The Gujjar agitation has effectively held the NCR region to ransom on May 29th. After agonising for days i have decided to stir the hornet's nest. Feel free to condem, criricise, support, an opinion of any shade and size is welcome.

1. Gujjar community already has benefit of reservations under the Other Backward Class category reserving 27% of the seats
2. They feel slighted because Jats were recently granted the OBC status and have cornered most of the 27% reserved seats.
3. Gujjar's neighbors Meenas of Rajasthan have reservation benefits under the Schedule Tribe category. Though a paltry 7.5% seats are reserved for this category, there is very little competition for it, in fact most of the seats go empty. The result has been that there are villages in Rajasthan where every house boasts of a Class I officer.
4. Gujjars were promised a part of the ST pie by the BJP at the time of last elections.
5. Fulfilling such a promise by moving a community into ST after such a long time and with little or no 'tribal' features would be constitutionally as well as politically tough. There will be ample no of communities demanding a simialr status. The cetnre already is grappling with many such issues of its own and if ST status is granted to Gujjars such demands will multiply.
6. Same agitation took place last year as well, but was contained by the reaction of the Meenas. Meenas has become a powerful lobby after years of reservations both at the central as well as state level. Gujjar villages were thereateningly surrounded by Meenas wherever they were in majority and the Gujjar agitation was called off.

Now:
1. I do not know why Meenas are silent this time?
2. The level of organization of Gujjars is ominous. It signals to communtities that your strength would be measured by your organization and the amount of disruption you can cause.

Is this what India's democracy will come to? Will it be ransomed to the rowdiest?? Are we slipping from 'civilised' ways?? What will be the end of this casteist spiral?? Will merit disappear from our elite institutions??

PS: an incident that I witnessed: One of the Meena civil services aspirant boatsed to a general category student : So you had 135 marks in one paper in GS (135/300) Cool I got a call with 110 in both papers
gen category: You got 220/600??
Meena guy: Nopes 110/600, you see we have reservations. I think I would get 200/600 this time and should get at least IFS this time.