People of the Jat community carry a tree trunk to block a road in Hisar during their agitation for reservation. “We have spoken with senior police officers, who say Jhajjar is now under the Army’s control”.
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“In a way, there is an atmosphere of anarchy (in Haryana)”. “I appeal to the people especially the youth to stop the protests”.
Four people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters, said Federal Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.
“They have told us that they would be forming a committee by tomorrow which would review the reservation demand”, he added.
Sources said BJP chief Amit Shah has been tasked to speak to influential Jat leaders and win them over.
All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti Yash Pal Malik has blamed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for the situation in the State.
While the Jat stir has severely hit the movement of more than 1000 trains, air fares from Chandigarh and Amritsar, both cut off from the national capital by road and rail, have skyrocketed. The State continued to remain on the boil and the situation worsened during the day as more protesters headed towards towns.
The simmering Jat agitation in Haryana turned violent on Saturday and assumed bigger proportions with curfew being clamped in six out of the eight sensitive districts and entering into parts of Uttar Pradesh and Jat-dominated villages on the outskirts of Delhi. Earlier today, curfew was imposed in Sonipat and Gohana towns of Sonipat district. Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar were already under curfew.
The country’s largest vehicle maker Maruti Suzuki India has suspended operations at its two plants in Gurgaon and Manesar as component supplies have been hit by the agitation. In addition, 10 companies of paramilitary forces have reached the State and 23 more are on the way.
State’s DGP and Home Secretary were also regularly in touch with the Centre on the prevailing situation.
The passenger said that she can not even take a bus to Delhi as the agitating Jats have blocked the highway at several places.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in New Delhi.
Party vice president Rahul Gandhi appealed to the people to maintain peace and resolve the issue through talks.
All liquor vends in Bhiwani have been asked by the district administration to shut shop till further orders.
A Haryana government spokesman said that 154 first information reports have been registered and rowdy persons are being identified and stern action would be taken against them.
In Rohtak district, the center of the protests, a mob defied the security clampdown and set fire to a police station, a petrol pump, a community hall and shops, police said.
As violence and arson spread to several parts of Haryana state, the Centre sent additional 1,700 paramilitary personnel to Haryana, taking the total number of central armed police deployed in the trouble state to 5,000.
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He said that the central government is providing a helicopter for monitoring measures to control the agitation and also spray tear gas to disperse mobs, especially at blockades. Clashes between Jats and members of other communities resulted in 10 people sustaining injuries in Kaithal and Hisar districts.
