A mahapanchayat of farmers from 84 villages in the district today announced that it would not accept the compensation amount for land acquired by the state government to develop a multi-model logistics hub in the Bawal area of the district. Demanding immediate quashing of the land acquisition process, the mahapanchayat decided not to hold parleys on the issue unless the government met the demand. The mahapanchayat was held at the Government High School under the aegis of the Bhoomi Adhigrahan Virodhi Sangarsh Samiti and lasted over five hours. Bhartiya Kisan Union national general secretary Rajpal Sharma said the state government was overlooking interests of farmers by acquiring fertile land against their wishes. “The government should initiate talks on the basis of the new acquisition Act, otherwise farmers from across the nation will be in Rewari to fight a decisive battle against the state government,” he said. The state government had issued notices to farmers in 16 villages to acquire over 3,664 acres for setting up the multi-model logistics hub to boost investment, income and employment, but farmers had been resisting the move, stating that they would not let the government dispose of their land in the name of development. “As per the latest court ruling, the state government cannot acquire fertile land of farmers without their consent. In this case, the government is making efforts to snatch land of farmers, but we will not let it happen as the future of farmers was associated with their land,” said Ram Kisan Mehlawat, chief of the samiti. He asserted that farmers would reject the compensation amount if the government did not withdraw the notices. Pratap Singh presided over the mahapanchayat. Shamsher Dahiya, Azad Singh, Hukam Singh, Ganpat Roy Chaukan, Ram Avtaar and Randheer Singh also spoke. The stir by farmers had witnessed violence around a year ago when 50 persons, including several policemen, were injured during a clash with farmers in Rewari. Hundreds of farmers were booked, but no arrest was made.