Jats call off dharnas after 52 days in Haryana

Chandigarh: Two days after the Manohar Lal Khattar government accepted their demands, Jats on Tuesday called off their dharnas across Haryana.

All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) chairperson Yashpal Malik said "dharnas have been called off".

He, however, added that "if the government fails to implement its assurances, the Jats are prepared to re-launch the agitation within 24 hours".

"We will be prepared to hold demonstrations in Delhi in the future if the government fails to honour its promises made to Jats," he said.

The dharnas were called off after 52 days.

Malik, the leader of the Jat agitation, after a four-hour meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Delhi on March 19, had said the government had agreed to the demands of the community and therefore, the stir will end.

Union ministers Birender Singh and P P Chaudhary, both Jats, were also present during the deliberations.

Khattar, while describing the demands of reservation in education and jobs put forward by the Jats as "genuine", had assured them of "full justice".

He had also said that the Centre would soon initiate the process of providing reservation to Jats, while at the state-level, action will be taken as soon as the decision comes from the High Court, before which the matter is pending.

Regarding the other demands of the community, he had said the state government will "re-assess" the cases registered between 2010 and 2017 against the Jat protesters, the next of kin of those killed or maimed during those protests will be given permanent jobs and the role of officers will be probed, so that strict action could be initiated against the guilty.

Besides reservation, the Jats have been demanding the release of their community members who were jailed during last year's agitation, withdrawal of cases slapped on the protesters and government jobs for the kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the stir.