Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is set to convene an all-party meet on Friday after Jat agitation for quota in Rohtak turned violent in which 15 persons were injured.
Mobile internet services have been blocked by Rohtak administration in Rohtak and Jhajjar after clashes between the protesters and police personnel in Rohtak.Rohtak is the native place of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the parliamentary constituency represented by his son,Deepinder.
“Section 144 has been imposed with immediate effect from Thursday in Rohtak,” Additional Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri said.
Noting that the protesters have been asked to clear the blockades and disperse, he said, “We have warned them first and are hoping they will comply.”
On Thursday, police and the paramilitary troops staged a flag-march to get the town roads cleared from protesters who blocked these in support of their reservation demand.
Traders and advocates clashed outside the court premises at Rohtak during the protest,in which several vehicles were also damaged. Advocates of the district court were protesting against non-inclusion of Jat community in the OBC category outside the court premises from where traders of the city were passing in a procession to submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, police said.
Police and paramilitary forces resorted to lathi-charge and teargas shells to control the situation on Thursday, during which unidentified persons torched some motorcycles and pelted stones. Prohibitory orders were clamped in Rohtak, banning assembly of five or more persons.
The state cabinet appealed to the agitating Jats to call off their agitation in the larger interest of the state.
The administration and the police were fully alert to meet any eventuality and the government has kept all its options open to deal with the situation, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar told reporters after the Cabinet meet.
Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala demanded a special session of the Haryana Assembly to discuss the issues related to Jat reservation.
Normal life was badly hit in the state as the Jat agitation for quotas on Thursday spread to more parts of Haryana after talks between community leaders and the government failed to break the deadlock.
The agitation spread to Kaithal, Karnal, Jind and other districts, disrupting road and rail traffic as protestors blocked various highways and railway lines.
While college and university students had on Wednesday joined the protest at Rohtak, on Thursday students from various places, including Hisar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal also joined them.
Jats are demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions under OBC category.
While rail and road traffic has been worst hit in the Rohtak-Jhajjar region, the epicentre of the protests, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Hisar have also been adversely hit by the agitation.
The protesters, who last evening rejected Khattar’s offer to enhance quota for economically backward classes to include Jats, blocked roads in many places in Panipat which also affected movement of vehicles towards Uttar Pradesh.
Due to the blockades set up by the agitators, Haryana Roadways suspended its bus services on many affected routes. The Rohtak administration imposed prohibitory orders in the entire district banning assembly of five or more persons.
As the protests continued, supply of milk, vegetables, fruits and other items on the national highway connecting Rohtak with other parts of the state and NCR was also affected.
A day after holding talks with the chief minister, All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti’s national president, Yashapal Malik told ,”We reject the offer, it is not technically viable. It is illegal and cannot be implemented.” “We (Jats) cannot be fooled once again, we have been fighting for our right for several years now. The agitation has further spread to Kaithal, Faridabad, Karnal, Palwal on Thursday and by Friday, it will cover entire Haryana,” Malik said.
Jat and Khap leaders had held a four-hour long meeting with Khattar and some of his ministers here on Wednesday during which the chief minister had announced enhancement of the reservation quota under EBC and the annual income ceiling from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.