Internet suspended in violence hit area, TAD minister hold talks with agitators
Udaipur : Tension and intimidation continued unabated in Dungarpur and Udaipur districts on the third day as hundreds of tribal youths remained unmoved on the appeals of the authorities and political leaders and continued to camp in jungles and hills at Kankri Doongri in Bicchiwads of Dungarpur district on Saturday. incidents of violence, loot and fire were reported from the arealate evenin, commutation remained affected on the Udaipur-Ahmedabad National Highway-8 and people had a harrowing time throughout the day as they waited along the roadsides.
Additional forces are deployed on the 10 kilometer long stretch between Bicchiwada and Kherwada and police patrol teams continuously made vigilant rounds to check any untoward incident. IG Binita Thakur, SP KailashChandra Bishnoi and other officers have been camping in Kherwada since Friday and the cops said efforts are being made to restore peace and law. Meanwhile TAD minister Arjun Bamniya , member of the Congress Working Committee and Ex MP Raghuvir Meena and other influential tribal leaders from Udaipur and Dungarpur held a mediation talk with the protestors’ representatives at Meena’s residence in Parsad in the evening.
The minutes of the meeting would be discussed with the CM and the issue would be resolved soon, Meena told Udaipur Kiran . He also said a joint appeal has been made to the protestors to maintain peace and not resort to violence. Meanwhile, Udaipur collector ChetanRam Deora issued a prohibitory order for the entire district preventing assembly of more than 5 persons at a time, carrying arms or lathis, prohibiting rallies, procession or any kind of congregation. Internet services were suspended in Rishabhdev tehsil adjoining Dungarpur district while at Kherwada too, the internet suspension order was extended for further 24 hours till Sunday. At Kherwara more than 500 residents including shopkeepers and traders gathered at the police station and raised their dissent over the anarchical situation prevailing in the area. Dharnendra Jain, an activist here told Rajasthan Kiran that non tribal communities have been living in constant fear since Friday’s episode of vandalism.
Many shops, hotels on the highway were ransacked and looted causing financial losses to the owners. Residents also condemned the failure of police and district administration to curb the violence and said that while the mob was destroying public property and torching vehicles, the officers were sending misleading reports to their higher authorities about the situation being under complete control. Shopkeepers also said that the majority of people spent a sleepless night fearing attacks on their homes.
At Dungarpur, the situation continued to be tense throughout the day. The protestors paid no heed to frantic appeals made by the police and administrative officers. Police sources said cases have been lodged against more than 500 people for the violence causing harm to lives and public property. Meanwhile, the protestors refused to decamp from the area or withdraw the agitation until all of their demands were met. The agitators asked for unconditional withdrawal of all the criminal cases lodged against their men.
More than 2500 tribal men have been protesting for the past fortnight demanding to fill 1,167 vacant posts from the general category with ST candidates who appeared the REET-2018 exam. The movement took an ugly turn on Thursday when the protestors besieged the National Highway 8, torched vehicles, loot petrol pumps/hotels, pelted stones at police teams that tried to disperse them. The mobs crossed the inter district border and entered Kherwada town and displayed vandalism.
Miscreants from Gujarat, MP responsible for the violence- Raghuvir Meena
Ex MP Raghuvir Singh Meena told Daily Kiran that the movement had been going on peaceful for all these days but some miscreants tried to take advantage of the situation. “ When any agitation takes place, outsiders who have nothing to do with the issue try to add fuel. Tribal population in South Rajasthan is peace loving and law abiding people.They do not disrupt peace or toss with law and order but miscreants from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh too got into the agitation and made it worse.
Meena said the youths are still camping at their protest site however, we have made joint appeals to maintain peace and abstain from violence. The meeting which went on for some two hours was attended by Dungarpur MLA Ganesh Ghogra, BTP MLAs Rajkumar Roat and Ramprasad, Ex MP Tarachand Bagora and others.