Rewari residents tell farmers to vacate, expressway likely to be reopened

A day after protesters carrying out a tractor rally clashed with the police in Delhi on Republic Day, villagers in Rewari asked the protesters in the area to vacate

A day after protesters carrying out a tractor rally clashed with the police in Delhi on Republic Day, villagers in Rewari asked the protesters in the area to vacate.

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Many residents said after the incident in Delhi, they are not willing to support the farmers camping on the Delhi-Jaipur highway at Sangwari Chowk in Rewari and Masani village near Dharuhera, and gave them an ultimatum to vacate the sites by Thursday noon.

Capt (retd) Lala Ram, sarpanch of Masani village, said that they were supporting the farmers till Tuesday but have been hurt by the violence that unfolded on Republic Day. “The farmers from different states have been camping in our area for over a month now. They have spoiled our fields, broken water pipelines and damaged service lanes. Many local farmers have complained of their misconduct, but we ignored that and helped them with essential services and extended support by providing dry ration and dairy products. On Wednesday, we asked them to vacate the land and told them that our areas should be cleaned and cleared before noon, failing which we will throw their belongings and impound their vehicles,” he said.

Satnarayan Nehra, the president of Nehra Khap of Haryana, said they are vacating the two sites in Rewari on Thursday morning. “We have asked the protesters to wind up from Sangwari Chowk and Masani and to proceed to Shahjahanpur. More than 200 protesters called off the protest and left for their respective villages on Wednesday night. We will still protest till our counterparts are camping at Delhi borders. It will be a united decision to leave or to stay,” he said.

Ram Kishan Mehlawat, a protester from Bawal, said, “The villagers have requested us and we respect their decision. We are not part of the hooligan groups that created ruckus and violence in Delhi, but we are also labelled in the same category. We are not left with any choice and so, we will join the farmers at Shahjahanpur and shift our base.”

Farmers had been camping in Rewari after breaking through the barricades at Shahjahanpur on January 1. The Haryana Police had lathicharged the protesters and used water cannons to stop them, but more than 20 tractors and 100 farmers managed to pass through.

Rajesh Kumar, deputy superintendent of Bawal, said, “They are returning to their first base camp now. We will not allow any other tractor and vehicle of these protesters to re-enter the Rewari area once they vacate the sites completely. They have occupied a large portion of main carriageway and had set up tents at two different locations, leading to traffic chaos on the National highway.”

The police had been diverting commuters through Alwar and Sohna to move towards Jaipur. Kumar said the expressway will likely be opened for commuters on Thursday after almost a month.