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Bharat Bandh fails to evoke much response in Punjab, Haryana
The day-long Bharat Bandh called by some Dalit and Adivasi groups against the Supreme Court’s verdict on sub-classification of Scheduled Castes failed to evoke much response in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday, even though protests were held at some places.
The day-long Bharat Bandh called by some Dalit and Adivasi groups against the Supreme Court’s verdict on sub-classification of Scheduled Castes failed to evoke much response in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday, even though protests were held at some places.
While essential services had been kept out of the bandh’s ambit, public transport as well as shops and other commercial establishments functioned normally.
Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in the two states to maintain law and order, police said.
Markets and business establishments were open as usual in Punjab’s Phagwara. However, some educational institutions were closed by their management as a precautionary measure.
Shops and other commercial establishments as well as schools functioned normally in Ludhiana too.
The call of Bharat Bandh given by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had no impact in Jalandhar even as the BSP workers staged protests at three different locations.
All the commercial establishments, schools and other institutions remained open throughout the day as the local police had tightened security at sensitive areas in Jalandhar district, having Dalit-dominant population. BSP workers gathered at Jalandhar- Pathankot chowk, Buta Mandi and Rama Mandi and staged peaceful protests.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in parts of Jalandhar thwarted the protesters to gather in number. Several other Dalit organisations backed the SC decision and condemned the BSP to make unnecessary hue and cry over the apex court decisions.
There was no impact of bandh in other parts of the Doaba region, including Kapurthala and Nawanshahr.
In Rohtak, Dalit activists on Wednesday protested against the Supreme court’s quota within quota verdict at various places in Haryana. The protesters held peaceful demonstrations and later they submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioners concerned addressed to the President. Schools, colleges, shops and business establishments remained open.
The SC/ST Aarakshan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti coordinator, RK Ranga said that they have opposed Supreme Court’s ruling to exclude the creamy layer from the SC/ST quota.
In Karnal, the protesters along with the activists of the Bheem Army held a protest at Valmiki Chowk and later submitted a memorandum at the deputy commissioner’s office in sector 12.
The protesters also took out a march near Old Cloth Market in Ambala City as well as in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and other districts of the region.
No untoward incident happened in the region and protests continued peacefully in the presence of heavy police forces.
The August 1 Supreme Court order held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within SCs, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward among them.
