SONIPAT: The death toll from caste riots in northern India has risen to 19 with another 200 people wounded, TheNewsTribe.com learnt from International media.
“Nineteen people have died and more than 200 are injured,” said P. K. Das, additional chief secretary for Haryana state, adding that the violence now appeared to be abating and curfews had been lifted in some districts.
Week-long protests turned violent on Sunday, with rioters setting fire to homes and railway stations and blocking highways.
New Delhi faced a water crisis after mobs shut down a key supply, as thousands of troops with shoot-on-sight orders were deployed in the state.
The Jat rural caste is leading the protests, demanding quotas be set for Jats for highly sought-after government jobs and for university places.
The Caste members say they are struggling to find places despite India’s strong economic growth.
Talks were held in Delhi between Jat leaders, national Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Haryana government run by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Haryana BJP leader Anil Jain said the state government had now agreed to the community’s demands.
Jat leader Jaipal Singh Sangwan said that they would only decide on Monday whether to call off the protests.
India reserves places for lower castes to try to bring victims of the country’s worst discrimination into the mainstream. But the policy causes resentment among other communities, who say it freezes them out.
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