Jats threaten to resume stir, set March 17 deadline

Weeks after their stir for quotas in jobs and education plunged Haryana into a welter of violence leaving 30 dead, Jat leaders have threatened to resume their agitation if the state’s BJP government does not meet their demands by March 17. The influential Jat community leaders are demanding 10 per cent quotas, 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.

“On March 17, we will decide on the next mode of action on whether to block roads, railway tracks or any other type of agitation,” All India Jat Mahasabha chief Yashpal Malik said on Tuesday.

The state government must bring a Bill in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly to ensure reservation for Jats, he said. Jat leaders from across the state have decided that community members will hit the streets again if the state government does not act, he said, adding that dharnas this time would also cover the rural areas.