9 years on, Mirchpur victim families battle biting cold in makeshift tents
HISAR : The plight of nearly 100 Dalit families, who fled their homes in the wake of violence at Hisar district’s Mirchpur village in April 2010, has aggravated as they are battling chilling cold with a sharp dip in temperature in makeshift tents where they have been living since.
The village hit the national headlines in April that year after a 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically challenged daughter were burnt alive allegedly by members of the Jat community. Soon after the incident, several families fled from the village and took shelter at a farmhouse in Hisar town with some taking refuge in a temple in New Delhi after their houses were torched.
Members of these victim families say they have lost all hopes now as the government has paid little heed to their demands of rehabilitation.
“Just imagine the condition of children, especially the newborns, who are staying in these makeshift tents provided to us years ago. The families have more than 500 members of which 350 are registered voters,” an elderly Ramphal said.
“Now, we will never return to Mirchpur again. The village will not accept us and we are not going to relive those bad memories,” a woman member of the family said.
Satyawan Singh, a witness in the violence case, says, “When
MEMBERS OF THESE FAMILIES SAY THEY HAVE LOST ALL HOPES NOW AS THE GOVERNMENT HAS PAID LITTLE HEED TO THEIR DEMANDS OF REHABILITATION
young people like find it tough to cope up such low temperatures, how will the children and the elderly people will survive? These makeshift tents have started leaking now. Five to six persons are living in a 7x7 tent.”
Five-year-old Sanjana Rani quips, “I like mathematics. I want to become an officer.”
Gulab Singh (70) says, “”Be it cold, summer or rainy season, this has become our life now. But during the winters we face a lot of problems. The BJP government accepted our demand to provide us plots and even took first installment of ₹830 from us. But nothing has happened on the ground so far. We should be allotted houses so we can also feed our families and live with dignity,”. In April last year, the then state social justice and empowerment minister Krishan Kumar Bedi visited Dhandoor village and selected land for the families.
“We saw a ray of hope that the government soon will construct houses for us and we will able to live a decent life but to no avail,” said Lily Devi.