CHANDIGARH: The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) president Yashpal Mullick has announced the decision to gherao Parliament after talks between top Jat leaders and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Friday, failed to take place.
"The representatives of different districts, specially Firozabad, Agra, Hathras, Aligarh, Bharatpur and Dhaulpur have been asked to reach Parliament house in Delhi with at least 50 tractors," AIJASS national general secretary Chaudhary Veer Pal Singh said.
The agitation may be intensified in the form blockade of rail tracks, roads, gas pipeline, or ‘gherao’ of refinery, Singh said.
Meanwhile, Mullick accused the Haryana government of conspiring against the Jats in an attempt to weaken their agitation.
“We were hopeful of reaching an amicable settlement after the meeting with Haryana cabinet minister Ram Bilas Sharma on Thursday and we had to meet Chief Minister Khattar at the Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday. However, the meeting with CM was cancelled and this has left us with no alternative but to continue the agitation,” Mullick said.
The Jats are still ready for talks with the government, however, only with competent government authorities who can take a decision on the issue, he added.
Meanwhile, Khattar said he could not meet the leaders due to his busy schedule. “I am always prepared to negotiate with an open mind to resolve the issue and they (Jat leaders) can hold a dialogue with me at any place,” the Haryana CM said.
So far, the committee of officers under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary has held two meetings with the Jat leader Yashpal Mullick and others. The first meeting was held on Thursday, at Panipat which ended on a positive note, after which, it was decided that the agitation may be called off. However, the Jat leaders pulled back on Friday, Khattar said.
The CM claimed that the Committee and Jat leaders had agreed upon various points at the meeting-- one of which was the inclusion of Jat reservation in the ninth Schedule of the Constitution—after the announcement of verdict on the issue by both the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Haryana government will re-investigate all the issues concerning Jat reservation. The dependents of those who died in last year’s agitation would be given permanent employment within 60 days, the CM said.
Samiti's major demands
Inclusion of Jats under OBC by enacting a law in Haryana, withdrawal of cases against Jat and others who participated in the earlier agitation, reinstating the idols of revered leaders of Jat community in Rohtak and booking officers responsible for the murder of Shaheeds of Jat youths during agitation.