Bhatta-Parsaul, Uttar Pradesh:
Less than 48 hours before Parliament is expected to take up the Land Acquisition Bill, a protest turned violent in Noida after angry villagers set fire to an officer's car.
It brought back memories of the 2011 Bhatta-Parsaul agitation in western Uttar Pradesh. Even today, those wounds are still fresh. Four people were killed in police action that followed after villagers held hostage three employees of the Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation during Mayawati's regime.
The epicentre of agitations against forceful land acquisitions, Bhatta-Parsaul first hit the headlines in May 2011. Yet, two years later, as Parliament is all set to debate the provisions of the land acquisition bill, there's little confidence on the ground that it's in the best interest of the farmer.
The new bill promises higher compensation and even has a provision for rehabilitation and resettlement, but people here are viewing it with scepticism.
A resident of Bhatta village, Sandeep Kumar told NDTV, "If the government rehabilitates people at a decent place, that's fine. It shouldn't be the case that we are packed off to Bundelkhand. Then even if the government gives us 10 times the compensation, who will want to go?"
Jagmati Devi, who was in hiding for nearly three months after the agitation in 2011 says, "Our children also need to benefit from this. Give them jobs if factories are set up on our lands. Otherwise you know the money (compensation amount) will disappear in no time. They will have no jobs."
Quietly listening to the conversation around are Neeraj Malik and Kiran Pal. They have first-hand experience of taking on the government. After the agitation in Bhatta-Parsaul, both were forced to go underground and then spent over 18 months in jail in what they call trumped up charges against them. Of the 22 odd cases filed against them, now only eight remain, though they still include cases ranging from murder to loot and arson. They want to see the fine print before they can start celebrating.
Neeraj Malik says, "First I think it is wrong to even acquire fertile land of farmers where he harvests three crops in a year. And if for some reason the government must acquire the land, it should be on market value." When we point out that the government proposes to compensate farmers as per market value, he interrupts. "There are two types of market values. One that the collector decides, the other that developers pay in the market. If the government so wants, it can say our land is worth a measly Rs 2 and then let the developer earn Rs 10 on it. So why should we sell something in 2 and buy it in 10?", he asks, agitated.
For Kiran Pal, the big concern is the timing. "Why are they bringing it now when elections are around the corner? These agitations have been going on for so long."
For now, people here prefer to wait and watch without committing themselves to a much awaited legislation that many are convinced would not have reached even so far without their agitation.