Jat leaders to meet Chidambaram today

While the Jat community continues to disrupt rail services here demanding quotas in government jobs, President of the All India Jat Arakshan Samiti Yashpal Malik left for Delhi along with other Jat leaders today to hold talks with the central government over their demand.

While the Jat community continues to disrupt rail services here demanding quotas in government jobs, President of the All India Jat Arakshan Samiti (AIJAS) Yashpal Malik left for Delhi along with other Jat leaders on Saturday to hold talks with the central government over their demand.

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"A delegation of 15-20 Jat leaders will meet home minister P Chidambaram later in the day. Jats from Haryana will also be part of the delegation," Malik told reporters here before leaving for Delhi.

He has been leading protests along railway tracks in Amroha.

"We have made it clear that we will continue with our demonstrations till the central government takes adequate measures to comply with our demand. As of now, we will continue with our agitation in Amroha and will not target other places.

"However, if no steps are taken by the union government for giving reservation to Jats under OBC (Other Backward Classes) category in central services, we will intensify our agitation that would spread across the country and will not remain confined to Uttar Pradesh or Haryana," he said.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday issued stern directives to the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure restoration of rail services that were being disrupted due to the agitation by the Jat community.

Demanding their inclusion in the list of OBCs in government job quota, the Jat protesters have been blockading key rail routes in western Uttar Pradesh.

The agitation has severely affected train traffic on the Delhi-Lucknow route, where most trains are forced to take long detours, leading to hours-long delays.