Zeeews Bureau
New Delhi: Jat leaders are meeting in the national capital on Wednesday for a mahapanchyat where they are expected to decide their future course of action on their demand for reservation in government jobs.
The Jat community had recently protested in support of their demand, blocking road and rail routes in Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh last month. The agitation had badly affected the rail movement in the region.
The agitation was suspended following assurances that their demands will be looked into. The Supreme Court’s tough stance against the agitation, which was affecting the normal life, too had played part in ending the agitation.
However, the threat of a similar blockade is again looming large with Jat leaders yesterday saying they would restart their agitation after the mahapanchayat if their demands were not met.
“After the mahapanchayat, we will submit a memorandum of our demands to the Prime Minister. If the Central government fails to take notice of our demands this time, we will restart our agitation and it will intensify with every passing day,” said Narain Singh, chairman of the Jat Reservation Committee.
Singh said this time they would block traffic along highways and arterial roads. “The government has been keeping us in dark for quite some time now. They have not paid any heed to our genuine demand. We will not let it happen for long,” he added.
Jats in North India have been pressing for the inclusion of their community in the list of backward classes for jobs in the government.
The Supreme Court had last week directed the governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to ensure that free movement of goods and people to national capital is not disrupted in wake of fresh threats of agitation by Jats demanding quota in Central jobs."
“The right to protest cannot impede the fundamental rights of other citizens," a bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph said while expressing concern over the news reports of fresh threats of agitation by the Jats.
First Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 10:12