Jats to hold peaceful protest in Gurgaon on Jan 29

As the Jat community prepares for a proposed agitation on January 29, the community leaders in Gurgaon announced that they will hold a peaceful protest at Atul Kataria Chowk.

As the Jat community prepares for a proposed agitation on January 29, the community leaders in Gurgaon announced that they will hold a peaceful protest at Atul Kataria Chowk.

Major intersection in Gurgaon were blocked during the protest in February. (HT File)

The one-day protest is scheduled to start at 10am on Sunday. The leaders said they will submit a memorandum to the government authorities seeking withdrawal of police cases filed against agitators in last year’s protest, government jobs for kin of those killed during the protest and fulfilment of reservation promised by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

In February 2016, the Jat community had conducted a state-wide protest demanding reservation in jobs and education. The protest had turned violent in some parts of the state.

“Aside from submitting the memorandum with the listed demands, the community will also seek monetary compensation for the families of protesters who died during last year’s agitation on a personal basis with government officials. The government needs to accede to these demands at the earliest,” RS Dahiya, general secretatry, Jat Sangharsh Samiti, said.

Dahiya said the government also needs to fund and appoint skilled lawyers for the judicial process of challenging the Punjab and Haryana High court’s decision to stay the reservation for Jats and five other castes under the Backward Class category.

The order will have to be extensively reviewed as Section 144 that prohibits the assembly of four or more people in public places has already been imposed in the city on January 29.

Anticipating the possibility of a stir, the Gurgaon police had conducted a mock drill on January 22. It has already cancelled leaves of all police personnel (barring emergency exceptions). Apart from police, all-women Rapid Action Force and Quick Response Team were also summoned for the drill.

Unlike the rest of the state, in 2016, Gurgaon only witnessed protesters blocking major intersections and roads in the outskirts of the city and the protests remained largely violence-free.