Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday came in open support of a raging Jat agitation in Haryana saying that the community certainly required to be given the reservation benefits. Mayawati also condemned the incidents of firing and atrocities by the police against the protesting jats in Haryana.
In a statement issued on Sunday Mayawati said that the Jats should be given the quota with the OBC. She said that both, Congress as well the ruling BJP, have been taking the Jats for a ride for too long by making false promises. Condemning the police firing on the protesters, BSP chief said that the Jat community would no more like to live with fake promises and instead want to see things happening at the ground.
However, she maintained that the community should resort to peaceful but prolonged protest to ensure that the demands are met. Supporting the agitation by the jats Mayawati said `` their demand for reservation is fully justified and they had been fighting for this for long. Jats were compelled to launch the agitation as they were earlier misled by the Congress and now by the BJP state government on the issue of reservation’’. She said jats must be included in the lists of the OBCs.
Jats in UP had launched a similar agitation in UP in March 2011 demanding their inclusion of the OBCs list of the central government. The then chief minister Mayawati, despite the advisory from the Center had refused to act against the Jats. For over a fortnight jats had laid siege at the Amroha railway station thus blocking the train traffic between lucknow and Delhi. Despite the provocation and damage to the public property caused by the protestors, Mayawati government remained soft on the community and refused to take coercive action to end the blockade. The jats had lifted the siege on the railway tracks only after the directives of the Allahabad high court. The agitation was finally called off only after the meeting of the Jat leaders with the then Union home minister PC Chidambaram.
Meanwhile the spillover effect of the agitation by jats was also seen in western UP districts as normal life was disrupted in several districts of Meerut division on Sunday due to road blockade by Jats demanding reservation.
Following the call given by the Jat Action Community of the western UP, protest demonstration were held in Baghpat, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Saharanpur districts on Sunday. Normal traffic was disrupted on NH – 58 linking Delhi with Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar and haridwar in Uttarakhand. The Jats blocked the traffic on the highway demanding reservation for the community. Prominent Jat leaders of the RlD and the BKU led the agitation.
“Our voices will be heard in Haryana. We are heading to Haryana via Ghaziabad in an effort to make our demands heard by the prime minister”, Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the BKU. The SSP Bagpat RS Chavi said that the situation was under control. “A flag march was conducted on Saturday evening and the protesters have agreed to vacate the national highway after our assurances. The traffic is slowly returning to normalcy”, said the SSP.
The protesting jats also gheroed the house of union minster of state Sanjeev Balyaan in Muzaffarnagar on late Saturdayevening. The Union minister said
"I have spoken to the Jat leaders and assured them of all possible assistance from the central government”, SSP Muzaffarnagar KB Singh said the situation is normal after a `symbolic disturbance’ for couple of hours on Sunday.
SSP Ghaziabad DC Dubey said `` Jat protestors had assembled at the NH – 58 for around two hours but they were pacified and the blockade was lifted by 2pm. Afterwards their leaders left for Ghaziabad and the road blockade was lifted in Ghaziabad also’’.