Centre Gives In After Jats Cripple Haryana, Ripples Felt in Delhi

Haryana government agrees to reservation for Jats; matter to be discussed in next Assembly session.

Protesters set shops on fire as the Jat agitation demanding reservation intensifies in Sonipat on Saturday. (Photo: PTI)

The Jat community will get reservation in government jobs and a draft legislation will be brought in the next session of the Haryana Assembly in this regard, a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Sunday.

Also Read: Central Government Caves in to Jat Protestors’ Demand

BJP leader Anil Jain, who is in charge of the party affairs in Haryana, made the announcement after a meeting of central ministers. The meeting was attended by party leaders, leaders of the Jat community, khaps and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi.

Haryana Crippled

At least 10 people have been killed and 150 injured in violence linked to the pro-quota agitation by the Jat community in Haryana the states Director General of Police YP Singhal said on Sunday. DGP Singhal told media persons that the violence in the worst-affected districts of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar had been contained since Saturday night.

Singhal said the top priority of the security forces and the government was to restore water supply to Delhi. He said paramilitary forces and irrigation department officials reached the area where the water supply to the national capital was disrupted by protestors on Saturday to restore the supply.

The DGP refuted reports that there was lack of coordination between the army deployed in the state and the state authorities.

There is complete coordination between the army and Haryana Police The army is deployed to assist the civil administration. We are trying to secure the cities. We have initiated night-dominance by security forces.

<b>YP Singhal, DGP, Haryana Police</b>

The protests have disrupted normal life in Haryana’s Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Sonipat and Hisar district.

Ripples Felt at National Capital

The Jat quota stir reached Delhi on Sunday as agitating community members held demonstrations at various places, leading to severe disruption of traffic on several arterial roads.

Trains and buses running between Delhi and other places have been cancelled. All major highways passing through Haryana have been blocked by protestors at several places.

Police said the situation was being brought under control even as demonstrations were held at several places, including Nangloi, Madhuban Chowk, Narela, Najafgarh.

Several companies of Delhi Police have been deployed in Najafgarh and adjoining areas and we are trying to bring the situation under control.

<b>RA Sanjeev, DCP, Delhi Police</b>

Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, requested to save water till the water crises due ‘Jat quota stir’ in Haryana is resolved. He also said the schools will remain closed on Monday.

Government Shunts Rohtak Top Cop

The Haryana government on Sunday ordered the transfer of Rohtak’s Inspector General of Police Sirikant Jadhav, whose area of responsibility encompasses Rohtak, Sonipat, Panipat and Jhajjar, the districts worst-hit by violence in the ongoing Jat agitation.

He has been posted as Inspector General, State Crime Record Bureau, Madhuban with immediate effect, a spokesman said.

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Home, PK Das said that 10 people have lost their lives in violence in the state so far.

As a part of the strategy to control the ongoing agitation in the state, the government is studying the footprints of those indulged in spreading hatred on social websites and those found guilty would invite stern action. The government could consider blocking such websites.

<b>PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Haryana</b>

Das said that the loss caused to the property in the agitation would be assessed after the agitation gets over and curfew is lifted in affected areas.

Jat Reservations: Back Story

Jats constitute 30 percent of the population in Haryana. Of the 90 constituencies in the Haryana assembly, almost one-third are occupied by Jats. Nine of the twelve Chief Ministers in the state’s 50-year existence have been Jats. And yet, this politically influential community that was rejected not once, but twice by the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), is on the warpath for reservation.

On 28 November 1997 the NCBC submitted a report after studying several requests from individuals, organizations and associations for the inclusion of Jats in the list of backward classes for the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Again, the Jats in Haryana did not make the cut.

The NCBC recommended the inclusion in the Central list only of the Jats of Rajasthan, barring the Bharatpur and Dhaulapur districts.

As a non-Jat chief minister of the first BJP government in the state, ML Khattar is facing his first real test. He has urged the people of Haryana to maintain peace in the state.

Also Read:
Sorry, Jats of Haryana. You’re Just Not Backward Enough.
Ten Killed and 150 Left Injured in Jat Quota Protest in Haryana
“We Are Saviours, Not Destroyers,” Sehwag Appeals to Jat Agitators