Jats say quota demands not met; threaten fresh stir

Accusing the Manohar Lal Khattar government of not fulfilling their demands for reservation, Jat outfits in Haryana have threatened to launch a fresh agitation in 19 districts of the state that witnessed massive protests over the issue last year.

Police has braced up for the protests and also conducted a mock drill for this purpose on Sunday, Gurgaon Police public relations officer Manish Sehgal said.

The agitation is planned to begin from next week with the Jat leaders claiming support of people from as many as 250 villages in Haryana and Delhi.

The leaders have blamed Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for not fulfilling their quota demands for which they launched a massive stir last year.

“We have been holding panchayats from the last 11 months in many villages on individual level to achieve the eventual goal of getting Other Backward Class status,” Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik said.

He said the community is prepared to face any challenge to seek reservation, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana of having cheated them last time.

“The BJP government in Haryana and Centre cheated us last time and assured us by giving fake promises to end our protest. They also targeted youths in fake cases for damaging private and government properties,” Malik charged.

He further claimed that the Jats in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, Baraut and Baghpat districts have decided not to vote for BJP in the state assembly polls next month.

In view if the threat of protests by the community leaders, the police have stepped up efforts to avoid any untoward incident and damage to public property as in the last agitation.

“I have directed every districts top police officials to prepare to deal with any kind of situation and make sure that road and rail routes would not get blocked. Keeping law and order intact in the state is our prime objective and we will deploy adequate police force in vulnerable districts to deal with eventualities,” Haryana Police Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Mohammad Akil said.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar has also directed senior police officers to be prepared for the Jat agitation.

The agitation is planned in 19 districts which by and large have a rural background.

These include Rohtak, Sonipat, Bhiwani, Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Panipat, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal and Fatehabad.

Last year’s agitation had largely affected Delhi as the protesters cut down water supply to the national capital and caused massive damage to public property in Haryana.