Haryana burns as Jat protest turns
into unruly
violence
Rohtak/Chandigarh : Chaos
reigned in Haryana on Saturday, 20th February 2016 with escalated
violence in several areas as hooligans, who have joined ranks of Jat
protestors, ran amok, setting afiree government and private property and
vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks
and indulging in looting. About 5 people reportedly killed in violence and
several persons injured.
IAF Mi-17 conducted about 50 sorties
deploying army columns in Haryana.Foreigners,civilians evacuated,sorties to go
on all night IAF Sources said.
Delhi may face severe water crisis due
to Haryana violence. “We've water to supply till Sunday morning only. We are
not in a condition to supply water post that’ Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief
Minister of Delhi said.
Hundreds of piligrims to Vaishnodevi
Yathra stranded as rail and bus services from Jammu to Vaishnodevi base camp
disrupted due to Haryana violence.
Curfew
was imposed in Hisar, Sonipat and Jind towns after violence. Violence was also
reported from Kaithal.
The death toll in the violence in past
36 hours has reached four with over 100 people being injured. One person was
killed when soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob in Jhajjar.
The Haryana Police and local
administration in the affected districts have failed to react to the violence,
leave alone controlling it even as the army moved in to control the situation
in the worst-affected areas of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and
NSA Ajit Doval discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state
in New Delhi.
While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar
Lal Khattar appealed to protestors to stop the violence and his BJP invited
them to hold talks with the party's central leadership, his predecessor
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of the Congress, said that he would start a hunger
strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Saturday till the situation
normalised.
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader
Abhay Chautala demanded that the Khattar government be dismissed and
president's rule be imposed in view of the deteriorating situation. Army columns conducted flag marches at
various places in the violence-hit districts as the security forces grappled
with the tense situation in areas where violence occurred.
However,
the army did not take a flag march towards Gate No.2 of Maharishi Dayanand
University in Rohtak town as nearly 3,000 Jat youth laid siege to the area,
armed with sharp-edged weapons, despite warnings by the authorities not to
venture out of their homes.
Protesters set several buses on fire in
the Gohana bus stand in Sonipat district, 210 km from Chandigarh.
Mobs set a police station in Meham town
on fire. A police station and a railway station was set on fire in Jind
district, a 'dharamshala' (free hostelry) was set on fire in Jhajjar and buses
were set on fire in Julana and Kaithal towns. Buildings of revenue departments
were also set on fire at some places.
The toll plaza on the Panipat-Rohtak
highway was also set on fire by mobs, while protesters uprooted the
Delhi-Ambala railway track at Rajlu Garhi in Panipat district, disrupting the
crucial rail line which connects Delhi with north India and leaving hundreds of
passengers stranded. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since
the agitation began.
The Vita milk plant was set on fire in
Rohtak and scores of shops were set afire in the town. Curfew continued in
Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns on Saturday but the violence did not stop.
Haryana Director General of Police Y.P.
Singhal said that 129 cases have so far been registered against agitators and
claimed that the situation improved on Saturday compared to Friday.
