The “massive” deployment of Army during the Jat quota stir in Harayna was enough to ward off a small-scale attack by an invading army, the Prakash Singh Committee, which has indicted several top state police and civil officials for failing to control the riots that left 30 people dead, has said.
“The deployment of army in Haryana was on a massive scale. A maximum of 74 Columns (slightly over 5100 men) were deployed. This would roughly work out to about 12 battalions. It is a formidable strength, enough to ward off a small-scale attack in a particular sector by an invading army,” the report said.
The Committee, headed by Prakash Singh, a former UP police and BSF chief, had harsh words for the state’s BJP government. It said the Manohar Lal Khattar government would never look back “with any sense of pride on these developments” and that the administration had “withered” away.
“It is extremely unfortunate that Army had to be deployed on such a large scale to deal with internal disturbances...,” it said. Noting that the presence of the Army did not make an impact, the panel said there “have been disturbing whispers” that the rioters were not particularly scared of the Army.
“The Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the state had no hesitation in saying that ‘the agitators were not daunted by the presence of the Army,” the report said, adding that it was “not a happy situation and should cause us concern.”
Plea in SC against HC order staying quota for Jats
A Haryana-based body of Jat community on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, challenging an interim order of the Punjab and Haryana high court, staying the recent provisions granting quota to Jats and five other castes under the newly-carved Backward Classes (C) category. The plea has been filed by Hawa Singh Sangwan, a former commandant of CRPF and President of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti.