Aiming to use the occasion to highlight their demand for inclusion in the Other Backward Class list, the Jats of Haryana have threatened to block roads, highways and railway tracks leading to the capital during the Games.
“Unusual methods like using cattle will be employed to block the roads,” says Yashpal Malik, president of the All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation involved in the ongoing agitation.
Thousands of bulls and buffaloes will be unleashed on to the roads on the inaugural day of the Games on October 3 to block roads leading to Delhi, he claimed.
The Samiti has been undertaking a protracted agitation in Haryana for the past one month which has often turned violent. A recent incident in Hisar led to the killing of an agitator in police firing which flared the Jats into large-scale arson and violence. Malik has warned of impromptu guerrilla protests by Jats near the stadiums to press the Centre into action on their demand.
Even before the start of the Games on October 3, the Haryana administration may have to deal with a law and order situation when the Queen’s Baton passes through the state from Sept 26. The agitators have announced to disrupt the Baton relay by showing black flags.
Police are keeping their fingers crossed as the Baton is set to pass through the Jat-dominated areas of Sonepat, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind and Fatehabad over four days. Three companies of RAF have been deployed to accompany the cavalcade carrying the Baton.
