Jaipur: Prohibitory orders were issued and mobile Internet services suspended in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district following a violent protest by candidates of a teacher recruitment exam, police said on Friday. The candidates of the 2018 exam have been protesting for the past fortnight to press for their demand of filling 1,167 general category posts with Scheduled Tribes candidates, police said.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also met representatives of the protesters here on Friday night. The meeting was attended by state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara. Congress and Bharatiya Tribal Party MLAs from the Dungarpur area also attended the meeting.
On Saturday, talks will be held with a delegation of protesters in Udaipur. After the meeting, state minister Arjun Bamania appealed to the agitators to maintain peace.
Meanwhile, the traffic on the National Highway-8 in the Bichhiwada police station area of Dungarpur remained disrupted due to the protest. Protesters torched buses, District Collector Kana Ram told PTI. Udaipur Range IGP Vinita Thakur said the prohibitory orders were issued and mobile Internet services suspended after the violent protest. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot described as “unfortunate” the violent demonstration and urged the protesters to cooperate in maintaining law and order. On Thursday evening, protesters had laid siege to the highway in Rajasthan, pelted police with stones and torched vehicles. “Violence and violent demonstration in Dungarpur is very unfortunate. Constitutional right to protest should be used. There should be peaceful demonstrations but no one has the right to take law into their hands,” Gehlot tweeted. “My appeal to the protesters is to please cooperate in maintaining peace and law and order,” the chief minister wrote.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and state party president Govind Singh Dotasara too urged the protesters not take law into their own hands. “It is a request with folded hands to the youths that do not get agitated. Do not take the law into your hands,” Surjewala said here.
“The Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot can sit together and solve every issue,” he told reporters. State Congress chief Dotasara condemned the arson and vandalism in Dungarpur, saying a few people have been “misled”.
Dotasara tweeted, “The incident of mob arson and vandalism on Thursday on NH-8 under the guise of nuisance elements is condemnable. I urge you to come forward for talks. We are ready to listen to every lawful demand.” Meanwhile, Youth Congress President Ganesh Ghogra said the incident is a conspiracy to defame the government. Whatever has been done for uplift of tribals is done by the Congress, he said. He said the party believes in non-violence. It is ideology of the Congress to take along all communities, he said. A mob on Thursday had blocked the National Highway-8 in the Bichhiwara area of Dungarpur, around 500 km south of Jaipur.
The protesters pelted police with stones and torched several vehicles. Police resorted to a baton charge and fired tear gas to disperse the mob, according to officials. Two officials — an assistant superintendent of police and a station house officer — suffered minor injuries.
Four police vehicles were torched by the protesters. Additional police force has been deployed to control the situation.
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