What?
In the last 24 hours, nearly 15,000 Jats turned parts of Haryana into a riot zone.
They burned down the house of a senior state minister, destroyed railway tracks and blocked the National Highway. The Army and Paramilitary forces had to be airdropped, but looting and arson continued despite the curfew and flag marches.
Why?
Reservation.
The Jats of Haryana want to be counted as Other Backward Classes or OBCs, which would entitle them to 27% reservation in educational institutions and Central government jobs.
Jats make up 30% of Haryana’s population, so no political party can afford to ignore them.
No Way Out?
Chief Minister Khattar offered to include them in the Economically Backward Category, which would give them 20% reservation at the state level.
But the protesting Jats want nothing less than OBC status as it gives them access to Central government jobs. Modi would also know that in 2014, when the Congress granted OBC status to Jats, the Supreme Court struck it down.
Also, if the government were to give in to the Jats, the Patels, the Gujjars and the Meenas could well resume their protests for reservation.
But the Jat protest is spiralling out of control, even spilling over into Delhi.
The government is caught between a rock and a hard place.
(Video Editor: Hitesh Singh)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)