M A I N   N E W S

Hooda announces peace deal with protesting Jats
But Jind tense, over 300 protesters continue to block NH-71
Raman Mohan
Tribune News service

Buying peace n Rs 10 lakh as compensation for youth killed in police firing n A suitable government job to a member of the family n Deceased to be accorded status of a ‘martyr’ n CM claims to have recommended reservation for Jats

Haryana Board postpones exams Bhiwani: Haryana's Board of School Education on Wednesday announced the postponement of all examinations that were scheduled to begin from tomorrow due to “unavoidable circumstances”. The exams will now be conducted from September 22. — PTI

Hisar, September 14
Curfew was lifted from Hisar district in Haryana this evening after Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at a hurriedly convened press conference, announced on Tuesday evening that the Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti had agreed to suspend the agitation.

Describing the death of the young man yesterday as ‘unfortunate’, the CM declared that the family of the deceased would be paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs and a suitable government job.

He had already recommended to the Central Government, said the CM, to concede the demand of the Jats for reservation. The CM, however, refused to entertain questions and left after making the brief announcement.

Tension at Mayyar, where a young Jat was killed in police firing yesterday, continued to simmer for the better part of the day on Tuesday. The road blockade was finally lifted following the intervention of the Chief Minister and the Samiti president, Yashpal Malik.

While the curfew was initially clamped on the Hisar Sadar and the area falling under Uklana PS, it was extended to the entire district around 3 pm following reports that hundreds of Jat protesters were converging on Hisar. It was lifted late in the evening.

Meanwhile, protesting against the agreement reached between the Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti and the Haryana Government, residents of Julana, about 25 km from here, blocked NH-71 that connects Jind with Rohtak. Over 300 protesters squatted on the highway, declaring their opposition to the compromise. The blockade was on till the filing of the report. District officials and the police have reached the spot.

Earlier during the day, Haryana Transport Corporation suspended its services throughout the state on Tuesday as mob violence spilled beyond Hisar. Agitating Jats, demanding reservation for themselves and inclusion in the OBC category, set fire to to a cotton yarn manufacturing unit at Mayyar, a ghee factory, vehicles parked there, a cooperative bank as well as the cantonment branch of the State Bank of India.

Two protesters, among hundreds of others squatting on a railway track at Uklana, 45 Kms from Hisar, were run over today by a goods train. This provoked the mob to set the railway station and the main telephone exchange there on fire. In Barwala, 30 Kms from Hisar, Jat protesters were resisted by local residents who set the vehicles used by the mob on fire. The mob, however, returned in greater number and went on the rampage.

The Army was called in to assist the civil administration and four columns of the Army besides three companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed to bring the situation under control.

There was high drama at Mayyar where a former minister and Congress leader was roughed up by protesters. In a bid to buy peace the former minister, Sampat Singh, declared that the young man killed in police firing, Sunil Lamba, would be given the status of a martyr. The government booked the SP for murder, soon after the firing killed Lamba.