With near anarchy gripping Haryana, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday promised evening that Jats will get reservation in government jobs and a bill will be placed in the next session of the state assembly.
Authorities deployed thousands of troops to quell protests by members of the Jat community that have severely hit water supplies to Delhi, a metropolis of more than 20mn, forced factories to close and killed 10 people.
On the eighth day of violent protests by Jats, BJP leader Anil Jain, in charge of party affairs in Haryana, made the announcement in New Delhi after some central ministers and party and Jat leaders met Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
“It has been decided that in the coming assembly session, Jat reservation will be given in Haryana. In this regard, the government will bring a bill,” the BJP leader told reporters. “In case of the Centre, a high-power committee will be announced, headed by a senior union minister.”
At least 10 people have been killed and 150 injured in mindless violence linked to job reservation protests by the Jat community in Haryana, Director General of Police Y P Singhal said in Chandigarh.
Police and political leaders blamed “anti-social elements” for much of the anarchy that saw widespread attacks on private and government property, including vehicles, causing losses totalling hundreds of millions of rupees.
Nearly half of Haryana - which borders Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and surrounds Delhi from three sides - has been severely affected by the violence. In the process, life has been hit badly in a large swathe of northern India.
Thousands suffered as the Jat protest paralysed life in the entire state, blocking rail tracks and highways, cutting off a chunk of northern states from Delhi.
National Highway No1 connecting Delhi with Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir was blocked by Jats in Sonipat and Panipat districts. Thousands of vehicles and people were stranded along the highway.
Security forces yesterday opened fire and used tear gas to remove Jat demonstrators from Munak canal in Sonipat district to ensure resumption of water supply to Delhi. The situation was said to be tense.
The protests have caused an unprecedented water crisis in Delhi, where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal closed down all schools today and announced water rationing to all except a few VIPs and essential services.
Delhi, which gets almost all its water needs from Haryana, is expected to go without potable water supplied to homes today.
Haryana Home Secretary P K Dass said the situation was “much better” yesterday compared to Saturday. He said curfew was clamped on Kaithal town yesterday and army and paramilitary forces were rushed to Gohana and Kalanaur towns.
Jat leader Bhagat Singh Dalal, who attended the meeting with Rajnath Singh, said they were assured the community would get job quotas in Haryana and a high-powered committee would be formed by the central government to look into the reservation demand.
Regarding the mindless violence which has left 10 people dead and with losses to private and government property running into thousands of millions of rupees, Dalal said: “Jats never indulge in violence. The agitation has been taken over by anti-social elements. BJP MP from Kurukshetra Raj Kumar Saini also vitiated the atmosphere.”
Shops were again torched yesterday and protesters carrying weapons rampaged in the streets despite the extra troops, many of whom were airlifted into the state to try to quell the violence.
“A mob attacked the police post in Kalanaur town and set it on fire. Twenty shops adjacent to the post and a school were also gutted,” local police officer Hari Om said in Kalanaur.
The town is in Haryana’s Rohtak district, which is the epicentre of the violence.