Upset with Haryana govt over allowing Sandeep Singh to unfurl Tricolour, khaps to meet today
Ravinder Saini
Rohtak, January 22
The state government has put the ball in the khaps’ court by allotting Pehowa (Kurukshetra) to Minister Sandeep Singh to unfurl the Tricolour on the Republic Day without caring for the Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat’s warning of not letting the minister hoist the National Flag at any place of the state on January 26 and sack him from the Cabinet by January 23.
A prestige issue for us now
Now, it has become a prestige issue for khaps, hence we will not back down without ensuring justice to the coach. We will discuss the situation on Monday and decide our strategy accordingly. Surender Solanki, Chief of Palam Khap 360
Pehowa is the constituency of Sandeep Singh where the khaps are not as much active as in the Rohtak, Hisar and Jind region of the state.
Considering the government’s move as a “challenge”, the khap leaders have also started gearing up to chalk out their further course of action to carry forward their agitation against the minister to the next level. Some of them have scheduled a meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation before announcing their next step. The meeting is likely to be held in Delhi, with leaders of Dhankar Khap, Dagar Khap and Palam Khap 360 likely to be part of it, said sources.
“Our ultimatum to the state government for sacking the minister from the Cabinet is going to end tomorrow, hence we will wait for that, but will hold a meeting with some khap leaders to deliberate the situation that emerged after the government made the minister chief guest at the Republic Day function in Pehowa on January 26,” said Yudhvir Singh Dhankar, chief of Dhankar Khap 12 (a caste council of 12 villages).
The junior coach who levelled allegations of sexual harassment against the minister Sandeep Singh belongs to one of the 12 villages in Jhajjar district, hence the agitation against him is being led by the Dhankar Khap 12. At present, the Chandigarh Police is probing the case after booking the minister under relevant Sections of the IPC on the complaint of the coach in this regard.
Surender Solanki, chief of Palam Khap 360, a leading khap of Delhi, told The Tribune over phone that now it had become a prestige issue for khaps, hence they would not back down without ensuring justice to the coach. “We will discuss the prevailing situation tomorrow and will decide strategy accordingly,” Solanki added.
Sources claimed that the khaps were also contemplating taking the help of social and farm organisations to execute their agitation effectively across the state.
