Stay on quota: Jat organisations to explore legal options

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 26

Khaps and Jat reservation committees today announced to explore all legal options after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the state government’s decision to grant reservation to the Jats.

“We will soon convene a meeting and request the government to take up our case strongly before the High Court,” said Tek Ram Kandela, convener of the Sarv Khap Panchayat (SKP). Since the matter was in the court, they would not like to resume agitation, he said.

Sube Singh Sumain, spokesman of the Samasat Jat Samaj Sanghthan, said that they never wanted to disturb peace of the state. “We will discuss the matter with our members and take the available legal recourse,” said Sumain.

All-India Jat Mahasabha spokesman advocate Sukhbir Singh Hooda blamed the state BJP government for the stay. “The state government was informed many days ago that the reservation Bill needed to be put under Schedule 9 of the Constitution, but the government deliberately delayed it to weaken the Bill,” he added.

Karnal: Joginder Lather, district president, Jat Mahasabha, said: “We will fight legal battle for the reservation.” They had sacrificed a lot for it and would fight till the Supreme Court, he added.

Bring ordinance: Mahasabha

Jhajjar: Akhil Bhartiya Adarsh Jat Mahasabha national advisor Bharpur Jakhar and spokesman Deepak Rathi have urged the MPs from the Jat community to mount pressure on the Central government to bring an ordinance for restoration of reservation under the BC (C) category. The Jat leaders said the ordinance was the only option to get reservation in the prevailing situation as the Supreme Court had already quashed the quota for the Jats under the Special Backward Class (SBC) category.

“We will boycott the Jat MPs if they fail to build pressure on the Central government,” Rathi added.

Leaders blame Centre

Bhiwani: Blaming the Centre for the stay, Hawa Singh Sangwan, president, All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangrash Samiti, said that the Centre did not include the Bill in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution. “The government did not pay any heed to our repeated pleas and it failed the judicial scrutiny in the high court,” he said. He said that the further course of action would be decided in a mahapanchayat at Sampla in Rohtak on May 29.

Khaps to seek advice

Rohtak: An emergent meeting of the representatives of different khaps was held at Nandal Bhawan in Bohar village of the district today in the wake of stay on the quota granted to the Jats.

The meeting, headed by Nandal khap head Mahender Singh Nandal, decided that a delegation of khap leaders would got to Chandigarh and seek detailed information regarding the matter from High Court lawyers, following which the future strategy would be planned.

Malik khap representative Capt Jagbir Malik said as the state government had assured a fool-proof legislation to ensure the grant of reservation, it was its moral responsibility to stand by the community members and make efforts to get the stay vacated.

Hooda khap head Dharampal Hooda pointed out that the High Court’s decision had come at a time when the admissions to different educational institutes were about to begin and vacancies for various government jobs had also been advertised.

“Hence, the state government should consider that if the stay continues, a number of youth of the communities would be deprived of the benefit of reservation,” he said.