New Delhi: A handful of Gurjar people from the five crore plus population in India are people who are heads of industries and policy makers
Gurjar agitators who are holding Rajasthan for ransom are not the only faces of the Gurjar community.
There are some industrialists among the Gurjar clan who are torn between supporting their community and being associated with the Gujjar agitation.
The 40-year-old industrialist Rajinder Singh Nagar head of 1000 crore plus Paras Industries knows he's privileged. The son of an illiterate farmer from a small village near Bulandshehr, who started this empire with just 60 litres of milk in 1963 is today the owner of the largest private dairy in India.
"There aren’t too many educated people in my community. My father was illiterate and he insisted that I get educated. Today I am proud of where I stand. I am also ensuring that my children, even the girls get educated,” says Managing Director, Paras, Rajinder Singh Nagar.
As a Gurjar, Nagar says he is proud of what he has achieved. In his swank South Delhi office, he is careful about his stand on the Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan.
While he supports his clan, his dairy does business with the Meenas as well. Talking about the reservations, he holds up his example of a self made man.
Another Gurjar, Raj Pal Singh is no fence sitter when it comes to supporting his people.
A deputy director at FICCI he juggles his time between sitting at dharnas in UP and coming to work. A graduate from the prestigious Sri Ram College of Commerce and the Delhi School of Economics, Raj Pal says it is people like him who have to fuel the agitation.
“There are just 2-3 per cent people like me. So, I should stand by their side and support them. I don’t support the violence but sitting in dharnas and doing all this is the only way out. Even Kolkata was shut down for one day because of the fuel hike. So every one does it,” says Deputy Director, FICCI, Raj Pal Singh.
Both these men say they are rarities in their community, having been able to carve a niche for themselves.
Taunts and slurs about being Gurjars have been a way of life - more so, now. Caught between loyalty towards the Gurjar movement and taking a stand against the violence, it is often difficult to find a compromise. Although for a long time, their caste didn’t matter to them but of late, it does.
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