Lavish in protest

There8217;s something about the Gurjjar protest at Pilupura that jars8212;here, among the protestors is a group of people agitating for a cause...

There8217;s something about the Gurjjar protest at Pilupura that jars8212;here, among the protestors is a group of people agitating for a cause they hope will bring the community more jobs and get them out of poverty but nothing about their lifestyle points to their modest cause.

A little distance from where Gurjjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsala sits, is a grey jeep and a few meters further away is a black Pajero and a red Tavera. Inside another SUV, sits Bainsala8217;s advocate, busy with his laptop as he punches in a demand letter that the Gurjjars would present to the government. One of the Gurjjar leaders is heard talking on the phone: 8220;Aam aa gaya market main? Dus ek kilo top class aam mangvaiye. Ab apko batane ki zaroort to nahi ki kis ke liye mangwa rahe hai Bring in at least 10 kg of high-quality mangoes. I am sure you know who to send it to.8221;

The makeshift clinic at the site is well stocked. All the Gurjjars who make decisions are the ones who zip around in SUVs, not the ones baking in the sun.

The only woman Gurjjar leader among the protestors is Manju Singh, who doesn8217;t follow the local Gurjjar dialect. She speaks in Hindi.

And then, there are people like Ram Bir Singh Bhiduri, the Delhi Congress MLA from Badarpur who goes around in his SUV, giving media persons sound bytes by generously rolling down the windows of his air-conditioned car.

But there are other Gurjjars leaders who are not from such elitist backgrounds. Captain Harprasad Tanwar, who is second in command to Bainsala, retired from the Rajput regiment as a captain. One of his two sons is a nursing assistant and the other is a peon in the army canteen. In the crowd there are women for whom the only sign of prosperity is the three gold dots on their teeth which they proudly show off. One group of Gurjjar agitators crowds food trolleys for their share of rabri8212;a dessert8212;while the other passes expensive packs of cigarettes around.

But Bainsala represents the other class8212;the English-speaking, affluent section of Gurjjars his granddaughter studies in Mayo College. 8220;I will open my Chivas Regal the day we get the recommendation letter. I have not touched that bottle in 22 years,8221; he says, bristling with pride.