Class protests bring disruption to India

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Members of an Indian ethnic community burned effigies, squatted on railroad tracks and blocked highways Thursday in an attempt to bring part of the country to a halt in a protest over caste classification.

The Gujjar community -- part of India's centuries-old, complex social caste order -- are in their seventh straight day of demonstrations to demand a bigger share of government jobs and education benefits.

Several days of clashes between Gujjars and police have left at least 35 people dead.

On Thursday, more than 35,000 police officers fanned out across the capital city of New Delhi and surrounding areas to maintain peace during the 'bandh,' or shutdown.

By 1 p.m., major arteries joining Delhi to surrounding cities had reopened.

In the Gujjar's home state of Rajasthan -- where the protests began last week -- Thursday's shutdown appeared to have been only partially successful.

Some shopkeepers shuttered their stores and universities postponed exams. But many government buildings remained open. Watch report on caste protests »

Railway officials canceled 16 train routes, stranding thousands, said Northern Railway spokesman Rajesh Khare.

The Rajasthan government airdropped pamphlets asking demonstrators to refrain from violence. But protesters picked up the pink-colored pamphlets and made a bonfire of them, state news agency The Press Trust of India said.

The demonstration commemorates the anniversary of a similar Gujjar protest last year that claimed at least 25 lives.

India's constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country.

As a result, the Indian government has put in place an affirmative action plan that sets aside job and educational quotas for the disadvantaged groups that it classifies as Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

These communities, the government believes, needs extra assistance to overcome centuries of discrimination.

Gujjars -- a farming and trading tribe -- are classified by the government as an "unscheduled tribe." They are part of the caste system that does not face as much exclusion or discrimination.

But the community feels it has been economically and educationally left behind and it wants to be reclassified at a lower level -- as a scheduled tribe.

As a scheduled tribe, it can gain access to government jobs and benefits, as well as a shot at university seats allocated to the disadvantaged.

After last year's violent clashes, the ruling political party in Rajasthan -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- made a promise of downgrading the Gujjars.

With elections scheduled for later this year, the party is under pressure to placate the Gujjars.

It has said the onus of changing status falls on India's central government. The central government, in turn, said it has referred the issue to the Law Ministry.

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla has accused the two sides of "time buying tactics."

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