Sehwag, a Jat, joins other sportsmen and actors from the community to appeal for peace in Haryana

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag on Sunday appealed to protestors, who have gone on a rampage demanding reservation for the Jat community, to shun violence in Haryana.”The country’s defence forces, the sports world and others have made the country proud. We must concentrate and use our energies towards the upliftment of Indian society,” the Jat cricketer tweeted on a day when the protests continued for the eighth day.

Requesting his fellow community-members to abstain from violence and put forth their demands in a constitutional manner, the former India opener wrote in a report in The Times of India, “We are the protectors and not violators.”

Jats are demanding reservation and despite various leaders, including the Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar, appealing to them to maintain peace, there was no let up in the protests which have disrupted normal life in Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Sonipat and Hisar, reports The Indian Express. At least 10 people have been killed and 150 injured as protests by the Jat community in Haryana demanding status for Other Backward Classes (OBC) continues. The Jat stir also hit Delhi with the Centre asking the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana Government to ensure that the water supply to the national capital is not disrupted, reports The New Indian Express.

Boxer Vijender Singh too urged the Jats to keep calm and appealed for peace. Vijender on Saturday had requested the people of Haryana not to fight among themselves, reports Zee News.

Film actor Randeep Hooda, who is currently shooting for Omung Kumar’s biopic, based on the life of Indian prisoner Sarbjit, has appealed to the protesting Jats to shun violence and return to mainstream life in the larger interest of state and nation. Randeep, who is a Jat, expressed his concern over the sporadic violence reported in many parts of Haryana. He appealed to the protesters not to play in to the hands of anti-social elements and to remain calm.

“I belong to Haryana and I am proud to be a Haryana Jat. Sadly the Jats who once sacrificed their lives for others are destroying themselves. I appeal to my brothers to be peaceful as the violence is killing our brothers. Our property is being destroyed. The violence is not a solution. Only dialogue can solve the issue. Anti-social elements are indulging in violence. Youths are being misguided. I appeal to them to go back to their homes,” Randeep said in Amritsar, as reported by India Today.

Sportsmen and actors who the nation idolises have come forward to spread the message of peace. Recently, Think Change India published news on Captain Pawan Kumar, a Jat, who put his country before all else and gave up his life defending the nation. We salute our heroes.

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