Airing demands over poor representation in higher education and Government service, the Jat agitation on Thursday reached Delhi’s Jantar Mantar gathering around 3,500 protesters from around the country.
Threatening to cut supplies of essential commodities like water, a protester hailing from Jhajjar said, “We have been holding peaceful demonstration for the past so many days. If our demands are not, we will block all the roads leading to the National Capital, putting a stop to the inflow of essential commodities.”
Agitators from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had assembled for the massive protest.
The president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), Yashpal Malik on the Jat agitation said, “We will continue protesting till the end against the insensitivity showed to our demands by the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana.”
An active member of Jat Mahasabha, Raj Singh Deshwal said that under Mandal Commission report, the Jat community fulfills all the criteria that fall for OBC reservation. “The Jat community’s struggle for reservation needs a serious consideration from the Government. Ours is a brave community who are vocal about their needs and demands. The disparities of reservation of a specific group need to be removed,” added Deshwal to The Pioneer.
In comparison to last year’s violent stir in Haryana, the National Capital on the contrary witnessed a peaceful and responsible protest. On that, speaking to The Pioneer, Raj Singh Deshwal added, “What we want is to convey our message to the Government and to take the quota reservation of Jat community seriously by the Centre. We believe in non-violence but the presence of some non-Jat people in the Haryana Jat stir that we are tagged and smacked of being violent.”
Thanking the police officials for their support, Cashier of All India Jat Mahasabha, Mahindra Singh Rana told The Pioneer, “The protesters received huge support from police officials today. We are not here to blow up any giant vehicles to show our anger. We don’t believe in anger and if it comes to show our anger then there are other ways to portray to our enemies.”
“In the making of this nation, Jats have played a huge role and it hurts a lot when their contribution is not appreciated,” said a senior member of Jat community.
The displayed play cards read, ‘Hum anyai sehan nahi karenge, apna haq lekr rahenge, Jat com kare pukar band karo yeh atyachaar’.
The further course of action will take place on March 20. Among the protesters some senior folk from Rohtak, echoed, “Wait for 20th March! We will be here with our entire troops to fetch a quake in the Capital.”
The protesters also submitted a memorandum on the quota issue to the President and Prime Minister.
Impeding any replication of 2016 agitation, around 250 paramilitary forces and police officials were deployed to keep a vigil eye against any ill-happenings in the agitation.