Jat unrest postponed till Friday afternoon; PM Narendra Modi warns Haryana govt

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Chandigarh: The Haryana government on Thursday invited leaders belonging to Jat community for talks on quota demand on Friday afternoon. Till then, Jats will not resume their agitation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to ensure law and order in the state and warned that there should be no repeat of incidents which took place during the previous round of violence.

"We have been invited by the government for talks tomorrow at Chandigarh," All India Jat Aarakshan Sanghursh Samiti President Yashpal Malik said.

"Our leaders will be meeting Haryana Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) tomorrow afternoon as per the government invitation," he said.

"Till then we will not resume our agitation," he said, adding that "after meeting the top officials of Haryana next course of action will be taken."

Various Jat organisations had on Monday threatened to resume their quota agitation, which rocked the state last month and claimed 30 lives, from Friday, if the Manohar Lal Khattar government does not meet their demand by today.

Malik demanded that state government must bring a Bill in the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session to ensure reservation for Jats.

He added that the Samiti will organise meetings on March 19 and 20 throughout the state and after that, meeting of units of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi will be held at Nangloi in Delhi on March 21 to discuss about their demands.

Earlier, a state-level meeting of representatives of the Samiti was held in Hissar Jat Dharamshala under the chairmanship of Malik.

Meanwhile, paramilitary forces and police were out in the sensitive districts and carrying out Flag Marches in various places as the 72-hour deadline given by various Jat organisations to the BJP-led Haryana government was coming to an end tonight.

The Centre has sent 80 companies (about 800 personnel) of paramilitary forces to the state which are being deployed in sensitive areas like Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, which were the worst-affected during the first phase of the agitation last month.

The security forces personnel are also conducting Flag Marches to instill confidence among the public in view of large-scale arson and violence witnessed last month.

"We have already got the paramilitary force. The police is on the alert and we are making all arrangements (to maintain law and order)," IGP, Rohtak Range, Sanjay Kumar said today.

He said additional police forces had also been arranged from within the state for deployment in the sensitive areas in and around Rohtak.

"We have made adequate police security arrangements. We have adequate force and we are deploying it accordingly," he said.

Asked about the situation in Rohtak, Jhajjar and some other areas worst hit by recent unrest, the IG said, "at present the situation is normal."

Jats are demanding 10 percent quota in jobs and educational institutions, besides withdrawal of FIRs registered against the protesters, compensation to those killed during the stir and action against BJP MP from Kurukshetra Raj Kumar Saini for his anti-Jat reservation stand.

After pro-quota Jat stir led to large scale property damage, besides killing of 30 people, the BJP government last month buckled under the pressure and had announced that it would bring a Bill in the upcoming Budget Session to provide reservation to Jat community along with other four castes - Jat Sikhs, Tyagis, Bishnois and Rors.

With state machinery including police administration completely paralysed during the violent Jat agitation last month, arsonists and mob had gone berserk and looted shops, commercial establishments, schools etc and later burnt them down.

Rohtak was the epicenter of violence that also engulfed several other districts like Jhajjar, Jind, Sonipat, and Kaithal.

(With PTI inputs)