The district collectors have been empowered to take immediate action against those indulging in damaging national property including railways, airports, buses, and public property or staging violence, Home Secretary V.S. Singh said.
The National Security Act (NSA) of 1980 permits detention of persons considered security risks. Police may detain suspects under NSA provisions. Under these provisions the authorities may detain a suspect without charge or trial as long as one year on security grounds.
Expressing deep regret, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has announced Rs. 5 lakh as relief for the family of those killed in firing. "The injured would be provided suitable and necessary assistance," she added.
The Rajasthan Government has also announced a solatium of Rs.10 lakh each to the kin of two policemen who were killed in the mob violence.
Official talks between the leaders of the Gujjar community and the state government have remained inconclusive so far.
Meanwhile, the opposition political parties in the state, the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have condemned the police action in Rajasthan even as Dausa MP Sachin Pilot has demanded the dismissal of the Vasundhara Raje Government. The CPI(M) has also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incidents.
The Congress has charged the state government with having "miserably failed to maintain law and order," leading to the tragic loss of lives. The government should have anticipated the situation and taken effective steps to prevent the loss of lives, it said in a statement.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Prakash said the BJP leadership, both at the Centre and the State, were responsible for the current imbroglio. "The Gujjars never sought the ST status, but the BJP made an election promise," he said.
"The failure of the government to deal with the matter politically has led to the violence and the needless deaths in police firing," the CPI(M) said in statement.
The statement added that the BJP government headed by Vasundhara Raje has become notorious for its heavy–handed police repression on popular movements. "The kisan movement faced brutal repression and six people were killed. The BJP leadership, which hypocritically tried to exploit the Nandigram incident, should take strong action against its state government," it said.
Meanwhile, the tourism industry has seen a sharp decline in tourist arrivals in the state. Hotels and tour operators have claimed that several tourist bookings have been cancelled while many tourists who are here are finding it difficult to leave Jaipur.
The occupancy of the hotels has gone down by over 50 percent in the city.
Jaipur is part of the "golden triangle" circuit comprising New Delhi–Agra–Jaipur, and almost 60 percent of international tourists visiting India make it to these three places.
And with the Jaipur–Agra highway blocked by Gujjar protestors for the last one week, this sector has been hit the most.
The rate of growth of tourism in Rajasthan has been phenomenal in recent years. The annual growth rate for domestic tourists has been seven percent and for international tourists five percent.
Nation
Gujjar protest turns violent, PM appeals for peace in Rajasthan
By: Jacob Chatterjee
Monday, 4 June 2007, 12:01 (IST)
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