Hopes of resumption of the dialogue between agitating Gujjars and the Rajasthan Government receded as the two sides remained deadlock on the issue of release of women protesters .
KARWADI/JAIPUR: Hopes of resumption of the dialogue between agitating Gujjars and the Rajasthan Government receded on Wednesday as the two sides remained deadlock on the issue of release of women protesters arrested during the stir for ST status.
Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla said "we will not go to Jaipur for the second round of talks till the jailed women are released".
70-year-old Bainsla told PTI on phone from Karwadi, the epicentre of the agitation in Bharatpur district, that "the government has gone back on its word with regard to release of the arrested protesters".
A senior Rajasthan Government officer, who was in touch with the Gujjar leadership, said Bainsla "is adamant and is not ready for talks till his demands are met".
Besides release of the women arrested for damaging a rail track in stir-hit Dausa district, Bainsla demanded release of the men taken into custody in the wake of the the agitation and restoration of electricity and water and jammed telecommunication network in the agitation affected areas.
Officials in the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's office had said last night that Bainsla, spearheading the protests, had conveyed his readiness to hold the talks in Jaipur after the two sides had held preliminary parleys in Bayana on Monday.
This followed mediatory efforts between the state government and the Gujjars by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar after Bainsla set pre-conditions which had cast uncertainty on the dialogue process.
Meanwhile, the bail appplications of 24 arrested Gujjar women were rejected today by a court in Bandikui in Dausa district. One woman protester did not move for bail. All these women are currently in judicial custody.
On the course of the agitation, Bainsla, who is the chairman of the Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said the blockaded rails tracks would not be vacated till the Gujjars were granted Scheduled Tribe status.
When contacted, a Rajasthan Government spokesman said in Jaipur that there is "no breakthrough in holding of talks today".
Government's key interlocuor S N Thanvi, who is camping in troubled Bharatpur district, said earlier in the day that he had not succeeded in getting in touch with Bainsla to discuss the issue of resumption of the dialogue.
In Karwadi, Gujjar protesters pitched new tents as senior community leader and Vice Chairman of the Samiti, Capt (retd) Hari Prasad vowed to continue the stir till their demand for ST status was accepted.
About 25 tents were erected by the protesters and another tent pitched on the railway track passing through Karwadi-Pilupura area, reports reaching Bayana, about 12 kms from Karwadi area, said. In the last couple of days, many of tents pitched there had been dismantled.
The protesters continued to stage a sit in on the railway track as the agitation entered its 20 day.
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