Jats to protest at Haryana govt functions

Jat community members in Haryana have planned to hold peaceful protests at public functions attended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his ministers for not implementing quota in government jobs and education and not withdrawing cases filed in connection with the 2016 quota stir.

In June this year, the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS) had announced that it would be holding dharnas from August 16.

The members of AIJASS claimed that Khattar himself had assured them of withdrawing all the cases registered against the community leaders except for 45 cases.

However, they said, the state government later went back on its promise.

After the deadline lapsed, the community members have now decided to hold protests at public functions of the chief minister and Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu in nine districts -- Sonepat, Rohtak, Hisar, Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Dadri, Bhiwani and Jhajjar, said AIJASS president Yashpal Malik.

The protests will later be extended to six other districts, he said.

Accusing the BJP-led Haryana government of betraying the community, Malik said, "We gave them enough time, we have been holding peaceful protests and dharnas for several months. However, they have failed to meet our demands, which the government itself has already accepted in previous rounds of talks. We are left with no other option now. As our fresh deadline has expired, we will be holding protests now."