This Article is From Feb 24, 2016

After 2 Days Of Violence, Jat Agitation In Bharatpur Heads For Breakthrough

Public properties like roadways buses were torched during the agitation in Rajasthan.

Jaipur: After two rounds of talks with ministers from the Rajasthan government, the Jats protesters in Bharatpur could be winding down their agitation that took a violent turn on Tuesday.

The reservation agitation reached a flashpoint in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district as mobs in and around Bharatpur town went on a rampage - clashing with police, setting fire in market places of Nandbai and Sever town, looting an ATM and burning a good train engine and a station master's room in the railway station of Helak.

The police had to fire in the air throw tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

National Highway 11 between Agra and Jaipur remained jammed just before Bharatpur and traffic on this stretch had to be diverted via Bayana into Fatehpur Sikri and then onto Agra.

"The Jats have reservation everywhere else except the districts of Dholpur and Bharatpur, so give it to us here as well. It is just a question of adding two more districts," said an agitator Mukesh Kumar.

Rajasthan gave Jats reservation in the OBC category in 1999. Only the Jats of Bharatpur and Dholpur were left out as they were part of the ruling classes.

The government representative Arun Chaturvedi on Tuesday held talks with the Bharatpur Jats led by former Maharaja of Bharatpur Vishwendra Singh and agreed to the three main points raised by the agitators - that the OBC commission set up to study their economic and social status will give its report soon, no police cases will be registered against Jat pre reservation agitators and that a new bill will be brought into the Vidhan Sabha, giving the OBC commission constitutional validity.

Arun Chaturvedi, the social justice minister of Rajasthan, who has been negotiating with the Jats, said, "as soon as situation normalises the OBC commission will come to Bharatpur, Dholpur and complete its survey of the social and economic status of these communities."

With assurances from the government, including a promise that the OBC commission will be given constitutional validity in a bill to be brought in this budget session of this assembly, the crisis is all but defused.
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