NEW DELHI: The cities of Chandigarh and Jabalpur observed general strike Monday to protest against the government reservation of jobs for backward classes as recommended by Mandal commission while work was paralyzed in the Supreme Court here following a strike call by lawyers.
The 12hour strike called by the anti-reservation joint action committee disrupted traffic in Chandigarh, where the shops, too, remained closed. Schools which reopened Monday after three weeks shut down immediately after opening.
Protests have erupted all over the country ever since the federal government notified additional reservation of 27 per cent of government jobs for backward classes. This added to the existing 22.5 per cent reservation for scheduled castes and tribes and backward classes brings the total reservation to 49.5 per cent of all federal government jobs. Till now nearly 20 people have died due in the anti-reservation stir in the country.
Three buses were damaged in stoning by anti-quota protesters an abortive attempt was made to set fire to a bus in Jabalpur, a town in Madhya Pradesh state in central India, all shopping centers and cinema houses remained closed. In New Delhi Supreme Court bar association which had called a strike Monday in a resolution urged the president to seek legal opinion of the apex court.
Pradesh set up road blocks and the sanitary staff of the municipal corporation and three government hospitals withdrew their five day long strike supporting Mandal while the anti-quota factions resumed duty started a pen down strike from Monday.
Army has been withdrawn from all the places in Himachal Pradesh as the state limped back to normalcy. In northern Jammu agitators took out a rally and forced closure of schools which had reopened after two weeks.
Schools in the capital reopened Monday after remaining closed for about a fortnight.
Meanwhile, chief minister of Karnataka Veerendra Patil said his government would not implement the Mandal recommendation pending acceptance of Chinnapa Reddy commission report on backward classes in the state.
In Kochi, the Kerala Brahmana Sabha has urged New Delhi to desist from the move to implement the report “since it would pave the way for country’s disintegration”.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 21, 1990
