19 dead, 10 million without water in India protests

At least 19 people were dead and more than 10 million were without water in India on Monday after protests by people demanding government jobs for their caste became violent, media reported.

Protesters from the Jat caste, who number more than 80 million, took control of Delhi’s main water source, the Munak canal, on Friday. The army seized parts of it Monday, the BBC reported.

The riots took place in the northern state of Haryana, which neighbors Delhi, whose population is 25 million.

AFP reported that Yashpal Malik, the head of a group of Jat organizations, on Monday said they had accepted a state government deal to give Jats quotas for government jobs and places at universities.

The unrest continued however Monday, as protesters set fire to a freight train in Haryana and burned buses in neighboring Rajasthan, Reuters reported. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to try and stop the disruption.

"We will continue the protests. The government thinks we will succumb to their pressure tactics but they are making a big mistake by ignoring us," Ramesh Dalal, a spokesman for the Jat Arakshan Andolan (Jat Reservation Movement), told Reuters on Monday.

Businesses have lost an estimated $2.9 billion, 850 trains have been cancelled and 500 factories closed during the crisis, the news agency reported.  It said more discussions to end the protests were due to take place Monday evening.

Many Jats, who have been traditionally considered upper caste, want quotas for members of their community to get government jobs under India’s caste-based quota system. Many Jats are farmers whose livelihoods have been affected by families dividing farms and by two years of drought, Reuters reported.