“Internet and SMS services have been suspended till further orders in Rohtak,” Superintendent of Police Shashank Anand said today, adding that the decision has been taken “to maintain law and order”.Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Rohtak after traders and advocates clashed outside the district court premises on Thursday. Police and paramilitary forces resorted to lathi-charge and teargas shelling to disperse protesters. Several unidentified persons pelted stones and torched many vehicles.Security forces staged a flag march through Rohtak town yesterday. Additional companies of paramilitary personnel have been rushed to the district as well as to the adjoining Sonepat and Jhajjar districts.Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has convened an all-party meeting today in view of the agitation which has intensified and spread to more parts of the state.Jat leaders who held a four-hour-long meeting with the Chief Minister yesterday rejected his offer to enhance quota for the Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20 per cent to include Jats, sticking to their demand for reservation in jobs and educational institutions under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.”It is not technically viable. It is illegal and cannot be implemented,” Yashapal Malik, National President of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti – the group spearheading the quota agitation – told Press Trust of India.As the meeting between the government and community leaders failed to break the deadlock, protests spread to Kaithal, Karnal, Jind and other districts in the state, disrupting road and rail traffic as protestors blocked various highways and railway lines.In view of the blockades set up by agitators, Haryana Roadways suspended its bus services on many affected routes.The supply of milk, vegetables, fruits and other items on the national highway connecting Rohtak with other parts of the state and the National Capital Region has also been affected.Private schools in the affected areas have also declared holidays due to the ongoing agitation.
[“Source-ndtv”]
