With the Jat reservation agitation entering its 10th day in the State, Haryana Government has called Jat leaders and representatives of khap panchayats for talks on June 17.
So far, the talks between BJP led Haryana Government and Jat leaders have remained inconclusive as the agitators continue to press for their demands. The Jat protesters are demanding quota under OBC category, withdrawal of cases registered against community members during the previous stir, status of martyrs for those killed and jobs for their next of kin, besides compensation for the injured.
The State has remained peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported during the ten days Jat agitation.
The activists of All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti and other Jat organisations have been staging dharnas at various places, mostly in Rohtak, Sonepat, Jind and Hisar districts, in support of their demands. Some khaps of Jind district have also supported the demands of the Jat organisations.
Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Tuesday appealed to the Jat leaders to sort out the issue through mutual dialogue.
Talking to the mediapersons, the Chief Minister said that the State is facing financial loss due to the agitation. This issue could be sorted out through mutual dialogue, he said.
He said that administrative officers have started dialogue with the agitators and it is appreciable that they are prepared for talks. Earlier, a meeting with their leaders was fixed for June 15, but now it would be held on June 17 on a request made by them, said the Chief Minister.
Manohar lal said that with regard to reservation, an Act was enacted. Though the issue is in the High Court, efforts are being made to get the stay vacated, said he adding that the State Government is vigorously defending the case in the Court. Even the Government has offered the organisations involved in the agitation that if they intended to hire their lawyer for pleading the case in the Court, the State Government is ready to pay the fee, he added.
After the February’s Jat agitation, which had paralysed normal life in Haryana and affected Delhi and other neighbouring states too, the State Government had brought in a law to provide reservation for Jats and five other communities under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category. However, the High Court had stayed it, acting on a public interest litigation, after which some Jat groups announced the fresh stir.
Haryana had seen the worst violence in its five decades of existence in February during the Jat agitation for reservation. As many as 30 persons were killed, 320 others injured and property worth crores was destroyed during the agitation.
This time, a special round-the-clock control room has been set up in Chandigarh to monitor the situation.
Besides heavy deployment of State police, paramilitary personnel drawn from CRPF, ITBP and BSF have been mobilised in sensitive districts of the state.
A close vigil is being maintained across the state, including on national highways and railway tracks which the protesters had blocked for several days during the previous phase of Jat quota agitation in February.
No incident of violence, road or rail blockade has been reported from anywhere in the state so far.