By S.P. Singh, IANS,
Bhatta-Parsaul (Uttar Pradesh) : Like the centre of the proverbial storm, an eerie calm has settled in this village where all men between 15 to 40 have fled in terror leaving the women and the old to cope with the blitzkrieg of publicity, a day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s shocking allegations of rape and murder.
As security personnel trawl outside the village, which combines the areas of Bhatta and Parsaul, in the upcoming Greater Noida area, about 70 km from the national capital, women sit outside their homes reluctant to talk to the journalists and camera crews.
The glare of publicity after the battle over land acquisition in an area sought after by the real estate lobby for its proximity to New Delhi has led to an exodus of men. And people are still leaving, say residents on the condition of anonymity.
People are scared to talk, and open up only to say that there are a large number of young men unaccounted for.
“We can’t say anything until everyone is back,” said Kirpal Singh, 70.
Life has come to a virtual standstill. Grocery shops are closed and women say they are managing just with the bare minimum for food. “We are totally dependent on just rotis,” said one woman.
On Monday, the Congress general secretary, who had staged a day-long sit-in at their village in support of farmers seeking higher compensation for land acquired for the 156-km Yamuna Expressway, led a delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He alleged that women had been raped and people had found 74 heaps of ashes with dead bodies inside after the May 7 violence when villagers from the area in Gautam Budh Nagar district clashed with police.
“There is a set of large 74 heaps of ash there with dead bodies inside. Everybody in the village knows it. We can give you pictures. Women have been raped, people have been thrashed. Houses have been destroyed,” Gandhi told reporters.
Chief Minister Mayawati hit back to deny the allegations.
Farmers from Bhatta-Parsaul and other affected villages had Monday given a memorandum to the prime minister saying that over the past two years, the Uttar Pradesh government had forcibly taken over their land without following the due process under Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
The farmers said the Uttar Pradesh government had unleashed “a reign of terror” since May 7 and men had been shot by police and their bodies burnt and many men were missing.
The memorandum said that many of their family members had been put behind bars in false cases and were intimidated in prison.
The village had hit the headlines when clashes broke out between farmers and police, leaving four people dead. The following week, Gandhi was arrested after his daylong demonstration and then released.