Proud to take a bullet for cause

The hole in his left thigh left by a police bullet 48 hours ago doesn’t perturb him at all. “Andolan mein hi aaya tha” (I had come for the agitation for reservation), smiles Chen Singh Gujjar.

The hole in his left thigh left by a police bullet 48 hours ago doesn’t perturb him at all. “Andolan mein hi aaya tha” (I had come for the agitation for reservation), smiles Chen Singh Gujjar.

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He was one of the Gujjar protesters who blocked the railway tracks at Piloo Ka Pura village near Bayana. His neighbour in the poly trauma ward of SMS Hospital, Rakesh of Mariyada village, suffers a similar wound. He is angry. “Sikandra mein tha... ghayal ko utha rahe the... tab… goli maari” (I was in Sikandra and was shot by police when we were helping the other firing victims), he fumes.

Chen Singh who left studies after Class XI to help the family, works at a shop in Jaipur. “Do chhote bhai hain, woh padh rahe hain... aage waali peedhi ko to milega...” (My two younger brothers are studying. At least they will get the benefit of getting ST quota), he says.

Most of the injured Gujjars say they did it for the coming generations. But will they get it? Answer of another firing victim Jayram, 38, hints at the ruthlessness with which Gujjars are pursuing their cause. “Manne ke pato!” (How do I know?), he says.