Banswara police foil tribal outfit’s plans to block NH 56

Udaipur/Jaipur: Plans for a sit-in programme on NH 56 called by Adivasi Aarakshan Manch (AAM), a new outfit, demanding reservation for tribals in proportion to the population in Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) areas, was on Friday foiled by Banswara police.
Acting on a tip-off, Banswara police arrested the coordinator of the protest programme, Kamal Kant Katara, late on Thursday evening and took him to an undisclosed location.
A contingent of 8,000 police personnel from the administrative divisions of Udaipur and Banswara began a clampdown on the protestors on their way to the protest site since Thursday evening. There was heavy police cover throughout the route, and all buses and minibuses plying on NH-56, connecting Chittorgarh to Dahod-Surat via Banswara, were checked. Many protestors travelling in these vehicles in the guise of passengers were prevented from blocking the highway.
Since the movement of tribals from the bordering states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to the proposed protest site on NH-56 was traced, the IGs of Udaipur and Banswara divisions also sounded an alert to the police headquarters of the two states.
Police in Rajasthan have been on their toes for the past week after several tribal bodies assembled under AAM announced on August 20 their plans for an indefinite sit-in.
“Following his (Kamal Kant Katara) arrest, other leaders associated with the agitation have gone underground. They remain untraceable. They, however, continued to call for protests through their social media accounts but failed to mobilise a crowd. During the day, over 173 people were restricted by police,” said Banswara SP Abhijeet Singh.
Ever since calls were made for a blockade of NH 56, police reached out to sarpanches and gram panchayat members of the tribal-dominated villages and appealed them to persuade their co-villagers not to participate in any illegal activity.
Considering the gravity of the situation, DM Prakash Sharma imposed Section 144 in the district to avert any untoward incident. “Section 144 will continue till next orders are issued. The situation is under control,” said Sharma.
AAM demands 70% to 100% reservation for the tribals, depending on their proportion in the population, in recruitments and promotions in jobs. “The tribe has the first right in TSP areas. The present reservation scheme of 45% for tribals and 55% for others is injustice to the indigenous people. We are fighting for our rights in an independent country. It will continue till victory is ours,” said Katara two days ago in Banswara.
Police cover continues on the highway and in the tehsils of Banswara to avert any untoward incident, said officials.