We had no choice but violence: Bainsla

NDTV Correspondent
Thursday, May 29, 2008 (Bayana)
Gujjar leader Colonel K S Bainsla is spearheading the Gujjar agitation demanding Scheduled Tribe status for the community in Rajasthan.Speaking to NDTV about the actions taken by them as well as the reaction of the governments, he said that he regretted the violent agitation but added that the Gujjars have no choice left. Here are the excerpts of the interview.NDTV: There has been criticism that your campaign has caused many hardships for the common man. Is it fair that your protestors block roads, stop trains and pelt stones? Why can't the protest be done in such a way that it causes no inconvenience?Col K S Bainsla, Gujjar leader: I regret it but we have no choice. We have no other option but to resort to this and to stay on here till the time the recommendation is sent.NDTV: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has invited you for talks. Why are you not accepting her invitation?Col Bainsla: No, she has not invited me. She did not even phone me when she came to Bayana.NDTV: The chief minister has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of quota for Gujjars. Don't you think this issue falls on the Centre more than the state?Col Bainsla: What I have been told is that the government of India has told the Rajasthan government that if it wants to give the Scheduled Tribe status, it can send a specific recommendation.NDTV: Forty people have died in police firing and they have not been cremated yet. They are still lying there on the tracks on slabs of ice. Do you think this is fair? How long will this continue?Col Bainsla: Look, we have paid the price. We have to stick to this place because we need the status and deserve it.

This fellow is a demagogue. If we give in to his demands, more demagogues will arise and will sink enterprise India. BJP should be ready to sacrifice its government rather than give in. The nation is more important than political power.