The breakthrough came after a high level meeting between the Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jat leaders, National Security Advisor, Army Chief and Delhi Police Commissioner.
Immediately after meeting with Union Home Minister, Jat Sangharsh Samiti leader Jaipal Singh Sangwan appealed for an end to the quota agitation in Haryana, saying the community’s demands have been met. Meanwhile, BJP’s state-in- charge for party affairs, Anil Jain also announced that a committee headed by a senior Union Minister would be set up to look into the demands of Jats. He also said that the Jat community would get reservation in jobs and a bill for granting OBC status to Jats would be brought in the next session of the Haryana assembly.
Haryana was on the edge on Sunday as fresh incidents of arson and violence shook the state with a ninth town being brought under curfew as the Jat agitation for quota under OBC entered the eighth day. The death toll soared to 12 and over 150 others have been injured so far, Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Home) P K Das said.
One death was reported in a firing incident from Akbarpur-Barota, near Munak canal in Sonipat, while another person died in a clash between two groups at Hansi, he told reporters.
The Jat agitation also hit Delhi with the Arvind Kejriwal government announcing closure of schools on Monday as part of water rationing after supplies from Haryana were disrupted. Responding to the steps for restoring water supply to Delhi, the Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal claimed that steps were being taken to restore water supply and clear road and rail blockades.
The road and rail traffic through Haryana and headed to neighbouring states, including Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Chandigarh remained disrupted with authorities cancelling bus and train services on most routes in the wake of the continuing blockade.
As the situation turned volatile, Union home minister Rajnath Singh appealed for calm. ‘I appeal to all to maintain peace and ensure that there are no untoward incidents,’ he said. The home minister met a delegation comprising minister of state for agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, BJP MP and former Mumbai Police commissioner Satyapal Singh and Haryana minister Abhimanyu to find a way to resolve the situation.
Making an appeal for peace, several sports and Bollywood celebrities like former cricketer Virender Sehwag, boxer Vijender Singh and actor Randeep Hooda requested Jat leaders to have a peaceful dialogue with the government.
Former Indian cricketer Sehwag on Sunday appealed to protestors to shun violence. ‘The country’s defence forces, the sports world and others have made the country proud. We use our energies towards the upliftment of Indian society,’ the Jat cricketer tweeted.
Meanwhile, ex Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda sat on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi making an appeal to the agitators to not resort to violence.
The protesters were adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and had earlier rejected CM Khattar’s announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes from 10 to 20 per cent.
Quota Tangle
- BJP on Sunday announced that a bill for giving OBC status to Jats will be brought in the coming Haryana assembly session
- A high-powered committee will be set up to examine the quota demand
- Jat Sangharsh Samiti’s Rajesh Dahiya said a decision on calling off the agitation would be taken
- As the protests spread wider, the agitating Jats blocked the Shimla highway near Panchkula. Delhi too, witnessed another blockade as protesters sat down on the Bahadurgarh road to Haryana
- The blockade of the National Highway 1, which connects Delhi with Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, continues
- Curfew continued in several towns and districts of Haryana including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Hisar and Hansi on Sunday. Prohibitory orders have also been imposed in Gurgaon near Delhi for two days
- With road and rail network remaining severely affected, airfares between Delhi and Chandigarh skyrocketed to Rs 55,000 in premier class
- At least 700 trains have been cancelled
- Delhi was reeling under a severe water crisis. As the Delhi government shut schools and colleges in view of the crisis, the Centre asked the Haryana government to ensure that Delhi's water supply is not affected