Haryana on edge ahead of rallies by Yashpal Malik and BJP MP R K Saini
Mobile internet suspended in 11 districts and Section 144 of the CrPC barring assembly of more than four people at a public place has also been imposed in some districts.
The Haryana government on Saturday sought 25 companies of central paramilitary forces, cancelled leaves of police officials and blocked mobile Internet services in 11 districts for three days ahead of Sunday’s parallel rallies of Jat leader Yashpal Malik and disgruntled BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini in Rohtak and Jind.
Malik, the president of All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), will lay the foundation stone of an educational institute, being built exclusively for the Jat community in Jassia village on Sunday.
On the other hand, BJP MP Saini, who has made no bones of his ambitions of becoming the CM with the help of votes of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), may continue to play to the gallery. But despite repeated statements of forming of a new party, Saini who has been sidelined in the party, may not make such an announcement at his rally because that would entail resigning his Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.
With Haryana’s Jat-belt on the edge, the government has beefed up security in view of the opposition both Malik and Saini have been facing from various sections of the society.
While Malik has been accused of misappropriating crores of rupees in the garb of fighting for reservation for the community, Saini’s rally faces stiff opposition from the Jats for his vocal stand against granting any reservation to the community.
“Yashpal Malik collected crores of rupees in donation from the Jat community making false promises. Our prime demand was job reservation and withdrawal of cases against Jat men arrested during the violent agitation of 2016. But Malik is starting his business by opening some education institute,” said Sumit Arya, president of Rohtak Sarpanch Association, a body that has opposed Malik.
In Jind, Jats protesting against Saini’s rally had clashed with the police on Friday. The police retaliated with a lathicharge and arrested four men for pelting stones.
Jind remained volatile on Saturday as well with protesters blocking the Jind-Chandigarh road giving ultimatums to the police and the administration to cancel Saini’s rally.
In neighbouring Sonepat and Charkhi Dadri districts, from where people are likely to reach the rally venues, the administration has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC barring assembly of more than four people at a public place. Mobile internet and SMS services have been suspended in 11 districts of the state till Sunday midnight to control rumours and exchange of inflammatory messages.
In Rohtak, the police have advised commuters to avoid travelling on NH-71 A (Rohtak-Gohana) as it is likely to be closed due to the massive crowd expected to take part in the Jat rally.