Jat stir: Bhupinder Hooda to go on peace fast

As the Jat stir raged on in Haryana with fresh incidents of violence, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said he would go on a fast at Jantar Mantar here from Sunday to drive home the message of peace.

Talking to PTI, Mr Hooda said he wanted to go on a fast in Rohtak but in view of the gravity of the situation, he decided to shift the venue to Delhi.

“My appeal is to restore peace and amity. I have also asked all our party MLAs and former MLAs to hold peace meetings in their respective constituencies,” he said.

Asked whom he holds responsible for such a situation, Mr Hooda said he did not want to get into any kind of politics.

“Right now, my priority is to bring back peace and I am going on fast for this limited purpose,” he said.

Violence and arson in the Jat quota stir in the state spread to more areas on Saturday with four people killed in firing by security personnel in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts taking the death toll to five even as he Army staged flag marches in affected pockets.

A host of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday appealed for peace in Haryana which remained on the boil as the Jat quota stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson. “I appeal to people of Haryana to maintain peace and brotherhood. Mutual harmony and dialogue can alone resolve any issue,” the Congress vice-president said on micro-blogging site Twitter. Appealing to Haryana government to find an early resolution to the crisis, Mr Hooda said some forces were bent on damaging the social fabric.

Haryana CLP leader Kiran Chaudhary wanted the state government to open a dialogue with the agitators to calm down the situation.