformulate its response to the ‘99 letter, okaying ST status for Gujjars, the ball would be in the Centre’s court. They (the Central Government) would be in a bind, for they have neither a two-thirds majority in Parliament nor have there been any additions to the ST list in the last decade and a half.”A leader close to the CM, however, dismissed the second idea. “This (the second proposal) would be constitutionally unviable. This would also pit the Gurjjars against the Meenas in the state, precipitating the problem.”Political calculations, of course, are at work behind both the proposals. While the BJP government in the state would not like to antagonise the Meenas, the Central leadership is more worried about the Gurjjars “turning against the party outside Rajasthan”. While the BJP hopes to come back to power in Rajasthan on the strength of Meena support, in addition to their traditional vote bank in the state, party president Rajnath Singh would like the Gurjjars to be by his side when he contests from Ghaziabad in the next Lok Sabha election.Meanwhile, Pilupura on Friday saw a visit by a seven-member National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). One of its observations was the fear among the people of being targeted in case they leave the narrow area where they have been holding the blockade.The NHRC recorded statements of at least 10 people whose family members were either killed or injured during the police firing on the railway tracks on May 23. Head of the team Mukesh Singh, who met eyewitnesses to the firing as well as Gurjjar leader Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, said they would be staying for five days.Split into three, the team members will also visit Dausa and Sikandra on Friday to record statements of other eyewitnesses. (with Arpit Parashar in Pilupura)
