Jat stir: 19 killed, 200 injured, agitation spreads to Rajasthan, Army secures Munak canal
22 February, New Delhi
Fresh violence erupted in Sonepat when a stone pelting mob went berserk and army opened fire while pro-Jat reservationists damaged and looted some shops of a mall in Kaithal in Haryana.The overall situation remained tense but under control barring a few stray cases of incidents Monay.
19 people have died and 200 others left injured in the reservation stir in Haryana where protestors resorted to arson, road and train blockades and caused huge loss to public property. The reservation movement today fanned to vicinal Rajasthan state where protestors resorted to violence and disrupted movement of trains and transport.
A report from trouble-torn Kaithal said the protesters marched from Karnal road blockade site to a mall and damaged and looted some shops. Army chased away the mob when it tried to set the mall afire.In Kaithal city, the district administration reimposed the curfew restrictions which it had withdrawn last night.Curfew was lifted in Hisar, Barwala and Hansi after the situation improved in these towns.The district administration relaxed curfew restrictions for an hour from 1100 hrs to 1200 hrs in Rohtak city today.
Notwithstanding patrolling by Army and police force, tension continued to prevail in Kaithal town and other parts of the district today.Despite police presence, some mischievous elements marched from Karnal road blockade site to Padma City Mall and damaged it.They allegedly looted some shops located in the mall premises.
The youths, despite imposition of ban orders, armed with lathis and sharp-edged weapons made an attempt to set the Mall on fire but the army and police reached the spot and chased away the mob.Earlier in the morning, people were perturbed to know that office of BJYM chief Sanjay Bhardwaj on Dhand road, number of shops, dhabas and hotels in the town and near by areas had been vandalised by some miscreants last night.A large number of residents, including BJP, RSS functionaries and others reached local rest house and met IG O P Singh, camping there.
They expressed their resentment over the deteriorating law and order situation despite curfew and ban orders. Police and Army units patrolling town roads, they said, were no consolation for them and they wanted some concrete action to curtail the activities of anti-social elements who had hijacked the system and had scant regard for laws.
Administration had failed miserably to control the situation ,the residents said.The IG assured them to act and apprise the senior officers and government about their sentiments.Delhities faced a water crisis in morning. By evening, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the Central Government and the Army for securing Munak canal for helping restore water supply to Delhi. In a tweet, he said, ”Thank u army, thank u centre for securing Munak canal back. Great relief for delhi.’
‘Earlier, the Haryana government told the Supreme Court that it was taking all steps to restore supplies from the Munak Canal and water would start flowing to Delhi by this evening.The court told the Delhi government that it should have first gone to the state government and the Centre for the water crisis faced by it in the wake of stoppage of supplies from the Munak Canal due to the ongoing ‘Jat’ agitation there.The agitation spread to parts of Rajasthan with the agitators torching a road ways bus on Bharatpur-Mathura road near Dhormui oil deport today.Besides, they also blocked the Bharatpur Agra NH 11.
The SHO Udyog Nagar said the bus had reached Bharatpur yesterday from Agra and since the road was blocked it was parked near the depot.He said the bus was not carrying any passengers but the fire fighters and police were not allowed to reach the spot leading to it being gutted in the blaze. Agitating Jats had blocked the Bharatpur-Agra NH 11 at Uchcha Nagla resulting in huge traffic jam on this truck route.
The agitation hit Bharapur district where the movement of trains was halted, after a large number of protestors gathered at the railway stations. Railway officials said the Agra-Bandikui 31908 was halted at Khedli after the protesting community swarmed Bharatpur railway station. Other trains on this route have also been diverted. The busy Delhi-Mumbai rail route is not functioning since Sunday evening, following the agitation. Similarly, the road transport was also badly affected in Bharatpur division.
Roadways buses were not plying on the Bharatpur-Nanwai route, fearing violence. According to reports from Alwar, the Jat agitation had its repercussions in the industrial belt of Bhiwadi, Neemrana, Chopnaki and Khush kheda industrial areas. Since the road and rail transportation has come to a halt, these industrial units were facing problems in the movement of goods and materials.
Bhiwadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) President Chaudhary Ram Narayan said about 1.5 lakh labourers are working in about 3,500 small and medium factories located here and if the agitation lasts for long, it will affect production in these units. He said already production has been reduced to 50 per cent due to the agitation.Over a dozen protesters were injured when Army opened fire on a stone-pelting mob in Sonepat. Agitators blocked NH-1 in Ladsoli village in the district. The mob set on fire seven vehicles, including that of Meham SDM.