Jat quota stir Live Updates: Jat leaders end march, warn to stage bigger protest

While Jat protesters march towards the parliament from Jantar Mantar, and police forms barricades to stop them, here are the live updates of the stir as events unfold:

05:00 pm: After police stopped the march towards Parliament, Jat leaders end protest, however warning to stage a bigger protest.

04:40 pm: As protesters begin march towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar, police set up barricades to stop march.

04:15 pm: Jat leader Yashpal Malik said that the movement will continue till their demands are met.

3:30 pm: The other demands of the Jats include releasing those arrested during last year’s agitation in Haryana, withdrawal of cases and providing government jobs to the relatives of those killed or injured during the agitation.

3:25 pm: The protestors are also expected to give a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee in this regard.

3:20 pm: All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti president also warned that their protest would have serious repercussions. “Supply of everything to Delhi will be cut off during our Delhi march,” he said.

3:15 pm: It is for the government to find a solution before or after the Holi. But seeing the insensitivity of the Haryana Government, it looks like we have to prepare for a long fight,

3:10 pm: “We will also announce the date of our march in Delhi in which 50 lakh Jats from 13 states will participate with their tractor-trollies. It will be a historic moment. Our protest will continue until our demands are fulfilled,”

3:00 pm: “Today we will apprise the government of our demands. We will march up to the Parliament and if necessary, will court arrest too,” Malik said.

1:12 PM: Roads leading to the protest hub were packed with Jat agitators from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab, giving a tough time to motorists and commuters.

1:10 PM: Police and traffic personnel were deployed at major roundabouts and roads for managing the protesters reaching the venue.

12.30 PM: Jat leader Yashpal Malik has threatened to disrupt the life in NCR. He said, “Essential supplies will be affected when march will be held in Delhi in the coming time.”

The Jat quota stir has reached well inside Delhi today with agitationists descending on Jantar Mantar in their thousands. The community in Haryana is agitating on the streets to push their demand for quota in state jobs and educational institutions. The stir has remained generally peaceful, but violence and threats are freely being hinted at in case their demands are not met. The potential to generate violence across North India has made Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar offer an olive branch in the form of setting up either a legislators’ panel or a government one under himself to resolve the demand for quota. Congress and other opposition parties in Haryana however, want the government to set up a panel either of ministers or of the House members to hold talks with the agitating Jat community members to find a quick resolution. However, the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS), which is spearheading the protests, has decided against participating in formation of the proposed 4-member panel comprising two members each from the government and the community, saying the panel is unlikely to have powers to redress their grievances.