Jat activists suspended their three-week long protest on Saturday, after Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda assured them that a backward classes commission would be formed to look into their demand of reservations in central services.
The Jat Aarakshan Sanghrash Samiti held a closed-door meeting at Mayyar in Haryana where the caste leaders discussed the assurances given by Hooda to the action committee, before calling off the agitation.
Yashpal Malik, president of All India Jat Arakshan Sangharash Samiti (AIJASS) who served juice to those who were on hunger strike said, “If the government does not fulfill our demands within the stipulated period, the agitation will be re-launched.”
He also informed that the agitators had abandoned the railway tracks in most places by afternoon.
Hooda assured them that within a month the state government will set up a State Backward Classes Commission. The Commission will consider the claims of Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and any other caste seeking inclusion into the OBC in Haryana.
Meanwhile, Jats from eight states are getting ready to congregate at Kafurpur in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday to participate in a mahapanchayat that will determine the future course of action.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Jats from eight states are getting ready to congregate at Kafurpur in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday to participate in a mahapanchayat that will determine the future course of action.
{{/usCountry}}“We have decided to suspend the agitation on the assurance of chief minister Hooda and hope that the central government too will respect the outcome of the two rounds of bilateral talks that took place in Delhi on March 15 and 19”, said Malik.
In Lucknow, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) national president, Ajit Singh alleged that the Jat agitation in western Uttar Pradesh was inspired and sponsored by the Mayawati government. He said his party supported the Jats’ demand for reservation in Central government jobs, but did not approve of the method they had adopted to get their demand accepted.
The Jat agitation had paralysed rail traffic in many parts of north India for the past several days.