Semblance of sanity returns to Haryana

The BJP announced setting up of a committee under a Central minister to examine the quota demand for the community.

There were, however, sporadic incidents of violence with stone-pelting mobs attacking security personnel trying to clear a road blockade triggering a clash in which three civilians were killed raising the death toll to 19 in the nine-day old stir.

Besides the clash in Sonipat which also left nine people injured, fresh incidents of arson and violence erupted in several districts including Rohtak, Kaithal and Hissar.

After remaining on the edge for several days, a semblance of sanity returned to some cities and officials expected the situation to improve considerably in other affected areas too. “There was no major incident in the last 24 hours in Rohtak and last night was peaceful,” a senior Rohtak Police official said.

The day was however not without it’s fair share of political histrionics as former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was stopped at Bahadurgarh from proceeding to Rohtak, the worst affected district. The Haryana Government will also get the audio clip of Prof Varinder Singh, former political advisor to the then CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda examined as he is alleged to have tried to flare up the agitation in the State. This was stated by Haryana Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma while replying to the questions of media persons after attending a meeting of the state cabinet in Chandigarh. The meeting was presided over by CM Manohar Lal Khattar.

Back in Delhi, a massive water emergency was averted as Army and paramilitary personnel on Monday took control of a key canal in Haryana’s Sonipat, an important source of Delhi’s water supply, after evicting Jat protesters. Around 600 CRPF personnel and two columns of Army took over the canal at around 4 am and started repair work to ensure uninterrupted water supply to Delhi. The action came after the Jat protesters disrupted water supply to Delhi, leading to water crisis in some parts of the national Capital.

Blockades from some national and state highways including Saharanpur-Ambala at Yamunanagar, Paonta Sahib-Yamunanagar, Ambala-Kaithal, Saharanpur-Pipli-Kurukshetra, Zirakpur-Parwanoo and Ladwa-Shahbad were lifted late Sunday evening. 

Traffic, however, was yet to be fully restored on various national and state highways while train services were not restored till Monday evening as railways had announced cancellation of trains till 

Tuesday evening. 

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways announced full refund of ticket charges for the passengers affected by the cancellation of trains due to the Jat quota agitation. A railway spokesman on Monday said there would be no deduction or cancellation charges and full refund would be granted.

Passengers who had made reservation online will automatically get their refund in full while for paper tickets refund could be collected from passenger reservation Centres. The Railway, in view of the closure of the Delhi-Ambala-Chandigarh main line for the past few days, will run a special train from Chandigarh to Delhi. 

Yielding to pressure from agitating Jats, BJP on Sunday evening announced setting up of a five—member committee under a senior Central minister to examine the quota demand for the community in government jobs.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that a committee headed by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has been formed to look into the demand for reservation in central government jobs for Jats. The decision was taken at a meeting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had on Sunday with leaders of some Jat khap panchayats.