Army deployed; shoot-at-sight orders issued.
By Sreekanth A Nair
Three people have been killed and dozens others injured when police opened fire at violent Jat protesters in Haryana, who have been demanding Other Backward Community (OBC) reservation for the community, which will enable them to get a quota in government jobs and educational institutions.
The Hindustan Times reported three people have been killed, without giving details on two death. One person was killed near the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, after police returned fire on a mob.
Mobs, which fanned out in several parts of the state, attacked also the residence of Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu. They damaged a car parked outside the house.
Army personnel have been deployed in different parts, including Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hissar districts and curfew has been imposed in Rohtak and Bhiwani cities. Shoot-at-sight orders have also been issued in the violence-affected areas.
The community is demanding legislation ensuring OBC reservation to the community and the leaders refused to withdraw their protest until the law is passed.
The protesters on Friday accused the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of playing politics in the name of caste. They alleged that the chief minister was not willing to give reservation to Jats because he was not from the community. They said even the ruling BJP is in favor of reservation.
Though the Haryana government has agreed to provide reservation to the community under Special Backward Category and increases the limit from 10 percent to 20 percent, the leaders are not ready for a compromise.
“We are not going to withdraw our agitation till our demand is met. We will intensify our agitation in other parts of the state, including Panchkula and Yamunanagar,” All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti’s national president, Yashapal Malik, said.
“We want BJP government in Haryana to bring a legislation in the upcoming budget session to include Jats in OBC category. They should bring a law in the Assembly with regard to Jat reservation and get it passed,” he added.
The government had appealed to the agitators to maintain peace and convened an all-party meeting to put an end to the issue but the law and order situation in agitation affected parts deteriorated following the meeting as the agitators turned violent on Friday.
“I appeal to everyone to maintain peace and harmony in Haryana and also open roads which have been blocked due to agitation,” Chief Minister Khattar appealed to the agitators.
Principal Secretary (Home) A.K. Singh and ADGP of Haryana Police B.S. Sandhu have been sent to Rohtak to co-ordinate the activities of police and army.
“The government has asked the Army to be called in eight districts. The request has been sent (by the government). The Chief Secretary has spoken to the Army chief. The Chief Minister has spoken to Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar). The effort is to deploy the Army as soon as possible to control the situation,” Director General of Police, Y.P. Singhal said.
He said that a mob in Rohtak attacked army personnel and that incident compelled them to fire at them.
“One person from mob fired on BSF personnel with a country-made weapon. The BSF fired in self-defense and one person was killed. The mob is not allowing the injured BSF jawan to be shifted to hospital. We are trying to rescue him,” he said.
Two other police officers were also attacked and they are held captive in a nearby mall. Protesters also targeted the office of Rohtak range IG and damaged some vehicles of Haryana Roadways.
“A leader-less mob is moving through Rohtak town. They came near the Circuit House and damaged the vehicle of the DIG, two police Gypsys and set on fire a police Tavera vehicle,” the DGP said.
The protestors took it to Delhi-Hissar National Highway and damaged some police vehicles parked there.
Internet and SMS services have been suspended in the area to avoid the spread of communally sensitive messages, targeting Sikhs. On Thursday Jat and non-Jat communities had clashed in Rohtak.
Road traffic to Uttar Pradesh has been affected badly as the protestors blocked many roads in Panipat.
Normal life has been severely affected in different parts of Haryana due to the agitation. Supply of commodities like milk, vegetables, LPG and petroleum has been affected.
More than 600 trains were suspended due to the agitation causing $29 million loss to the railways. Several bus services of Haryana State Transport department were also suspended.
Jat is one of the prominent communities in the northern part of India. In Haryana the Jats account for more than 25 percent of the total population.