Hisar, February 20
The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti today extended by 24 hours its deadline for the withdrawal of cases registered against 150 persons in connection with the violence at Mayyar village, near here, last year during a pro-reservation rally.

The deadline was to expire at 5 pm today. Just before it was to expire, leaders of the Jat community squatting on both sides of the railway track at Ramayan village, near here, since yesterday, announced the extension and expressed their desire to hold talks with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

These leaders held talks today with Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal for over two hours.

About 300 members of the community squatted on both sides of the railway track today though they did not block the track . However, the railway authorities today cancelled some trains and changed the routes of a few others as a precautionary measure.

A railway spokesman said all trains on the Rewari-Fazilka section and the Haryana Express train running between Sirsa-Delhi had been cancelled till further notice. All trains coming from Bathinda were terminated here. Trains coming from Rewari and Jaipur were stopped at Bhiwani.

Unlike yesterday, Haryana Roadways buses plied normally through the area as the protesters did not block the national highway No 10. Other vehicular traffic also plied normally.

The Jats had organised a three-week-long agitation in Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani districts in March last year seeking reservation in government jobs under the OBC quota. They had blocked rail tracks at 15 points across Haryana. Extensive losses were caused to the Railways by way of lost revenue and damage to property.

They withdrew the stir after the government assured that it would take up their case with the Centre . The Hooda government later set up the Haryana Backward Classes Commission to look into the reservation aspect.

The commission is considering demands of the Ror, Jat, Jat Sikh, Tyagi, Bishnoi and other communities who wish to be classified as backward classes.

The withdrawal of the police cases, as demanded by the protesters, may not be possible immediately as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the police last month to summon all accused.

Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal has appealed to protesters to withdraw their agitation as the government had already appointed a Haryana Backward Classes Commission to go into their demand for reservation. He said the agitation was causing inconvenience to the general public.

Sonepat, February 20
Khap panchayats should be given the legal status of Lok Adalats as these panchayats had been giving fair and impartial decisions for the last many centuries while solving the disputes at the root level.

In order to preserve and maintain the cultural values of the society, there should be a constitutional ban on the same gotra and same village marriages by amending the Hindu Marriage Act. The presence of parents of the couple and the witness of the sarpanches and ‘numbardars’ of villages concerned should be made mandatory during the marriages when solemnised in the temples and in the courts.

These were some of the demands, which were raised by the Gathwala (Malik) khap, in a meeting yesterday at the Malik Bhawan, Gohana to mark the birth anniversary of Dada Ghasi Ram, renowned social head of Malik khap and popular for his impartial decisions.

The present Khap Dada Baljit Singh Malik presided over the meeting and besides prominent khap leaders from Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi, Sonepat MP Jitender Singh Malik, former MP Dharam Pal Singh Malik, former ministers Kulbir Singh Malik and Ved Singh Malik, Chandigarh Mayor Rajbala Malik and her husband, advocate Ram Kumar Malik, also attended the meeting.

Daulatpur (Hisar), February 20
This prosperous village, which was the scene of a vicious attack on Rajesh, a Dalit farmhand, for allegedly daring to drink water from a pitcher in a field owned by an upper-caste farmer last week, is engulfed by an all-pervasive silence. Yet, it is the silence that is an admission of a shame that the incident has brought on the village.

The friendly ties between different communities and the ages-old rural tradition of not damning one of its own, howsoever wrong, prevent its inhabitants from speaking on the issue. So, while no one is condemning the attack in so many words, and yet, everybody is sorry for what happened without admitting as much.

Daulatpur is a village where prosperous Jat families own large tracts of land. Most of these families are well-educated. The village has produced farm scientists who did Haryana proud. Dotted by lush green fields and orchards, it has thrown up progressive farmers who changed the face of their village by adopting newer farm technology. Many of its sons run successful businesses elsewhere but are still rooted to it. This makes Daulatpur a village unlike other Jat- dominated villages.

And this is not without a reason. Consider this. “Would you like your glass of milk with or without sugar?” This was the response of one of the well-heeled farmers in the village Raj Lamba (not his real name) to a query about the incident. When you persist using all your diplomatic skills, he says:”Did I ask you about your caste? And I am still offering you milk. This is our tradition. Now you tell me how long will the winter last? It’s unusually cold for this time of the year”.

This says it all. No wonder, ties among communities in the village remain unaffected by the incident. Urchins continue to play on the village streets. Dalit farmhands continue working in the fields without a trace of fear. Peace and harmony are intact for anyone who cares to see.

This attitude is not restricted to upper castes alone. Dalits echo similar sentiments too. Asked by TNS how the incident had affected their community, a Dalit youth, Pawan (not his real name), said: “What has happened has happened. It was an aberration. It won’t happen again. We have lived together peacefully for ages and we will live so. It would help if mediapersons do not blow it up”.

Discreet enquiries by TNS revealed that the village elders from all communities met on the day of the incident and resolved not to let the incident spoil harmony in the village. They also swore to a silence. The matter ended there. And there has been silence all around since.

But, one can hear murmurs in neighbouring villages. Most believe that there was more to it than meets the eye. “Have you seen a pitcher in any of the fields? Do you get thirsty riding a tractor trolley on a cold winter morning? Such queries from villagers are a pointer to the possibility of a personal dispute, rather than hatred, being behind this incident. But, nobody knows for sure and nobody wants to probe it further. They all want it buried forever. 

Chandigarh, February 20
Lok shikshan kendras are being set up in every Haryana village with a population of 5,000 each under the Saakshar Bharat Mission, a Centrally sponsored scheme.

Samir Pal Saro, Director General, School Education, Haryana, said these kendras would be equipped with a library and one would be able to get information regarding agriculture and other programmes through the motivators at these centres.

Saro said a 15-member committee would also be constituted at village level for the successful functioning of these centre. Saakshar Bharat Mission-2012 aims at making seven crore people up to 15 years of age literate. — PTI 

Rewari, February 20
Neetu Yadav (20) of the nearby Khori village, who is a student of Polytechnic College of Manesar town of Gurgaon district, had eloped with Birender Jat of Jhunjunoo district of Rajasthan on November 22, 2011. She was recovered on Saturday along with Birender from the Jaipur bus stand by the Khol police of the district.

Birender, driver of a private bus that plied between Jhunjunoo and Delhi and by which Neetu used to travel from Khori to Manesar, had developed intimacy with the girl.

Neetu’s statement was recorded in a local court where she said she was an adult and she and Birender had tied the nuptial knot of their own will at a temple in Gujarat on November 25, following which 
they had been living as wife and husband at Bardoli town in Gujarat.

The court also allowed her to live with her husband Birender after she sought the court’s permission.

The Khol police will now initiate proceedings to cancel the FIR that it had registered on December 13 for abduction against Birender on a complaint filed by Neetu’s father.

Karnal, February 20
A KG student of Rajkul Senior School, Kamela, in Gharonda subdivision of Karnal, died under mysterious circumstances last night after being traumatised by a teacher who had allegedly locked him in a bathroom on December 27 last year.

Pankaj (6), who remained locked in the bathroom for several hours as a punishment for not completing his homework, remained in a state of trauma due to the “inhuman and insensitive” attitude of the teacher before falling sick. His condition continued to deteriorate, leading to his death last night.

Jaivir Singh and Reena, held the school authorities responsible for the death of their child, claiming that after locking Pankaj in the bathroom, the teacher forgot to open the lock. It was only after the school was over that his elder brother, Sagar, told the bus driver that his brother had not arrived.

The school authorities got the door of the bathroom opened and found Pankaj in a state of shock. He was taken to a private hospital only to be referred to the PGI, Rohtak. He was also treated in a Delhi hospital. After treatment, he attended the school for a day before plunging into shock again.

However, the school manager, Bablu Rana, said the child had been suffering from some disease and ultimately succumbed to it but the victim’s parents were not ready to buy this argument.

Pankaj’s parents lodged a complaint and the child was cremated after the local panchayat intervened to effect a compromise in the presence of Ram Swaroop, Gharonda police station in charge.

Deputy Commissioner Neelam P Kasni said the District Education Officer concerned would be asked to look into the matter. 

Hisar, February 20
INLD Secretary-General Ajay Chautala today demanded that the state government should pay policemen salaries commensurate with their difficult working conditions and also implement the sixth pay panel recommendations in toto.

Addressing a public meeting at Ukalana in this district as part of his tour of the Hisar Lok Sabha seat area to thank voters for their support during the October 2011 byelection, he said even neighbouring Punjab was giving higher salaries to cops.

He said policemen worked under great stress and extremely hazardous working conditions. However, they were neither paid proper salaries nor there was a satisfactory provision for leave for them. All this needed to be changed to make their working conditions better.

Chautala said the Hooda government had announced that the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission would be implemented in toto. However, it later made several changes in the recommendations and deprived government employees of pay and perks they deserved. He said the government should honour its word to motivate government employees.

Accusing the government of turning a blind eye to illegal residential colonies carved out by Congress legislators and ministers, he said the government should devise a transparent policy to regularise illegal colonies and also take steps to stop proliferation of such settlements.

He said the government needed to ensure that residential plots were made available to the people at affordable rates in approved colonies with all basic amenities

Sultanpur, February 20
Migratory birds from Europe and Siberia landed at the Sultanpur National Park in September as usual, but are expected to stay around for longer this year. The reason - unusual snowfall in their homelands. Over 250 species of birds are currently seen in the park, say ornithologists.

The birds, which start returning to their homelands by the third week of February, are likely to remain at the national park for some more time. A wildlife conservator Satya Bhan said the migratory birds start returning to their homelands by the third week of February, but this time they were not showing any such sign yet.

A birdwatcher Suresh Kumar said: “The unusual snowfall in various parts of Europe may have alarmed the seasonal guests. The variety of species of migratory birds has decreased, but the number of birds seems to have gone up.”

“In the current season, unusually, the number of common teal and whistling teal has dipped from around 6,000 and 150 to 300 and 50, respectively. But numbers of coot (1,000 to 4,000) and shovellor (100 to 800) has increased, which is rare,” Kumar added.

This season only 47 species of migratory birds, including from Central Asia, were noticed at the national park. Last year, the number was 56. A retired conservator RP Balwan said: “Birds understand nature better than humans. They leave a place once the temperature starts rising. The temperature is still below average here; so they are expected to stay a bit longer.”

Regarding the decreasing number of migratory species, Balwan said birds live in groups and while returning to their homes they carry a message with them. “If the ecosystem doesn't suit them or there is inadequate water and food, they do not visit the same place.” Another bird enthusiast, Prasanna Murty, who was visiting from Mumbai, said: “Besides, the Sultanpur National Park the birds had started moving from their transit camps, the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan and Chilika Bird Sanctuary in Orissa.”

“When the birds sense fresh heavy snowfall in their native places, they may delay their plans for some time. That's the reason behind the unusual increase and decrease in the number of migratory birds,” he said. Over 250 species of birds can be seen in the park, but most of them are local migratory (inter-state) and locals, Murty added.— IANS 

Rohtak, February 20
The Haryana unit of the CPM urged upon the Governor to draw the attention of the state government to the “appealing plight” of the Scheduled Caste (SC) population in the state.

In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, state party secretary Inderjit Singh today demanded higher budget allocation for the community.

Another memorandum has also been given to state Finance Minister HS Chatha urging him to make budget allocation of various departments in proportion to the SCs in the forthcoming Budget.

Claiming that socio-economic condition of the community continued to be appealing and much worse in comparison to other social strata, it stated that the population of SCs was over 19 per cent in Haryana, which was almost one fifth of the total population, but contrary to the general propaganda of their uplift, this section was facing discrimination in all spheres of their life.

According to Inderjit Singh, notwithstanding the guarantee of equal opportunities provided in the Constitution, the SCs were lagging behind in all respects.

He said Haryana was often projected as a state having achieved major progress and development, but the illusory nature of the much-hyped official media propaganda gets completely shattered when a Dulina, Gohana, Harsaula, Mirchpur or Daulatpur incident was shamelessly enacted at regular intervals.

The recent incident of chopping off the hand of a Dalit youth for merely taking water from the pitcher belonging to a higher caste family in Hisar district had been the worst form of caste hatred and untouchability.

“Caste panchayat’s aggressiveness in recent decades with the tacit patronage of the ruling class politics has further added to the scenario of caste hostility, thus adding to the insecurity of the weaker sections of society,” he added.

Rohtak, February 20
The accused who issued a fake medical certificate to help a life-term convict get parole is still missing. Though the police has arrested the woman who had got the certificate for her son serving life sentence, the class four employee of the local Civil Hospital, who allegedly prepared the document, has been eluding the police.

The certificate had been issued about three months ago, when the mother of Sunil, a murder convict, who hails from Nandal village, had approached the Civil Hospital here.

It is learnt that she came into contact with Om Pal, a class four employee of the hospital, after someone told her that her son, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment last year, could get parole only after she submitted a medical certificate of her illness. While the woman was charged Rs 6,000 for this, it is learnt that the accused managed to get a letter head of one of the medical officers and faked his signatures after stamping the hospital seal.

The trick, however, did not work when the court ordered a probe into the issuing of the certificate after the public prosecutor raised an objection regarding the genuineness of the document.

As the matter was handed over to the local Civil Lines police station for an enquiry, the investigating officer could not arrest Om Pal.

Sources said the official concerned was pressurised to delay the arrest of the accused by a policeman.

The SSP, Vivek Sharma, said the police had arrested the mother of the convict in the case besides registering another case against the latter.

He admitted that Om Pal, the accused who allegedly issued the fake certificate in this case, was absconding. The CMO, Dr VK Govilla, said a fake certificate had been issued from the hospital about three months ago, adding that the police had been asked to trace the accused.The hospital authorities had no clue about the where abouts of the accused.

Chandigarh, February 20
Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry has said that no retail liquor outlet would be allowed within 150 meters from the main gate of recognized schools or colleges or places of worship or hospitals. Such liquor vends or subvends would also not be allowed in the villages where Kanya Gurukuls are functioning Haryana.

The minister said all such proposals given by village panchayats across the state had been accepted during formation of the excise policy for 2012-13. Choudhry said that complete transparency had been brought in this policy. Any officer trying to embezzle government funds would not be spared. CCTV cameras had been installed both at the packaging and dispatch areas in distilleries. 

Faridabad, February 20
State Minister for Labour and Employment Shivcharan Lal Sharma has urged private schools to allow children from weaker sections of society to access free education. He advised private schools, especially those located in backward areas, to provide education opportunities to children of labourers.

Speaking at a public function in his NIT Assembly constituency here, Sharma said: “Quality education helps children to grow up as a responsible person of society.”

Hence, private institutes must also assume the lead role in the nation-building process, the minister said.

He said the government under the leadership of Bhupinder Singh Hooda was determined to provide quality education to children of all sections of society.

Faridabad, February 20
The police has arrested a youth who snatched away a service pistol from its personnel on duty. The accused has been identified as Nikhil, a resident of Delhi.

The weapon was snatched on the evening of February 12 outside the Sunrise Apartments on the Surajkund-Delhi road. The accused said he had thrown the pistol out of his car while he was on run.