Jat protesters to target Delhi this week

"From tomorrow (Tuesday) Delhi would now be the centre of our demonstrations. We would seal the borders of Delhi March 28 that would also witness a shutdown on that day," Yashpal Malik, president of All India Jat Arakshan Samiti, told reporters in Amroha, some 300 km from Lucknow.

"Besides Delhi, demonstrations may also be organised in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. We would continue with the demonstrations till the central government takes adequate steps to consider our demand of reservation," he added.

Demanding their inclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for government job quota, Jat protesters earlier disrupted rail traffic near the Kafurpur railway station near here for 14 days.

The protesters, who squatted on rail tracks March 5, withdrew March 19 after the Allahabad High Court issued stern directives to the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure restoration of rail services.

After withdrawing from the tracks, Jat leaders announced they would continue to stage sit-in. On the same day, they meet Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Delhi. "As the meeting remained inconclusive, we have now decided to make Delhi the centre of our demonstrations as a part of our strategy to get ourselves heard," said Malik.

Thousands of Jat protesters are still continuing their sit-in near Kafurpur railway station, but are not blocking the tracks.