Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan

2008 caste riots in Rajasthan
Part of the Caste-related violence in India
Date23 May 2008 – 17 June 2008 and 17 December 2010 – 7 January 2011
Location
Result 37 people dead, several hundred injured, destruction of state property[1]

The Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan were a series of protests in Rajasthan state, India, during 2008, and in later years. Violence erupted in the state of Rajasthan on 23 May 2008 when police fired on protesters belonging to the Gurjar caste who were demanding a Special status under India's reservation system. In retaliation, the protesters lynched a policeman in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. In response, police shot at protesters as they tried to damage railway lines and government property. At least 15 were killed on the spot.[2]

On 24 May, the Indian army was called in to help calm the violence as another 15 people were killed when police shot at a mob of protesters trying to torch a police station in Sikandra.

Thousands of protesters blocked a rail route between Delhi and Mumbai. Highways had also been blocked, and state authorities cancelled many buses. Getting almost nothing from the government for their demand of a 5% quota for government jobs, Gurjars again went on to agitate in 2010. They jammed trains on the Jaipur-Delhi and Mumbai-Delhi routes. Unlike the unrest in 2008, there was no violence in 2010. In May 2015, a similar protest was organized and over thousands of Gujjars blocked railway tracks halting train traffic.[3]

  1. ^ "37 killed in caste riots in India". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  2. ^ "37 killed in caste riots in India". RSI LAB. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Led by Col. Kirori Singh Bainsla, Gujjars block Rail Route in Rajasthan for Quota in Govt Jobs". news.biharprabha.com. ANI. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.