The caste system of India orders individuals according to social class—and sometimes moving down on the ladder is more beneficial than moving up. For the nomadic shepherds (the Gujjar), being classified lower on the list by the government means additional benefits, yet the government is stalling on classifying this group of people as a lower-caste group, causing riots to break out in Rajasthan. As a result, tourists in the city of Jaipur and Agra are trapped because of blocked roads as part of the protests. Access to the city is also being curbed, as protesters have sabotaged the railroad tracks.
The Gujjar-led protests began a year ago and resulted in the deaths of 20 individuals during the first round of demonstrations. In the past 48 hours an addition 20 individuals have been killed as police have fired into protesting crowds. The protests reveal serious political issues; the refusal of the government to address the caste system and the inability of the government to devise a system in which groups do not strive to be of the lower-caste, but to improve their status. While the world swears that India's economy is booming, no one can overlook the reality that a vast portion of the population is not benefitting from the generation of wealth. Not everyone in India is dancing in Bollywood.
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