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“Will not hold any position in Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti”: former chief Yashpal Singh
Yashpal Singh, who was the face of the community’s 2016 quota agitation, turned emotional and said he has spent a crucial 15 years of his life in the state for the sake of the Jat community
A day after a few khap leaders, along with leaders of the Jat community, said that they would not allow former All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik to enter Jassia village here, he on Saturday visited the Chhotu Ram Memorial in the vicinity to address a gathering.
During his address, the Jat leader who was the face of the community’s 2016 quota agitation, turned emotional and said he has spent a crucial 15 years of his life in the state for the sake of the Jat community only to find himself at the receiving end of allegations levelled a handful of “goons with political backing”.
“Some of these goons accused me of embezzlement of funds collected by way of donations, which is false and baseless. We have decided to build a Chhotu Ram Memorial at Jassia village and collected donations. I was not a member of the community, which looks after financial matters,” he added.
Addressing the boycott, Malik said, “Some people announced my boycott and levelled baseless allegations against me. In future, I will not hold any position in the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, because a few goons have been tarnishing my image and they are harmful for the community. If the committee requires any guidance or help, I will surely guide them. Presently, I am not holding any position in the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti.”
Malik said some of these people do not even respect an elected legislator who resigned from his position to extend support to the community, alluding to Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Abhay Chautala — who had tendered his resignation during the farm stir only to later win the by-poll from Ellenabad.
Amid the boycott announcement, leaders including Meghalaya’s ex–governor Satya Pal Malik, Chautala and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Birender Singh all chose to give the foundation day celebrations at Chhotu Ram Memorial a miss.
Khap leaders, who did not wish to be named, said a few local leaders had invited the aforementioned trio, but their request was turned down.
“The local khap leaders want to be members of a trust, which looks after all financial matters of the Chhotu Ram Memorial that is being constructed in Jassia. Malik refused to induct these leaders into the committee of the trust by saying that he is also not a member of the committee,” two khap leaders told HT.
