Jat fire burns down 20 buses, police post in Bhiwani district
ARSON
Hotel, showroom torched in Hansi, many injured in caste violence in Hisar
JAT PROTESTERS AND NON-JATS CLASH IN TWO VILLAGES OF HISAR DISTRICT; CURFEW IMPOSED IN BARWALA, KAITHAL TOWNS
From page 1 The Jats protesting in Bhiwani district on Sunday burnt down 20-odd Haryana Roadways buses at Tosham and a police post at Mudhal village. In Hansi subdivision of Hisar, they set fire to Hotel Bhaiji and a nearby Reebok showroom before the army fired in the air to disperse them.
HT PHOTOArmy personnel conducting a flag march through Fatehabad town on Sunday.The protesters tried to reach Sainipura village, about 9 kilometres from Hansi, where a few youths had been injured in a clash with non-Jats. There, too, the ar my marched in and controlled the situation. Police spokesperson Harish Bharadwaj said identification of the protesters was on. On Saturday night, similar violence broke out at Balsamand village of Hisar district.
It started after some non-Jats were not allowed to drive their motorcycle through the Jat blockade. The riders called members of their community, one of whom shot at a youth with a country-made pistol. The injured was taken to a nearby house, where villagers treated him. The administration and the police moved into the village. Adampur station house officer (SHO) Devender Nain said: “No one has reported the shooting incident yet, though we have inputs that it happened.”
NON-JATS HIT BACK
At Hansi’s Jaggawara village on Sunday, farmer Ramniwas Saini (50), a cousin of former minister Attar Singh Saini, received a bullet in the left arm after 150-odd youths raided his field. He was moved to Jindal Hospital. Provoked by the attack, several youths of Hisar’s Saniyan Mohalla marched to the town’s Jat Dharamshala (inn) and pelted it with stones before police got in and the mob had to flee.
At Tosham, SHO Ravinder Kumar, who confir med the arson at the bus stand, said police had sought extra force to deal with the situation. Superintendent of police (SP) Pratiksha Godara said: “We have been making appeals for peace since Day One of the protest. Bhiwani is under curfew. We are bringing more areas under it and indentifying those behind the Mudhal incident.”
In Sirsa, Jats demanding reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in gover nment jobs blocked National Highway-10 to Fatehabad and the link roads to various villages. The protesters also blocked traffic near Panniwala Mota, Mahosinghana, and other Jat-dominated villages in the Nathusari Chopta area. Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jagdish Kajla led a force to the spot and tried to pacify them.
BARWALA, KAITHAL UNDER CURFEW
Barwala is the latest Hisar town to go under curfew, as deputy commissioner Chander Shakher Khare declared on Sunday. Hisar and Hansi in the district already are under 8pmto-6am curfew. Kaithal became ninth town to come under curfew.
BUSES OFF ROAD
The spreading Jat fire in Haryana has forced Haryana Roadways to suspend operations in all villages adjoining Sirsa for safety. Depot general manager Lekh Raj said: “The district was peaceful but now trouble has started here, too.”
Meanwhile, the army conducted a flag march in tense areas of the Sirsa district. Deputy Commissioner Sharandee p Kaur ordered closure of all government and private school, colleges and the CDLU university on Monday. Meanwhile Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gur meet Ram Rahim Singh said reservation must be given on the basis of financial condition and not on the basis of cast. He appealed people to maintain peace..
PEACE EFFORTS
The professors of Sirsa’s Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) organised a prayer for peace in Haryana. A press release about it was signed by Manoj Siwach, Ashok Bhatia, SK Gehlawat, Shaileder Hooda, Vijay Saini, Sandeep Kumar, Rohtash Kumar, Rajender, Surender, SK Vij, Anil, Mukesh, Sushil, Vikas, Manoj, Hareram and Bajrang.
The Haryana government has also formed a peace committee in every district. It will have representation of all communities and try to restore peace in their area by making appeals to people.
Policemen remained ‘reluctant’ as protesters went on rampage
OFT-PEDALLING BY STATE GOVERNMENT AND HEAVY CONCENTRATION OF JATS IN FORCE LED TO INACTION
CHANDIGARH: The role and performance of the Haryana Police in tackling the Jat quota agitation has left lot to be desired. The cops in the field had virtually packed up and were mute witness to the ongoing arson and violence. So much so that a number of police stations like the ones in Meham and Pillukhera in Jind were also damaged by the Jat protesters.
Realising that the situation was getting out of control, the Khattar government requisitioned army on Friday evening, having earlier sought companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre. In fact, Union cabinet secretary PK Sinha reportedly told Haryana DGP Yashpal Singal during a video conferencing on Saturday to look sharp and try to regain the lost confidence.
WHY POLICE FAILED TO SWING INTO ACTION?
There are two apparent reasons for the police inaction. One the state government is learnt to have soft-pedalled the issue by asking cops to exercise utmost restraint as a charge on the protesters would spiral the situation into a major conflict, leading to loss of lives. An IPS officer, who is on the chopping block for allegedly not acting when the marauding protesters were on a rampage, is learnt to have told his colleagues that he was asked to desist from using force on them.
Secondly, the Haryana police has a sizeable number of Jats as middle-rung cops as well as in the ranks. This led to reluctance in the ranks to act against their own community. Sources said that in Gannaur of Sonepat district, a posse of cops refused to lathicharge a group of protesters, disobeying orders of the civil administration.
‘RELUCTANCE MAY BE, BUT NO INACTION’
Responding to a question as to whether Jat personnel in the police force were abetting violence or showing reluctance to act against miscreants, additional chief secretary, home, Pranab Kishore Das said such apprehensions were in the notice of the state government.
“But a stern message has been conveyed to the police personnel – both higher and in the ranks- that reluctance to act or assisting abettors will invite in strict punitive action,’’ he said. Das admitted that there could have been instances where cops showed hesitation in moving out in the field from police lines, but as of now every cop is in the field and deployed.
Director general of police Yashpal Singal, however, said that it would be incorrect to say that the police did not act. “The police conducted lathicharge at many places as well as fired tear gas shells. In fact, so many tear gas shells were fired in Rohtak town that we ran out of stock,’’ he said.
‘CHEESED OFF COMMUNITY’
Talking to HT, a former DGPrank officer said that during the last two decades, Jats had been major beneficiaries in the police recruitments. “Most of the station house officers (SHOs) are Jats. A large number of nongazetted officials– sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables are Jats,’’ he said. The retired IPS officer said that Jats having relished power for so long were now cheesed off due to the emergence of a non-Jat chief minister. “The quota issue is a mere façade. What they want is a Jat chief Minister so that they can have a free run,’’ he said.
Delhi-Chandigarh air tickets for ` 99,000
NEW DELHI: Air fares on the Chandigarh-Delhi route have shot through the roof with a one-way ticket for Monday selling for over ` 99,000.
The fares for a one- way, 45-minute, Chandigarh-Delhi flight is priced almost the double of a Delhi-London return flight that costs around ` 46,000. A Delhi-New York return ticket costs around ` 63,000.
A one-way ticket on travel portal makemytrip was being sold ` 99,128. Airline sources said flights out of Chandigarh were fully booked as people were desperate to get out of the city.
“These are the last few seats available and being sold for a premium,” said an airline official. Sources said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation was keeping tabs on the situation. “We have requested special permission for the DGCA to operate flights to Chandigarh on Sunday when the airport is closed and also requested for permission for additional flights in the late evening. We will also be flying the bigger Boeing 737 jets to Chandigarh to accommodate additional passengers,” said a SpiceJet spokesperson.
On the third day of the agitation, all he mail, express and passengers trains on the route of Ambala-Panipat and Delhi remained cancelled and all the buses of the Haryana roadways including the Volvo buses remained off road.
Jat agitation fire reaches Delhi, dries up taps
SPILLOVER Protests held at Nangloi, Madhuban Chowk, Narela and Najafgarh among other places, traffic diversions, several roads leading to Haryana blocked, reports of damage to public property
NEW DELHI: The ongoing Jat quota agitation in the neighbouring Haryana reached Delhi on Sunday with protests by community members in several city localities affecting traffic.
Members of the community, who are demanding reservation in government jobs, held protests at many places, including Nangloi, Madhuban Chowk, Narela and Najafgarh.
The protests led to diversion of traffic with several roads leading to neighbouring Haryana having been blocked by the protesters, a senior police officer said.
There also were reports of damage to public property by the protesters, who blocked major state border entry points, including Sindhu border, Nangloi-Bahadurgarh Road, Karnal road, Tikri, Jharoda and Madhuban Chowk in southwest and outer Delhi, creating major traffic snarls which affected many areas in the city.
“Several companies of Delhi Police have been deployed in Najafgarh and adjoining areas and we are trying to bring the situation under control,” said a police officer.
“All the major roads are severely affected with Madhuban Chowk having been blocked by the demonstrators. The situation is under control so far,” additional DCP (Outer) Pankaj Kumar Singh said.
Traffic police issued an advisory during the day saying that Delhi-Jaipur highway (NH-8) has been blocked near Dharuhera, district Rewari. However, later in the evening traffic police said that the Highway was open. The advisory also said that NH-I and NH-10 are not likely to be open for next 48 hours.
Jats in Haryana have been agitating for the past few days to press their demand for quotas in jobs and educational institutions.
The protests have disrupted normal life in several districts in Haryana, including Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Hisar.
With the canal and its water supply machinery, which has been damaged, not being in control of the authorities, Delhi’s water woes are likely to aggravate in the coming days.
Punjabis, Sainis face wrath of protesters
Protesters block the Chandigarh-Shimla highway in Panchkula. AFP
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 21
Members of Punjabi and Saini communities have largely been in the line of Jat agitators during the ongoing violence on reservation issue.No particular reasons can be assigned for the agitators’ wrath against Punjabis, but members of Saini community presumably invited Jats’ anger due to alleged irresponsible statements of BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini.Notably, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is a Punjabi and a section of Punjabis see this as a reason behind attack on their houses and business establishments.In Rohtak, members of Punjabi, Saini and some other non-Jat communities alleged that the youths agitating to press for the grant of reservation to Jats specifically targeted their showrooms, hotels/restaurants, schools, shops and other commercial establishments.They maintained barring a few exceptions, the establishments of the Jats located nearby were spared. However, some residents maintained while the Jat youths ransacked and burnt shops, a majority of loot was carried out by the youths of Balmiki and other non-Jat communities.Groups of youths belonging to Saini, Balmiki and Punjabi communities also held meetings and planned retaliation, as a result of which tension prevailed in the town today.In Jhajjar too, people of Punjabi and Saini communities are mainly being targeted by Jat protesters in the city as the business establishments torched by the protesters yesterday were being run by Punjabis and Sainis. Five out of six shops near main bus stand that were set ablaze belong to Punjabis.
Bhiwani MP’s house vandalised in Tosham
A commercial building gutted near the residence of ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Delhi Road in Rohtak on Sunday. Manoj Dhaka
Sat Singh
Tribune News Service
Bhiwani, February 21
A group of non-Jat supporters vandalised Bhiwani-Mahendragarh MP Dharambir Singh’s house in Tosham today and torched nearly 20 vehicles, including Haryana Roadways bus, parked in a bus depot.Despite the deployment of Army and a heavy police force, arsonists torched police posts at Achina, Kharak, Adampur Dhadi, Mundhal villages of the district on Saturday night.Groups of Jats and non-Jats seemed to have a free run on Saturday night after they set ablaze the Dadri railway station, an ambulance in the Community Health Centre, an ATM kiosk in Loharu town and streetlights.Army personnel who were on their way from Jaipur (Rajasthan) to reach Bhiwani were obstructed at Badhwana village and could not go beyond Charkhi Dadri.The presence of Army personnel assured people ofPeople heaved a sigh of relief after the Army were seen manned at main chowks in Bhiwani and Dadri town but Jat protesters continued to keep their blockade in district at every 5 km. To restore normalcy, several social organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), carried out a peace march here, urging people to maintain social harmony. Local mediapersons held a meeting and also took out a peace march.RSS leaders told the media they would move to villages and appeal to protesters to withdraw their agitation in the interest of society.RTI activist Capt Pawan Kumar Anchal blamed the state government for failing to control the agitation. He said people had been living under fear.Clash, arson in Hansi leave eight hurtHisar: Fresh violence occurred in Eight persons were injured in a clash between Jats and members of other communities in Hansi town today. A portion of a cooperative bank, several showrooms and vehicles were set ablaze in and around the town. Jats protesters from Sisay and other villages proceeded towards Sainipur and Hansi town. While another mob from Hansi also came in confrontation, both resorted to stone pelting. The Army and the police had to open fire in the air and lob teargas shells to disperse the mob.
Khaps appeal for calm
Two prominent khaps — Sheoran and Sangwan — on Sunday resolved to continue their peaceful agitation for reservation. They, however, criticised violent incidents in other parts of the state. Meetings were held in several villages for continuing with peaceful agitations.