JOIN USThe continuing violence in Haryana even after the government agreed to meet all the demands of the Jat protesters has baffled the state government.
The fresh violence, at a time when the protests at many places have receded and Jat leaders have appealed to protesters to return home, is a cause of concern for the state machinery.
Many fringe Jat groups and hoodlums among them had emerged in the run-up to the agitation and even during the violent streak it manifested in the last 8 days.
Government officials, including the state DGP YS Singal has all through maintained that the agitation has been leaderless. It’s now this ‘leaderless format’ of the agitation that is spelling trouble for the establishment to curtail fresh bouts of violence.
Denials apart, there came a point during the course of agitation when Jat leaders were helpless in ensuring restrain among its community members who were breaking loose, damaging private property, burning school buses and running amok.
Jat leaders were left to issue denials that those indulging in violence were the ones who were bringing disrepute to the Jat protests. With Army being directed to act tough on protesters, the government hopes this fading streak of violence will end anytime soon.
Meanwhile, an audio tape being circulated on social media has given the entire agitation a conspiracy angle. The tape purportedly has the voice of one of the former advisers of former chief minister B S Hooda to incite violence.
Hooda claimed that it was an attempt to defame the party and his close associates. The opposition has demanded an inquiry into the episode. Prominent opposition leader Kuldeep Bishnoi has accused Hooda of being a conspirator to the Jat agitation. The veracity of the audio tape is yet to be established. The government is likely to order an inquiry into the issue.