English
Jhajjar (Haryana), Feb 24: The violent reservation row in Haryana is taking a casteist turn as most of the protesters have targeted the non-Jat population to express their anger. At least seven people have been killed in the ongoing agitation in the Jat-dominated region of Jhajjar. According Jhajjar civic hospital records, 4 among the dead belong to other castes – 2 Sainis, 1 Kumhar and 1 Halwai. The three communities belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. The castes of other three victims have not been ascertained yet. Their corpse remain unclaimed.
The non-Jat castes are the worst affected in the law and order breakdown in Haryana. On Sunday, six shops on Chhawani road in Jhajjar were gutted out. All these shops belonged to members of the OBC community. However, the only one-Jat owned shop in the line, Sri Om Hooda Electricals was left untouched by the protesters. (ALSO READ: Jat reservation stir: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar heckled in Rohtak, showed black flag, ‘murdabad’ slogans raised)
Similar scenes were evident at the Haryana Book Depot in Jhajjar on Saturday, where eye-witnesses reveal that the agitators ascertained the caste of shop-owners before setting the shops on fire. Nearly 13 shops belonging to Sainis and Punjabis were set ablaze.
According to Jhajjar SP Sumit Kumar, the Jat violence is now turning into a riot as other OBC communities have launched their onslaught. “At least communities have launched retaliation. Thave have vandalized the Chhotu Ram dharamshala of the Jat community,” he was quoted as saying by a leading English daily.
Among the four non-Jats who were killed by the protesters in Chhawani Mohalla include – Shyamlal Singh (Saini), Krishan Saini, Om Prakash (Kumhar) and Dinesh Pandit (Halwai). The most dreadful murder was of Shyamlal who was dragged out of his house and hacked to death in front of his family members.
The Jat reservation protest has entered into its 12th day. Curfew has partially been lifted from Rohtak. Jhajjar and Sonepat, the regions worst affected by the protest. The protest was initiated to pressurize the state government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to live up to its poll planks and grant 10 per cent reservation separately to the Jats in educational institutions and jobs.
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