Jats call off agitation

The agitating Jat leaders spearheading the agitation for reservation to the community have decided to call off their agitation in order to maintain peace and harmony in society.

A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of 16-member delegation of Sarvkhap Panchayat with Haryana government representatives chief parliamentary secretary Dharmvir Singh and principal OSD to the chief minister MS Chopra in Hisar late Saturday night.

Briefing reporters after the talks Sarvkhap spokesman Sube Singh Samain said that while the government had agreed to release the agitating Jat leaders following the due process of law the agitators would cremate the body of Sandeep who had died during the agitation.

The Sarv Khap Panchayat had also decided to withdraw the agitation including rail and road blockade to keep peace and harmony in the state.

The agreement reached at Chandigarh recently between the chief minister and Khap panchayats was also endorsed in the meeting.

Jat agitators had sat on indefinite dharna along the railway line in Ramayan village of Hisar district for the last 21 days and had intensified their agitation by blocking roads in the interior areas.

The Jat Arakshan Samiti action committee had earlier turned down the request of Khap leaders to suspend the agitation and perform last rites of Sandeep who was allegedly killed in the firing of the Rapid Action Force. They stood by their demand to first release all the arrested agitators.

Normal life was totally paralysed in Hisar town as the educational institutions remained closed and the state roadways buses were parked in the workshop for the last four days.