'Up govt adding insult to injury'

Villagers at Greater Noida say the very same administration that brutalised them is now sending in free medical help

The agitation in Greater Noida may have stopped but the anger is still simmering among residents of Bhatta Parsaul. Villagers are extremely unhappy with the role of the local administration, which allegedly first tortured them and has now deputed teams of doctors to provide free treatment to those injured. Locals allege the measures were taken after two days of the initiation of violence, when other political parties started building pressure.


Insecure: Policemen talk to local women after the agitation of farmers
against land acquisition for the Yamuna Expressway at Bhatta Parsaul
village in Greater Noida on Sunday. file pic

According to the villagers, during the search operation which was carried out on Saturday and Sunday police started beating up people and illegally detained around 150 of them. "This is a complete mockery of the system. First they come and take away all the male members of the family and beat them, and now they are coming with teams of doctors, announcing free medical treatment," said Chandrawati, a resident of Bhatta Parsaul. Declining treatment from the team of six doctors deployed by district administration, villagers are adamant they will boycott all such help till their demands are not fulfilled.

Battered
"They forcibly entered our house and took away my husband, Jugal Kishor, a 61-year-old school teacher. When he came back he had sustained injuries on his hands and chest. Doctors came to our house but we declined any medical help from them. My husband was not involved in firing but he was still beaten up. This is a clear violation of human right," said Sushma, another resident of the area. The district administration has deployed a team of six doctors who are working in eight-hour shifts and going for door-to-door checks on whether anyone needs medical treatment. An ambulance has also been deployed in the village, but locals feel this is eyewash in the face of immense political pressure.u00a0

Around 300 policemen are stationed inside the village. Cops have denied charges of atrocities, claiming they took the injured villagers to the hospital. The condition of two farmers who were admitted in Kailash Hospital still remains critical and doctors are monitoring them. While the condition of Deepak Agarwal, DM Gautam Budh Nagar and SSP SN Singh has improved significantly.

Shay ground
With the unrest over acquisition of farm land in Greater Noida turning completely political, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, Tuesday, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue. Although what transpired during the meeting remains unclear but the Jat leader, whose party has influence in the area is expected to have pressed for the demand that the Centre set up an inquiry commission to look into the faulty land acquisition policy of the Uttar Pradesh government. "We would like the Centre to probe at what price the land has been acquired, for what purpose and who has benefited from the acquired land?'' Singh had said earlier.