20.2.16

Jat quota stir turns violent


The Army was called out in eight districts of Haryana on Friday as the ongoing agitation for job reservation for Jats under the OBC category turned violent, leaving one person dead and 15 others injured. Jat leaders rejected chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar's assurance after an all-party meeting that the government would introduce a legislation for quota for the community in the coming assembly session. Haryana DGP Y P Singhal said the army would patrol the streets of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat, Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar and Kaithal. Indefinite curfew has been imposed and shoot-at-sight orders issued in Rohtak and Bhiwani. More army personnel are being sent to Rohtak, the epicentre of the protests, where violent mobs vandalized and set afire houses owned by family of finance minister Captain Abhimanyu Singh, himself a Jat. Internet services on mobile phones have been blocked in areas affected by the Jat agitation, including Rohtak and Hisar. Despite state government accepting all the demands of Jats, mobs refused to relent, taking control of key highways and railway tracks connecting Haryana with Delhi.
Khattar's announcement about a legislation for Jat quota in the coming assembly session did not impress Jat leaders who insisted they would continue the agitation until an emergency session of the assembly was called and the new law was passed.

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