Delhi heaves a sigh of relief as the agitation stands called off; police, however, say they will not take chances as board examinations are on
Even though the Jat community, up in arms demanding caste-based reservation, called off their march to the national capital scheduled for Monday, the law enforcement agencies are not taking a chance.
The Delhi police on Sunday said all security arrangements will be in place and no agitator will be allowed inside the city. This is in view of the board examinations. "Barring entry in Lutyens' Delhi which was earlier restricted, the entire security arrangements will be in place," said Dependra Pathak, a senior IPS officer.
On Sunday, a truce was reached after a meeting between the leaders of the Jat community and the Haryana government. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) chairperson Yashpal Malik, along with other Jat leaders, met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and two Union Ministers Birender Singh and PP Chaudhary, both from the same community. After a four-hour meeting, the Jat leaders decided to call off their agitation wherein they had threatened to ghearo the Parliament.
Once the meeting concluded, Malik said, "Now we are not coming to Delhi. We have called off our agitation and march towards Delhi. The state government has agreed to our demands." He also stated that the community has called off its dharna from most of the places in the state, barring few where it will continue to hold symbolic protests.
Khattar, in a joint press conference along with Malik, said, "Centre and state will soon begin the process of granting reservation, following the Delhi High court order. We appeal to people in the state to cooperate in maintaining peace and harmony." Khattar appealed for peace following incidents of violence that were reported in various parts of Haryana in the wake of protests on Monday.
Earlier in the day at Haryana's Fatehabad, a deputy superintendent of police and three other policemen were injured when Jat protesters clashed with police during their march towards Delhi .The clash took place in Dhani Gopal village on Sirsa-Hisar Delhi National Highway, when police tried to stop tractor trolleys carrying protesters from heading towards the national capital. They said stones were also pelted by protesters as they clashed with the policemen. DSP rank officer Gurdial Singh and three constables were injured. Police also said two of its buses were damaged while some electronic media equipment was snatched while they were covering the event, allegedly by protesters.
Interestingly, besides quotas, Jats have also been demanding the release of people jailed during the 2016 agitation, withdrawal of cases slapped during the protests, and government jobs for kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the stir.
Khattar added that they will review all the cases registered against community members during the 2016 protest.
In view of the planned march on Monday, prohibitory orders had been clamped in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan to stop Jat protesters from entering Delhi. About 24,700 paramilitary personnel had been mobilised.
After the Jat community announced they would call off the agitation, Pathak, posted with Delhi Police, said, "They have called off the agitation but we will not take any chance. The security arrangements at bordering areas will be in place. Only movement in Central Delhi, which was restricted, will be allowed. We will be fully prepared to avoid any untoward incident."
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