An old, wrinkled man, wearing a bright yellow turban set the tempo for Sunday afternoon’s Brahmin reservation rally in Alwar. Pulled out from a crowd of around 30,000, the turbaned man blew into his conch and announced the arrival of the militant Brahmin.At the third reservation rally of 2003, the demand for 15 per cent reservation for the 60 lakh-odd Brahmins in Rajasthan grew louder. Sage Parshuram’s axe was picked up and waved in the air as the Brahmins threatened bloodshed if they didn’t get their rights.Rajesh Kumari spent Sunday afternoon basking in the sun in Alwar’s Company Bagh grounds, listening to all the fiery speeches. ‘‘Everyone is talking about it (reservation) and I was curious,’’ she said, adding that the entire afternoon was an eye-opener. ‘‘I had no clue we Brahmins were being discriminated against so much.’’Precisely why the 30-odd speakers raved and ranted about Parushuram and Chanakya, highlighted the unfair treatment meted out against Brahmins in Kalyug and threatened mayhem if they didn’t get reservation.‘‘Brahmins in Rajasthan have nothing, no jobs, no land and no means of survival. We are not doing well economically and demand 15 per cent reservation on that basis,’’ said Shyam Sundar Vashisht, one of the men leading the reservation rallies in the state.Former state deputy chief minister Hari Shankar Bhawra added: ‘‘It is odd that our children don’t get jobs even after scoring over 90 per cent. We are not demanding this for just ourselves but for all those who are economically weak.’’Vashsisht and Bhawra were the moderate voices of the afternoon. BJP MLA Rohitas Sharma made a more fiery speech. ‘‘Our temples have been taken over by mafia. We used to impart education but now there are others doing that. It is time to organise ourselves as a vote bank and get our dues.’’Sharing the platform were both BJP and Congress leaders, for once speaking in the same voice. After all it is an election year. ‘‘Everyone realises that if we go the whole hog this year we have a chance,’’ said Bhanwar Lal Sharma, president of the Rajasthan Brahmin Mahasabha. ‘‘We are sure we will get it, this being an election year. All political parties need votes and we have a voice.’’Student leader Parvender Sharma roared: ‘‘There are 200 MLAs in the Assembly and they will be made to realise that the Brahmin vote matters. All those against our demands will lose.’’ The catchline at the end of the rally was ‘‘be like the Jats and take reservation with brute force’’.This is the season of reservation rallies. The Brahmins, Rajputs, Gujjars and everybody, except the Jats, is demanding reservation. ‘‘The Jats started it when they wrangled reservation from the BJP four years back. Before that no one wanted anything but when the Jats got it everyone got alarmed,’’ said Giriraj Singh Lotwada, president of the Rajput Mahasabha.
