Gurugram/Rewari/Palwal: The ripple effect of the anger and sternness that came after the Republic Day anarchy in the Capital has now spread to locals, village heads and authorities in South Haryana, who have since then gone on overdrive — either removing protesting farmers by force or pressuring them to back off on their own.
Close to 2,000 farmers and protestors, who had earlier broken barricades at the Shahjahanpur border to enter Haryana's Rewari and camped at the Masani village, were forced back to the Shahjahanpur border protests. Meanwhile, thousands of farmers who had trekked all the way from Maharashtra also started to return after facing backlash from locals.
And while the farmers' protests had picked up steam in Haryana due to the overwhelming support from village chiefs and different khaps, these local chiefs turned on the
protesters soon after the Republic Day anarchy in Delhi and 15 of them have now given an ultimatum to protesting farmers — asking them to vacate all protest sites.
For a long time, it was this local population that was providing all items ranging from food, water, blankets, tents and even books to protesting farmers so that they could carry on with their movement against the three farm laws.
In addition to anger from villagers, there was also deployment of a large number of law enforcement officials who for the first time also received support from the local population.
"On various policies, I have my differences with the Central government that also includes three farm bills. At the same time, I will never want my country's flag to get insulted in the name of protests. Between nation and politics, we will always choose nation first as Rewari is the land of soldiers and we will never let their sacrifices go in vain with acts of what we witnessed at Red Fort," said Manjeet Yadav, a resident of Masani village.
In Palwal, the law enforcement officials were able to clear Tora Modh where close to 1,500 farmers were agitating for more than a month.
However, retreating protestors from Palwal and Rewari added to the protesting farmers at the Shahjahanpur border. But even there, a group of people claiming to be locals and businessmen began a counter-protest — demanding that the area be cleared of protesters immediately.
Taking into account the tension prevailing in the area, there was a high deployment of law enforcement officials of Rajasthan to keep the situation under control.
Having faced a setback, farmer unions and protestors however remained steadfast and reaffirmed that they will not back out until the three farm laws are repealed.