Almost three weeks have passed since Rohtak bore witness to the horrors of Jat quota stir, but the atmosphere of fear still exists in the city. Traders who suffered the most are yet to recover from the shock of seeing parts of the city they helped build over the years being burned down right in front of them.
“What took me 37 years to build was destroyed by those goondas in 37 seconds. First they looted the whole place and then set fire to it using petrol bombs. And that all happened despite the imposition of curfew; we were scared for our lives. We spent time near the back door of our house with the car ready so we could immediately leave from the back as soon as mob enters from the front gate,” said Romesh Vig, founder and CMD of Micron Precision Screws, whose whole establishment was destroyed by the mob.
“While we are ready to stay in Rohtak and build from the scratch, we are afraid of this happening again. Where is the guarantee that it will not happen againIJ” he asked.
Ajay Kumar, who works as an admin manager at a car showroom which was completely destroyed, said that despite calling the police several times, no one came to their rescue when they were attacked by a mob of around a hundred people.
“The showroom was completely new and had opened only a day before on February 18. On February 19, a mob showed up outside the showroom and started pelting stones. All the employees hid in the back office. Then the mob entered the showroom and smashed everything in sight. One of the employees tried to shoot a video of the people involved but they caught hold of him, thrashed him and broke his phone. We called the police several times, but nobody showed up even after the incident,” he said, adding that a mob showed up the next day also when they set fire to the showroom that completely destroyed it.
Incidentally, since the showroom had just been inaugurated, there were no cars inside and were to arrive the same day, shared Kumar.
Rajesh Jain, CMD of lakshmi Precision Screws ltd, was at his home with his family when the whole drama unfolded. “My wife, my daughter-in-law and I saw the havoc being raised for over 12 hours right in front of our eyes and we can not get over it. I desperately asked the administration for help. Then I called my friends, and even the senior ministers, but nobody could come to rescue us as a mob burnt down building in my neighbourhood. The whole time we were wondering if we are next,” he said.
He also said that no one came to their rescue.
“Now my family is asking me to leave Rohtak and move to somewhere else. I don’t know what to tell them,” he added.
Jagmohan Mittal, the president of Haryana Automobile Dealers’ Association, alleged that tens of thousands of youth were brought from outside to loot the city.
“The Deputy Commissioner had imposed Section 144 of CrPc in the city that prohibits assembly of five or more people at a place. But there was no police to implement it. Tens of thousands of youth were brought from the villages to ravage the city. Why was the curfew not imposedIJ Was the curfew only for the residents of Rohtak to stay inside while the mob got a free pass to loot the cityIJ” he asked.
Mittal further said that after an incident of such a large scale, things will take a long time to get back to normal. “Even the official machinery has been divided on caste lines. Even during the riots, some of them were seen abetting Jat agitators,” he said, however, clarifying that many Jats stood by the non-Jats during the time of adversity.
“Most of my employees are Jats and they all stood in front of my establishment to protect it from the rioters. That gives us hope that things may become normal, but it will take time to build confidence,” he added.
