In February 2016 members of the Jat community in Haryana blocked roads and railway lines to demand reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Between 18 and 22 February the protests turned violent in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat and other districts: about 30 people were killed, the army was deployed with shoot-at-sight orders, and protesters cut off Delhi's water at the Munak canal. The state passed a quota law in March 2016, but the courts froze it, and the High Court case on the violence, including the alleged sexual assaults near Murthal, was still open in late 2025.
Key takeaways
- The Haryana agitation turned violent on 18 and 19 February 2016, when mobs in Rohtak burned shops, vehicles and police property and set fire to Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu's house, and the army was called in with curfew and shoot-at-sight orders in Rohtak and Bhiwani.
- About 30 people were killed and about 320 injured in the February 2016 Jat agitation, according to PTI and IANS; some reports, including the Tribune, put the toll at 31.
- The Murthal sexual assault allegations remain contested: the High Court said in 2017 that evidence indicated assaults, while the SIT said it found no victim or accused.
Background: the Jat claim to OBC status
Jats, about 29% of Haryana's population, had sought OBC status for years, and earlier agitations had also blocked roads and railways and cut water to Delhi, Scroll reported Scroll.
In March 2014, ahead of the general election, the UPA government added Jats to the central OBC list in nine states, including Haryana. On 17 March 2015 the Supreme Court, in Ram Singh and others v Union of India, quashed that notification. A bench led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said: "Inclusion of a politically organized community may not be good for other backward classes" Governance Now.
How it started
Manohar Lal Khattar, chief minister since the BJP's first Haryana win in 2014, was the state's first non-Jat chief minister in nearly two decades Scroll. On 9 February 2016 his government set up a committee under the chief secretary to examine the reservation demand, and Khattar said it would report by 31 March PTI via Business Standard.
The All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), led by Yashpal Malik, was the main organisation. By 16 February PTI reported blockades across the Rohtak-Jhajjar region and on NH-10 at Sampla, spreading to Sonipat. PTI via Business Standard.
On 17 February protesters rejected Khattar's offer to extend the economically backward classes quota to Jats. The next day the stir spread to Kaithal, Karnal and Jind, students joined in, and Rohtak's administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 PTI via Free Press Journal.
How it turned violent
On 19 February mobs in Rohtak partially burned the house of Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu and his car, set fire to the entrance of the Inspector General's house, and burned police vehicles Deccan Herald.
DGP YP Singhal said Border Security Force personnel fired in self-defence after being shot at with a country-made pistol Deccan Herald. Three protesters died that day, police sources told The Quint. The army was sought for eight districts: Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hisar. Curfew and shoot-at-sight orders were issued in Rohtak and Bhiwani, and internet and SMS services were blocked The Quint Scroll.
Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan said the youth had taken over: "They do not have any organised leader and hence the violence is happening" The Quint. Over the next days hundreds of shops were burned or vandalised in Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar and elsewhere IANS via The Peninsula.
The Indian Express reported that non-Jat shops and homes were targeted in several places; Scroll called it the first such widespread targeting of non-Jats in a Jat agitation Scroll.
Munak canal and Delhi's water
From the night of 19 February protesters disrupted water supply to Delhi at Akbarpur-Barota in Sonipat, where the Munak canal carries water to the capital IANS via The Peninsula. Around 4 am on 22 February two army columns of about 150 personnel, with CRPF and police, took control of the canal PTI via Business Standard. The canal breach later became a CBI case monitored by the High Court Tribune.
Timeline
Supreme Court ruling
In Ram Singh v Union of India the court quashes the 2014 notification adding Jats to the central OBC list Governance Now.
Army called in
Minister's house burned, three killed, curfew and shoot-at-sight orders in Rohtak and Bhiwani The Quint.
Canal retaken, stir called off
Army secures the Munak canal; three killed in a clash in Sonipat; AIJASS lifts highway dharnas after the BJP sets up a committee under a Union minister PTI.
Supreme Court status quo
Status quo ordered on the High Court ruling upholding the Act Tribune.
Case revived
High Court asks Haryana for a fresh status report on the suo motu case Tribune.
Death toll and losses
Counts rose daily: 10 dead per the DGP on 21 February IANS via The Quint, then 16 per a minister and 19 per PTI's tally on 22 February PTI via Business Standard.
Later reports settled at about 30 dead and 320 injured IANS via Business Standard PTI via Business Standard. Deccan Herald and the Tribune put the toll at 31 Deccan Herald Tribune. The Indian Express found that four of seven bodies at the Jhajjar hospital mortuary were of non-Jats, Scroll reported Scroll.
Nearly 900 trains were cancelled, per railway officials IANS via The Peninsula. Loss estimates ranged from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore Scroll Claim · estimates, not an official audit.
The Murthal allegations
The Tribune reported that women travelling on NH-1 near Murthal in Sonipat around 22 February had been dragged from vehicles and sexually assaulted. Two High Court judges separately took suo motu notice of the report Tribune. A senior IPS officer called the incident a rumour Scroll, and the government told the court in February that no rape or molestation had been reported IANS via Business Standard.
Three truck drivers told PTI they saw agitators "drag women out of vehicles, tear their clothes and molest them", and said plain-clothes police pressured them not to report it. Union minister Maneka Gandhi said a National Commission for Women team found no substantial evidence Scroll.
On 11 April 2016 the state told the court rapes could have happened and added the gangrape section, 376-D IPC, to FIR No. 118 registered on 30 March IANS via Business Standard Tribune. Amicus curiae Anupam Gupta said the state had moved from "shameless denial" to "conditional acknowledgement" Tribune.
In January 2017 a High Court bench said there was enough evidence to indicate assaults took place, citing two witnesses. Charges against five demonstrators had been dropped after forensic samples did not match. Gupta accused the SIT of trying to drop the rape charges Scroll. In October 2017 Gupta told the court nine rapes had occurred and sought a CBI probe; the IAS officer he cited denied sharing such information, and the SIT reportedly said "nothing has been found" The Quint.
Claim · Amicus, witnesses Assaults occurred. Government's position The SIT found no victim or accused. Whether a CBI probe is needed remained one of the issues before the High Court in 2025 Tribune.
Both accounts
Protesters' account
AIJASS president Yashpal Malik said all major parties backed the Jat demand and only Khattar resisted it, accusing him of a "casteist mentality" because he was not a Jat PTI via The Quint. Leaders blamed leaderless youth and "mischievous elements" The Quint. Later AIJASS sought withdrawal of cases, jobs for kin of those killed, and OBC status Tribune.
Police and government account
After the 19 February all-party meeting Khattar said his government was "in favour of reservation for Jats in the state" The Quint. The DGP said security forces fired only in self-defence Deccan Herald. Police booked Professor Virender Singh, an aide of former Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, for sedition over an audio clip; he said it was "doctored" and a Rohtak court discharged him in December 2019 Scroll Tribune.
The Prakash Singh committee
Former DGP Prakash Singh was asked to examine the conduct of civil and police officers from 7 to 22 February The Quint. His report, submitted on 13 May 2016, found about 90 officials guilty of "deliberate negligence", a third of them in Rohtak. "They virtually allowed loot and damage by arsonists," Singh said Scroll.
Made public at the end of May, the report described "complete administrative paralysis". It said the DGP "remained confined to Chandigarh" and that the Home Department "was a washout". Officers told the committee that oral instructions from Chandigarh were to avoid force as far as possible Tribune. It said that had Rohtak been handled effectively, "the chain reaction of the kind that took place would not have happened" Tribune.
Hooda asked why ministers heading the departments had been spared, and Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav sought a High Court judge's probe Tribune. A citizens' tribunal headed by former Haryana DGP VN Rai blamed "policy paralysis" at the top of government The Wire.
Outcome
- Quota law: The Haryana Backward Classes Act 2016, passed unanimously on 29 March and notified in May, gave Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and Muslim Jats 10% reservation in Group C and D jobs and education, and 6% in Group A and B PTI via Business Standard.
- Court stay: On 26 May 2016 the High Court stayed it on a PIL arguing it revived the Gupta Commission report rejected in Ram Singh PTI via Business Standard. On 1 September 2017 it upheld the Act but kept the quota in abeyance until the State Backward Classes Commission fixed its extent LiveLaw.
- Supreme Court: On 26 March 2018 a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul ordered status quo. Petitioners said total reservation would reach about 70%, above the 50% ceiling Tribune.
- Case withdrawals: About 2,100 cases were registered. By April 2018 the government had directed withdrawal of 398, under Section 321 CrPC, with courts having the final say Tribune. In February 2018 Malik said the state had agreed to withdraw all cases within its domain, after AIJASS called off a rally planned against BJP president Amit Shah's Jind event PTI via The Quint.
What is still pending
In November 2025 a bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu revived the suo motu case and asked the state for a status synopsis covering the past six to seven years. The open issues were the violence probes, a CBI probe for Murthal, the CBI's Munak canal case, and case withdrawals Tribune. In 2023 residents of Jassia, the stir's centre, said the cases still hurt young men's job and marriage prospects Tribune. No final Supreme Court ruling on the 2016 Act was found.
Questions people ask
Did rapes happen at Murthal?
It is contested. The High Court said in 2017 that evidence indicated sexual assaults took place, and the amicus alleged nine. The SIT reportedly said it found no victim or accused.
Do Jats get reservation in Haryana now?
The 2016 Act's 10% quota was stayed by the High Court, upheld in 2017 but held in abeyance, and then put on status quo by the Supreme Court in March 2018. No final ruling was found.
Sources
- Governance Now: SC scraps Jat quota, says community is not backward, 17 Mar 2015
- PTI via Business Standard: Jats continue stir in Haryana, road, rail traffic disrupted, 16 Feb 2016
- PTI via Free Press Journal: Rail, road traffic badly hit as Jats reject Khattar's offer, 18 Feb 2016
- PTI via The Quint: Jats refuse to withdraw pro-quota stir, attack Khattar, 19 Feb 2016
- Scroll: Shoot at sight orders issued in parts of Haryana, 19 Feb 2016
- Deccan Herald: Jat stir in Haryana turns violent; Army called in, 20 Feb 2016
- The Quint: Three dead in Haryana violence; Army called in, 20 Feb 2016
- IANS via The Quint: Ten killed and 150 injured in Jat quota protest, 21 Feb 2016
- IANS via The Peninsula: Haryana crawls to normalcy; Army takes over Munak canal, 22 Feb 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: Jat stir: 3 killed in fresh violence, death toll 19, 22 Feb 2016
- Scroll: FIR registered against Hooda's aide, 24 Feb 2016
- Scroll: As Haryana continues to simmer, Khattar's detractors take aim, 24 Feb 2016
- Scroll: Truck drivers say they saw women dragged and assaulted, 28 Feb 2016
- IANS via Business Standard: Haryana admits to possibility of rapes during Jat agitation, 11 Apr 2016
- Tribune: Murthal: Gangrape charge added to FIR, 12 Apr 2016
- Scroll: Inquiry panel finds 90 officials guilty of deliberate negligence, 13 May 2016
- The Quint: Parkash Singh report blames police for laxity, 13 May 2016
- Deccan Herald: Panel indicts 90 officials, 13 May 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: HC stays quota for Jats, five other communities, 26 May 2016
- Tribune: It was administrative paralysis: Probe, 1 Jun 2016
- Tribune: Then Rohtak DC, IG blamed for inaction, 1 Jun 2016
- The Wire: Two commissions and various omissions, 3 Jun 2016
- Scroll: Evidence indicates Murthal rapes did happen, says HC, 20 Jan 2017
- PTI via Business Standard: Punjab and Haryana HC upholds quota provision, 1 Sep 2017
- The Quint: 9 rapes in Murthal, amicus tells HC, 13 Oct 2017
- PTI via The Quint: Khattar drops 2016 stir cases, 13 Feb 2018
- LiveLaw: SC issues notice on challenge to Haryana Backward Classes Act, 2018
- Tribune: SC's status quo on HC ruling upholding Jat quota, 27 Mar 2018
- Tribune: 398 Jat quota stir cases to be withdrawn, 10 Apr 2018
- Tribune: Hooda's former aide among 3 discharged, 7 Dec 2019
- Tribune: Jassia village bears the brunt of 2016 Jat stir, 15 Feb 2023
- Tribune: 9 years on, HC revives hearing in suo motu case, 11 Nov 2025