The internet was suspended in four tribal districts in southern Rajasthan on Saturday and section 144, which prohibits the gathering of more than five people, was imposed following violent protests in Dungarpur district by tribal youth over the recruitment test of teachers.
On Thursday, hundreds of tribal youths blocked National Highway No. 8 in Dungarpur before setting vehicles on fire and injuring several police officers. The protesters demanded that 1,167 unreserved government teacher positions be filled with ST candidates.
In the last three days, six trucks, five buses, four police vehicles, nine cars, nine tempos and a motorcycle caught fire. More than 1,000 rubber bullets were fired to control the situation.
As tension continued in Dungarpur, three neighboring districts, Udaipur, Banswara and Pratapgarh, suspended the internet in selected areas and imposed ban orders on Saturday.
A section of the national highway is still under the control of tribal youth.
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Udaipur Range Inspector General Binita Thakur said that a control room had been set up at the Kherwara police station, where seven officers from the Indian Police Service (IPS) are camping to keep the situation under control. These officers are Thakur, ATS DIG Anshuman Bhomia, Jaipur Rural SP Shankar Dutt Sharma, Jodhpur headquarters DCP Kaluram Rawat, Chittorgarh SP Deepak Bhargav, Udaipur SP Kailash Bishnoi and Dungarpur SP Jai Yadav.
“So far, 550 people have been registered and 34 people have been arrested,” Thakur said. In addition, 5,000 police officers have been deployed in tribal areas in Udaipur, Pratapgarh, Banswara and Dungarpur districts.
He said that between midnight Friday and early Saturday morning, eight trucks were set on fire in the Kakra Doongri area on the national highway. The protesters also destroyed some shops.
In Udaipur, the district collector Chetan Deora imposed section 144 to prohibit any illegal gathering. The order is applicable across the district’s revenue borders, he said. “Strict measures will also be taken against people who spread provocative messages on social media,” the order said. Internet services have been suspended in the Rishabhdeo and Kherwara areas of the district.
In Banswara, district collector Ankit Kumar Singh said in an order that this had been done as tension continued to prevail for the third day in a row in Dungarpur. Internet services have also been banned throughout the district, except in Choti Sarwan and Banswara City.
Section 144 was also imposed in Pratapgarh district and internet service was suspended in the cities of Arnod, Peepalkhoont and Dhariyawad.
Following the vandalism in the early hours of Saturday, some businessmen and merchants held a protest in front of the Kherwara police station and blamed the government for being a silent bystander to the violence.
The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) MLA of Chorasi (Dungarpur), Rajkumar Roat, said that for the past 18 days there have been peaceful protests. The government also scheduled a September 14 meeting with the protesters, but later canceled it. The meeting was rescheduled on September 24 but was canceled again. “People became aggressive after the meeting was canceled a second time,” he said.
About 30 percent of the people got out on the road but the police charged them; then the rest joined as well. He said there were arson and stoning, unfortunately both the police and the youth worked in a similar way.
Police set their bicycles on fire and even broke into houses from Bicchiwada to Kherwada and damaged property, the MLA said.
“The BTP filed the lawsuit to fill the vacant positions and the CM agreed when we expanded our support in the Rajya Sabha polls. This turmoil has continued since December 2019. The government should not have taken it lightly. Whatever happens is regrettable, ”he said.
Meanwhile, a meeting between the government representatives, the tribal leaders of the regions and the representatives of the candidates was held in Parsad village in Udaipur district that was not conclusive. The meeting started around 4 pm and concluded around 6 pm.
As the meeting continued, protesters set six vehicles on fire in Kherwara as a result of which Udaipur District Collector Chetan Deora and Udaipur Division Commissioner Vikas Bhale had to leave the meeting in the middle, an official said.
During the meeting, SC / ST Development Minister Arjun Singh Bamaniya, State Youth Congress President Ganesh Gogra, CWC Working Committee Member Raghuveer Singh Meena, BTP Rajkumar Roat Leader Sagwara MLA Ramprasad Dindore, Kanti Bhai Roat from BTP, 10 candidates and few. Congressional activists and workers from the BTP party were present at the meeting.
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