The Jat reservation agitation was a series of violent protests in February 2016 by the Jats of North India, especially those in the state of Haryana, which "paralysed" the state for 10 days.Jats stage ‘jail bharo’ protest in Jind The Hindu (New Delhi). Retrieved 5 May 2016. The protestors sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits. Besides Haryana, the protests also spread to the neighbouring states, such as Uttar Pradesh,'We are prepared to fight for our rights': Jat agitation spreads to UP. (Meerut) Hindustan Times. Retrieved 14 March 2016.Jat agitation finds echo in western UP. The Times of India. Retrieved 14 March 2016. Rajasthan,Jat leaders in Rajasthan extend support to quota stir in Haryana (Jaipur). The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 March 2016.Rajasthan’s Jat call off stir after government’s assurance (Bharatpur). Press Trust of India. Retrieved 14 March 2016. and the National Capital Region.Jat agitation spreads to Gurgaon as protesters block major roads. The Indian Express (New Delhi). Retrieved 14 March 2016.Jat samiti halts traffic in Faridabad (Faridabad). The Tribune. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
Protests escalated when several Hindutva Leaders openly threatened to massacre Jats, including Kartar Singh, the Haryana chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who had opined to the media that if he had been the state's Chief Minister, he "would have ordered mass shooting of Jat protesters". Raj kumar Saini, the BJP MP from Kurukshetra, has been making anti-Jat comments since he got elected. The community has repeatedly asked the BJP to make reign him but instead of it, bjp constantly support him. Many political commentators later analysed that the army was called too soon when there was clearly no need to do so. Firing on protestors clearly turned the spark into a full-fledged conflict, according to them the confrontational attitude of bjp government was not necessary. The community holds the Manohar Lal Khattar government responsible for water scarcity, agrarian distress and jobs crisis. Later some Jat leader including Hawa singh sangwan converted into Sikhism.
Police and onlookers described the initial phase of the protests as peaceful but it later transformed into violent riots led by Jat community, especially in the city of Rohtak.Jat quota stir: How violence started; a protest on JNU row, hostel raid by cops (New Delhi). The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 March 2016. Starting on 12 February, the Jats organized non-violent protests for reservation by blocking railway lines and roads, while non-Jats opposed to their demands, organized counter-protests. On 18 February, a group of non-Jats protesters clashed violently with a group of lawyers protesting against 2016 JNU sedition controversy, mistaking the lawyers for Jats. Later, they also came into conflict with the Jat students. On the same day, the police allegedly beat up some Jat students in Rohtak, while trying to open a blockade. Police also raided a Jat hostel, and reportedly assaulted the Jat students, an occurrence which was captured on camera and circulated over social media. Following these incidents, several incidents of inter-caste violence took place across Haryana.
By 25 February, the riots were estimated to have caused a loss of in northern India. The Railway Minister told in the Lok Sabha that the total loss suffered by Railways on account of damage to property and cancellation of ticketswas about Rs 55.92 crore. By 26 February, people had been killed in the violence.
The government of Haryana had approved the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill on 29 March 2016,Jat reservation: Haryana govt set to notify new quota law. Hindustan Times (Chandigarh). Retrieved 15 April 2016. and notified the Act on 13 May 2016.Haryana govt notifies Jat reservation Bill. The Indian Express (Chandigarh). Retrieved 27 May 2016. The enacted Bill enlisted the Jats of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim jats, Bishnois, Tyagis, and Rors in the recently sculpted Backward Classes (C) category, making them eligible for 10% reservation in class 3 and 4, and 6% reservation in class 1 and 2 jobs. On 26 May 2016, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled against the Bill and now jats come in general category.Oppn, Jat bodies blame Haryana govt. The Times of India (Chandigarh). Retrieved 27 May 2016.HC stay on quota for Jats in Haryana. The Tribune (Chandigarh). Retrieved 27 May 2016.
Background
The Jat people are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India. In 2012, the Hindustan Times reported that the Jat people in India were estimated to number around 95.5 million (9.55 crore). In Haryana, they form 30% of the state's population. As of 2016, 7 out of state's 10 chief ministers had been Jats. In Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi, they constitute 30% ,18% and 17% of the total populace, respectively. In Uttar Pradesh, the Jats form more than 6% of the population, however, their concentration in Western Uttar Pradesh makes them an important vote bank in more than 50 assembly seats and 29% population are Jats in Western Uttar Pradesh.
The Central Government of India as well as the various State Governments categorize certain socially backward castes as Other Backward Classes (OBC). The castes listed in this category have been eligible for affirmative action benefits since 1991. Collectively, these castes have reserved quotas in government jobs, admissions to educational institutes, scholarships and other areas. The communities which are included in OBC are different in different states. The OBCs have 27% reservation; in addition, there are other classes which have Scheduled Castes (15%) reservation and the Scheduled Tribes (7.5%) reservation. In all, 49.5% of the seats are reserved for these three groups. Some state governments have tried to create additional reservation quotas, but the Supreme Court of India has ruled that the reservation cannot exceed 50%.
Like many other castes, the Jats have sought to get themselves included in the OBC category in order to get the reservation benefits. Before the 2016 protests, they had already been given OBC status in 7 states: Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. However, Jats were not included in the Central Government's list of OBC castes. Also, in Punjab and Haryana, the Jats did not enjoy any reservation benefits. In Rajasthan, the Jats from Bharatpur and Dholpur districts were excluded from the OBC list, as the former kingdoms of Bharatpur and Dholpur had been ruled by Jats.
Central OBC quota
According to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) guidelines, to be classified as OBC, a caste has to satisfy the following criteria:
Social: The caste should be considered as socially backward by other castes Educational: The caste's school non-enrollment rate should be at least 25% above the state average Economic: The assets of the average caste family should be at least 25% below the state average
In 1997, the NCBC reviewed a demand to include Jats from Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the Central OBC list. It agreed to include the Rajasthan Jats (except those from the former Jat-ruled princely states of Bharatpur and Dholpur) in the Central OBC list. In a report dated 28 November 1997, it recommended against including other Jats in the OBC list, arguing that they were socially advanced. This recommendation was supplemented by an Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) report. On 27 October 1999, the BJP-led NDA government implemented the recommendation to include the Rajasthan Jats (except those from Bharatpur and Dholpur) in the Central OBC list. Later, on 1 January 2000, the Bharatpur and Dholpur Jats were also included in the list.
In July and September 2010, the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Arakshan Samiti organized protests in Delhi and Haryana seeking OBC status for Jats. One person was killed in this agitation. In 2011, the protesters blocked railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. In March 2011, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) amended rules to allow NCBC to reconsider its earlier rulings. Subsequently, in July 2011, the NCBC suggested that the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) conduct a survey in 6 states to analyze the socio-economic status of Jats. The original plan involved a comprehensive survey, but this was later reduced to a sample survey, to be supplemented with data from the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC).
In February 2012, the Jats resumed their protests, during which one person was killed. In August 2013, the government constituted a special Group of Ministers (GoM) to "engage with representatives of the Jat community". On 19 December 2013, the Union Cabinet asked NCBC to expediate the process and make a decision based on existing material. It also requested that Bihar be included in the study. As a result, the NCBC dropped the sample survey plan, and the ICSSR then undertook a month-long literature survey.
The ICSSR report concluded that:
In Haryana, the Jats were educationally backward, although they were financially well-off and well-represented in government posts In Delhi, the Jats were educationally backward In Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Jats were educationally backward and under-represented in Government services.
The NCBC, however, disagreed with the report's conclusion about the status of Jats in Haryana. The NCBC found that this conclusion was based on the Justice K.C. Gupta Commission Report, a 2012 report by the Haryana State Backward Commission. According to NCBC, this report was flawed because it based on a "very selective" survey conducted by the Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. It compared Jats only to the forward castes such as Brahmins and Rajputs, but not backward castes such as Ahir and Kurmis. Besides, the villages covered in the survey were not selected independently, but provided by the State Commission. The survey was led by a Jat academic, Professor K. S. Sangwan. Besides, the Vice-Chancellor of the university was also a Jat. In a public hearing conducted by NCBC, these two persons were accused of bias.
Based on this analysis, on 26 February 2014, the NCBC unanimously ruled that the Jats in Haryana did not meet the OBC classification criteria. However, the Cabinet rejected this advice arguing that NCBC had not taken into account "the ground realities". On 4 March 2014, a day before the dates for the 2014 Indian general election were announced, the UPA government included Jats from 9 states in the central OBC quota: Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. In March 2015, the decision was rejected by the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court also excluded the Bharatpur and Dholpur Jats of Rajasthan from the Central OBC list.
Rajasthan OBC quota
Rajasthan is considering to provide reservation to Jaats. On 3 November 1999, the Indian National Congress state government in Rajasthan, led by Ashok Gehlot, included Jats (except those from Bharatpur and Dholpur) in the Rajasthan state OBC list.
A year later, on 10 January 2000, the state government extended the OBC quota to Jats from these two districts as well, bowing to political pressure. 15 years later, on 10 August 2015, the Rajasthan High Court quashed this decision.
Haryana SBC quota