Feb. 21 (PTI): The BJP tonight formed a five-member committee under Union minister Venkaiah Naidu to examine the Jats' demand for a quota in central government jobs after fresh violence killed two persons, raising the death toll from the agitation to 12.
Hours earlier, after a meeting between Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Jat leaders, the BJP had declared a bill would be moved soon in the Haryana Assembly to grant Other Backward Classes status to Jats in the state.
Protesters began lifting blockades at some places following the assurances but violence continued at some other places.
"Just now, we have formed a committee," Rajnath said late tonight, shortly after discussions with foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Manohar Parrikar. "I appeal to the people of Haryana to help maintain calm and peace."
A brief BJP statement said party president Amit Shah had formed the committee under Naidu and that its other members would be BJP vice-presidents Satpal Malik and Avinash Rai Khanna besides Union ministers Mahesh Sharma and Sanjeev Balyan.
"This committee will study all aspects of Jat reservation and hear out all sides and submit its report to the party chief and the Centre at the earliest," it said.
Normality was reported to be returning to some cities such as Kaithal, where curfew was lifted. Officials expect the situation to improve considerably by tomorrow.
Those who attended the meeting with Rajnath included Jat leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi besides central minister Balyan, Haryana minister Abhimanyu, BJP parliamentarian and former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh and Lt Gen (retd) Raj Kandyan, a former army deputy chief.
Jat Sangharsh Samiti leader Jaipal Sing Sangwan said the discussions had been positive and appealed "to everyone to call off the agitation".
However, another leader of the Sangharsh Samiti, Rajesh Dahiya, said any decision on calling the agitation off must wait.
The violence
Six persons had been killed in firing by security forces between Friday and Saturday evening, and four injured passed away last night, police said.
Haryana home secretary P.K. Das said one person was killed in Sonipat today and another in a clash between Jats and non-Jats in Hissar. He added that protesters had damaged some dhabas along the Delhi-Ambala highway in Sonipat.
Jat agitators vandalised a college owned by an MP, a hotel, a rice mill and a railway station in Sonipat, while torching shops, buses and motorbikes.
In Bhiwani, buses were set ablaze and BJP parliamentarian Dharambir's house was ransacked. Two police chowkis, shops and an ATM kiosk were attacked
Das said there was a clash between two groups in Jhajjar but prompt police action had prevented a flare-up. Altogether 150 people have been injured in the nine-day-old agitation.
The state government tonight shifted the Rohtak Range inspector-general of police, Sirikant Jadhav, without assigning any reason.
Road and rail traffic remain paralysed, with the supply of essentials such as fuel, milk and vegetables severely hit. ATMs are running out of cash, officials said.
