India dispatches troops in bid to end fatal protest
Print Edition
INDIA yesterday deployed thousands of troops in a northern state to quell protests that have severely hit water supplies to Delhi, a metropolis of more than 20 million, forced factories to close and killed 10 people.
Rioting and looting in Haryana by the Jats, a rural caste, is symptomatic of increasingly fierce competition for government jobs and educational openings in India.
The federal government has already deployed 4,000 troops and 5,000 paramilitaries in a massive show of force, and ordered an end to the protests by last night. Home Minister Rajnath Singh also met Jat leaders and offered to meet their demands.
In Bahadurgarh, on the road west from Delhi, about 2,000 protesters occupied a highway intersection and stoppd truck traffic.
“We are here to die,” said Rajendra Ahlavat, a 59-year-old farmer and protest leader.
“We will keep going until the government bows to our pressure. There is no way we will take back our demands.”
TV reports from Jhajjar, further west, showed troops fanning out on the streets against a backdrop of burning and damaged buildings — evidence of the fury of Jats who make up a quarter of Haryana’s population and number more than 80 million in all.
Haryana’s police chief said the death toll had risen to 10 and 150 more had been injured.
“We are trying to identify the conspirators and take action,” Director General of Police Yash Pal Singal told a televised news conference.
Singh met Jat leaders at his residence in New Delhi in a bid to defuse the crisis. An official from his nationalist party — which also rules Haryana — said it would bring a bill in the state assembly to grant “reservation,” or a guaranteed quota of government jobs, to Jats.
Protesters have attacked the homes of regional ministers, torched railway stations and staged sit-ins on tracks, blocking hundreds of trains. They sabotaged pumping equipment at a water treatment plant that provides most of Delhi’s water.
“No water available now. Still no hope to get it,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said in a tweet yesterday.
The Delhi government ordered schools to close today and rationed water to residents to ensure hospitals and emergency services had enough.
With road and rail links cut, the government said extra flights had been laid on to destinations in northwest India.
The unrest poses a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of jobs and growth for the Indians who elected him in 2014 with the largest majority in three decades.
Modi, who has previously faced criticism for ignoring unrest that does not fit with the upbeat narrative of his nationalist government, avoided reference to the protests in a visit to the state of Chattisgarh.
He wants to attract foreign investment to back his “Make in India” drive to create 100 million manufacturing jobs by 2022.
The Jat protests echo a similar movement last year in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where the Patel community demanded a greater share of scarce government jobs and college places that are now reserved for people from lower castes.
Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Gujarat unrest, became a national sensation after drawing half a million people to one rally. The authorities cracked down on Patel, who was charged with sedition in October.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
