Queen’s Baton nears Haryana, government keeps fingers crossed

CHANDIGARH - With a violent Jat agitation barely over, the Haryana government is keepings its fingers crossed about the Queen’s Baton Relay that enters the state Sep 26 and moves out from Gurgaon into New Delhi five days later just ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The state witnessed violent incidents earlier this week owing to the Jat agitation seeking reservation under the other backward castes (OBC) quota in government jobs and educational institutions.

The relay will enter the state at Dabwali town after arriving from Rajasthan Sep 26. It will pass through Hisar district, the area that saw the maximum violence for two days this week, before going to other areas.

A senior sports and youth affairs department official said that it would pass through places like Sirsa, Fatehabad, Narwana, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Gohana, Meham, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar and Gurgaon before entering Delhi on Sep 30.

Most of the areas through which through which the relay will travel are in the Jat-dominated belt of the state.

Senior police officials told IANS here that adequate security forces were being assigned along the entire route of the relay as the Haryana government did not want any embarrassment just before the Games begin in New Delhi Oct 3.

Haryana Olympic Association president P.V. Rathee Friday appealed to the people of the state to give full honour and respect to the relay since the Games the biggest ever being hosted by India.

“The whole world would be watching the Queen’s Baton Relay passing through Haryana. Therefore, it’s our moral responsibility to respect the baton and show the entire world that people of Haryana are not behind in promoting sports and sportsmanship. It is a matter of pride for the entire nation to host such a big international event,” Rathee said.

Haryana is contributing one of the biggest contingents of sportspersons among all states in the country. Forty-four sportspersons from the state will represent India at the Games.

Cautioning those who were trying to obstruct the passage of the relay through Haryana, Rathee said that such people would be dealt with sternly.

The Jat rioters had set scores of vehicles and buildings, including a bank, ATMs, a police station, a cotton mill and other government and private property on fire during violence Monday and Tuesday in Hisar district.