Haryana should wait until new land acquisition law is framed: Farmers A day after a violent clash between farmers protesting against land acquisition and police personnel left several persons on both sides injured, normalcy was restored at Asalwas village, where the clash occurred, and the surrounding areas, including Bawal town. The Haryana Government is proposing to acquire land here to develop an extended industrial area, centred around Bawal town, that is part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project. Four charred buses belonging to Haryana and Rajasthan Roadways, two burnt fire tenders, and a torched motorbike are the only remnants of the eight-hour-long stand-off on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. Several hundred protesters and police personnel had engaged each other with lathis and stones, followed by a blockade of the highway for several hours by the villagers. The Bhoomi Adhigrahan Virodhi Sangarsh Samiti, which is spearheading the farmers’ protest against acquisition of over 3,000 acres from 21 villages near Bawal town, said it will resist any attempt to acquire land and called upon Haryana Government to wait for the Union Government to pass the revised version of the Land Acquisition (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill before initiating acquisition proceedings. Samiti president Ram Kishan Mahalawat said Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had promised farmers twice that land acquisition proceedings will not be undertaken until the new Act, which is expected to be sympathetic to the grievances of farmers and landowners, comes into force. “Despite this, Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was invoked earlier this month, declaring the land was required for public purpose. Last July, Section 4 of the Act, which is a preliminary notification of the land acquisition, was published. Since then, we have received several promises that the acquisition will not start until the new Act comes into force, but we were betrayed,” Mr. Mahalawat said. Political commentator Yogendra Yadav, who hails from the area and mediated the settlement reached late on Sunday night that put an end to the stand-off between the district administration and the farmers, is critical of the State government’s attitude to the farmers’ demand. “The Chief Minister has gone back on his word that he will wait until the new Land Acquisition Bill, which his own party is pushing, is passed. The farmers’ demand is reasonable, for the new Bill provides them more rights and better compensation. The district administration and the police are not the culprits here. The decision to abandon land acquisition has to be taken by the State government, which lacks political will. The Western Corridor project involves huge corporate and foreign interests, and it appears that some of these pressures may be working on the State government,” Dr. Yadav said. While farmers allege that the district administration has been unwilling to come to the discussion table since they started agitating over the issue in mid-July, Deputy Commissioner C.G. Rajnikaanthan said that he was telling the Samiti until Saturday to be patient as “the matter was in the consideration of the State government”. Sources said Mr. Hooda will meet the Samiti leaders in a few days at Haryana Bhawan in Delhi. Another Samiti leader Colonel (Retired) G. R. Chokan said farmers of the 21-affected villages were worried about being encircled by the proposed industrial hub. “When all our land is gone, where will our village expand to? It is not about higher compensation. Almost all of us own just five acres to six acres of land. We absolutely do not want to part with our land,” Mr. Chokan said. He said the farmers were intent on continuing the protest and will so only in a non-violent manner in the future. Meanwhile, Rewari Police released photographs of three policemen who suffered serious injuries, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector who is on ventilator support. Two protesters also reportedly sustained bullet injuries.