The army was out in eight of the 21 districts in Haryana as angry Jats took to the streets in a violent agitation to demand a reservation quota. This is the first big challenge for the BJP government in the state and the Centre, which is not very far away from Rohtak, the eye of the storm. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who appealed to the agitators to remain calm is now banking on another Manohar “ Manohar Parrikar, the defence minister to bring the state back to normalcy. There are no signs of a let up in the anger or the agitation. Khattar’s promise to introduce a legislation to grant a quota to the Jats failed to ease tensions. A committee, headed by the chief minister is likely to be set up to study the issue, but passing a legislation that can withstand legal scrutiny is next to impossible.
The Jats are a martial and farming community, which are traditionally considered to be forward rather than backward. The cast comprises 29 per cent of Haryana’s population. If included in the OBC category they will control 27 per cent of the seats and swell the percentage of reservations to over 50 per cent, which is the cap prescribed by the Supreme Court. The Jats have been agitating for reservation since 1991 and in 1997 their demand to be included in the central OBC list was rejected by the national commission for backward classes. A survey of the community in Haryana showed that the Jats compare well with higher castes and not the lower ones. An attempt to create a special category with 10 per cent reservation was struck down by the high court after the Supreme Court refused to accept the recommendations. In March last year the Supreme Court rejected the Centre’s decision to include Jats from nine states in the OBC list.
Clearly, the caste dice is loaded against the Jats. Given the history of their agitation and the fact that the community is not backward, their demand flies in the face of logic or legal jurisprudence. So what is the basis for their demand? Numbers. In a democracy where politicians fear numbers any demand would seem legitimate. All a community has to do is gather in large numbers and governments bend. In Gujarat, the Patel community, which is also perceived as more forward than backward is fighting a similar battle based on numbers. Reservations have been traditionally used as vote banks and there was a time when governments in Tamil Nadu went beyond the 50 per cent cap in order to satisfy the demands of voters, until it was struck down by the Supreme Court. When governments lose sight of backwardness and misuse quotas to gain political traction, agitations erupt.
The Jats are very much aware that their caste is not a backward one. Surveys have proved that they are in fact better off than many other castes. Yet they are fighting for a quota. And to appease them, political parties have been making promises which cannot be delivered. For instance, what is the basis on which the Haryana Chief Minister promised the Jats reservation when the same was struck down by the Supreme Court a few months back? India would be better off, if instead of have a sedition law it had a law with a life sentence for political leaders who make illegal promises to the electorate.
