THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: FlameOfCallandor on June 01, 2008, 07:18:02 PM
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4027974.ece (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4027974.ece)
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00345/Gujjar2_345621a.jpg)
Thousands of members of one of India’s lowest castes besieged the capital yesterday, blocking roads and railways to press their unorthodox demand — to be downgraded to an even lower social status.
The Gujjars, who are traditionally herders of cattle, goats and sheep, threatened to shut down Delhi as they broadened a protest movement that has left 39 people dead across northern India since it began last Friday.
Wielding sticks and shouting slogans, they burnt tyres and squatted in the main roads leading to the capital, blocking access to the satellite towns of Noida and Gurgaon, which are home to call centres and multinational firms. They also blocked railway lines to several towns outside Delhi, including popular tourist destinations.
It was the second time in less than a year that the Gujjars have brought much of northern India to a standstill in an attempt to gain greater access to government jobs and university places under the world’s largest affirmative action programme.
The violence has thrown a spotlight on police brutality in India and the politics of the Hindu caste system, which enforces a strict social hierarchy with Brahmins at the top and Untouchables, or Dalits, at the bottom.
India outlawed caste discrimination after gaining independence in 1947, but to correct the injustices of the past it allocated quotas of government jobs and university places to those who suffered the most. It divided those who should benefit from the quotas into official categories called scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC).
SC includes Untouchables and others at the bottom of the caste system, ST consists of ethnic minorities and OBC comprises others who traditionally suffered discrimination.
The Gujjars, who mainly live in the northern state of Rajasthan, are classified as OBC, entitling them to access to 27 per cent of government jobs and university places. But they want to be downgraded to ST, on a par with another local tribe called the Meena, which they believe would increase their access by another 15 per cent.
They say that the Hindu nationalist Bharata Janata Party promised to downgrade them as part of its winning campaign in Rajasthan’s state election four years ago, but that it never fulfilled its commitment.
The latest protests began after a government panel recommended an aid package of £35 million for the Gujjars, but ruled out caste reclassification.
The demonstrations turned violent last week after Gujjar protesters lynched a policeman and police responded by opening fire on the demonstrators, killing 38 of them.
The government of Rajasthan has told the Gujjars to take the appeal to the federal Government in Delhi but the federal coalition Government, led by the Congress Party, says that the matter should be handled by the authorities in Rajasthan.
Opinion is divided among experts, with some saying that the Gujjars deserve to be compensated and others predicting a “race to the bottom” if their demands are met.
So they wont to be considered lower on the system to have greater access to jobs? Affirmative action lulz