Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to Haryana state in northern India where protesters have been killed in riots.
Jats - a traditionally rural community of farmers - are demanding more government jobs and places in state-run universities.
They complain of discrimination because of India's caste system, not because they are from a lower caste but from a higher one.
The Jats say they are being shut out because of a quota system that gives more opportunities to Indians from lower castes.
Why are they demanding more opportunities? And what are the roots of the caste system?
Presenter: Mike Hanna
Guests:
Jaspal Singh - professor of political science at Indira Gandhi National Open University
Dipankar Gupta - sociologist and author of Interrogating Caste: Understanding Hierarchy and Difference in Indian Society
Diego Maiorano - specialist on poverty and inequality in India and Fellow at the University of Nottingham in the UK
