Gurugram: Thousands of farmers from Kasan, Maakdola, Mokalwas and Sehrawan gathered at the Manesar tehsil office on Tuesday to take part in a Mahapanchayat called by these villages, demanding more compensation for 1,810 acres of land acquired by the Haryana government.
Addressing the gathering, farmer leader Naveen Jaihind said, “The acquired lands belong to the farmers. If they want, they will give land to the government and if they do not feel like, they will not give land to the government. The government should not play pressure politics with the farmers.”
The congregation started at 10 am outside the Manesar tehsil office on the call given by the farmers from the adjoining villages.
The farmers alleged that around 1,810 acres of land of Kasan village in Manesar region, in which farmers of 27 surrounding villages have a stake with about 2,000 farmers living there the last 40-50 years, are being acquired by the government for just Rs 55 lakh per acre, which is very low in comparison to the current land value.
They said for the last 74 days, farmers including women are sitting in protest and have also met Chief Minister Manohar Lal many times but did not get justice.
In a message to the President of India, several farmers, including women, have threatened to commit self-immolation on September 31 if the issue is not resolved.
The protesters said that they do not want to surrender their land to the government and they want to get their acquired land released.
The police said that security has been stepped up in Manesar with the deployment of hundreds of policemen and rapid action force (RAF) personnel over law and order concerns.
“Years ago, the government had acquired acres of land in Kasan and adjoining villages. Now, only a few acres of land are left and if they are also acquired, our livelihood will be finished. We are not educated to opt for another profession. Our only source of income is farming but the government wants to snatch that as well,” said Satyadev Sharma, the sarpanch of Kasan.
–IANS