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| Army deployed after India riots |
| The army has been deployed in India's Rajasthan state after 14 people were killed in violent clashes over the government's affirmative action plans.
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| INDIA
, 30-May-2007
1:55:51 AM |
| Police fired on protesters from the nomadic Gujjar tribe who had blocked a key highway near Delhi on Tuesday.
At least two of those killed are believed to be policemen.
The Gujjars are demanding that they be included in an affirmative action quota which would give them access to government jobs and other benefits.
Villagers of Peepalikheda, where some of the clashes took place, are still refusing to release bodies of six people who allegedly died in the firing, and demanding a meeting with government officials.
Soldiers have been deployed in the affected Dausa district and Bundi town to maintain order.
The police are stopping vehicles on the key national highway near Bharatpur, fearing fresh trouble on the route.
Influential
The BBC's Narayan Bareth in Rajasthan says that there have been reports of member of the Gujjar community blocking roads and shutting shops and businesses in parts of the state.
The state administration held an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the problem.
"Those who break the law will not be tolerated.. The Gujjar dominated protest in these areas is taking the shape of an organised movement," Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia told reporters.
Police said they opened fire after tens of thousands of Gujjar protesters turned violent on Tuesday. Protesters said police shot at unarmed crowds.
Protesters began their action on Monday night, blocking the highway which connects the city of Jaipur with the tourist destination of Agra where the Taj Mahal is located.
"The police first tried to negotiate with the protesters," HK Dahmor, chief of administration of Dausa district, told the AFP news agency.
"When the protesters did not budge, the police tried to physically move them from the spot which sparked the clashes."
A Gujjar community leader, Avinash Badana, told India's state-run Doordarshan channel that the police had fired on "unarmed people".
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