The Maha Panchayat or mass meet was called to finalise the future course of action on the community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status that would give them better job.
PUSKHAR: Holding Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje responsible for the death of 26 people during the recent Gujjar quota stir, the national-level mahapanchayat of the community today demanded her immediate resignation and also called for cases to be registered against those involved in the police firing.
The Gujjars threatened to start afresh their agitation if the state government failed to pass a resolution and recommend ST status as demanded by them within the stipulated period of three months and three days.
"Vasundhara Raje should quit on moral grounds or we will have to speak to the party's central leadership and request them to intervene into the matter," a senior Gurjar leader said about the resolutions passed at the meet.
The mahapanchayat also called for a judicial probe into the police firing during the May 29-June 4 agitation and reiterated their demand for government jobs to the kin of those killed.
"We are also demanding appropriate ex-gratia for families of the deceased and will put forward these views before the Chopra committee looking into our demand for ST status," he said.
Thousands of Gujjars from states like Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan attended the mahapanchayat at the mela ground venue here.
Meanwhile addressing the mahapanchayat, Gujjar leader Col Kirori Singh Bhainsala said the ultimate aim of the community is getting ST status.
"The true tribute to those who sacrificed their lives during our agitation would be achieving ST for our community," Bhainsala told the gathering of more than 50,000 Gujjars.
"Our purpose will be served if we can make relatives of the deceased the district collectors of respective districts of Rajasthan or any part of India," he said.
The meet also decided to observe a condolence week from June 29 to July 4. Two more mahapanchayats are scheduled to be held in August and September in Jhalawar and Dholpur.
"We would spread awareness about our rights among the community. Our leaders of the community would visit other states to get the momentum going," another leader said.
Noting that it was not a political meeting or a platform, Congress MP Sachin Pilot said "it is a battle of our society and we should leave no stone unturned to get our demands fulfilled".
The head of Pathik Sena said despite Gujjars being in the ST category in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, there are some flaws.
"After our battle is over we should try to fight for the rights of our people in other states," he said.
Elaborate security arrangements were made for the smooth conduct of the mahapanchayat.
The district administration had permitted the Rajasthan Gurjar Aarakshan Sanyukt Morcha to organise the mahapanchayat on the conditions that no sharp-edged weapons would be allowed and no provocative statements and speeches would be delivered by the leaders.
Meanwhile, the Purohit community of the Puskhar Raj Sarobar has taken strong exception to the entry of Gurjars wearing slippers and shoes into the lake premises during the meet.
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