With the memories of destruction still fresh on the impressionable minds of young students, Virender Singh, a Jat and a retired lecturer in Sampla village near Rohtak, is trying to help them get over the trauma.
Singh could be seen holding sessions to encourage youngsters to resume their studies. Standing outside the Scholars Rosary Senior School, Singh maintained a stoic silence on the issue of reservation to Jats. When persuaded to narrate the horrors that engulfed one of the most developed cities in the State, Singh ended the conversation by saying, “a good silence is better than a bad argument”.
“The hero State has become zero now!” said Singh trying to fight back his tears when The Pioneer persisted with the request.
Singh, along with his companion Krishan Dhayia who is a security officer, recalled the hazy pictures of Sampla village before the agitation and said that the “political conspiracy” has not just ruined the city infrastructure, but has also dealt a setback to the people of this fast developing city.
“Although the situations is normal now but sometimes, it is difficult for us to answer the innocent questions of the younger generation when they ask us about the conditions that led to violence and destruction in the city,” he said.
“Now there is no dispute among the communities and we all are trying to live here with harmony and spirit to regain the confidence and to portray good image for youngsters,” said Dhayia.
Not just commercial establishments, but even many schools were destroyed in the riots leaving thousands of school students without classrooms.
“Those behind the Jat quota stir did not give a thought on academic loss of more than two thousand students while damaging the schools. libraries, labs in the school premises were reduced to ashes during the agitation. It happened at a time when Board Examinations of the State and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) were about to start. Students have not recovered from the trauma arising out of the stir, where will they go to write their exams and who will assure them of their safety at exams centres,” lamented Suraj, who works in an automobile company.
“Police just remained a mute spectator when pro-reservation mob went on rampage. It appeared as if there was no rule of law. Forget about police, the Army Columns that were deployed to restore normalcy did not move an inch to protect the city from being torched and decimated. We all faced this grim reality,” Suraj added.
Returning back from her school, Aparna, a XII standard girl student of a private school in Rohtak district said that this was the first time when she did not like the vacations. “Vacations were ghastly this time. We stayed at home, there was orders from the city administrations that city was under curfew and if anyone goes out, he/she will be shot at sight.”
The utter lawlessness that prevailed in the city between February 19 and 28 had left deep scars on the minds of young students, especially girls. “I will try to reach home after school as soon as possible as I commute with two younger brothers and I fear for their safety as well as mine.”
70-year-old Randheer Kundu said that Haryana, the Jat land, never prompted their children to use the “lath” (Truncheon) to hit the weak and destroy properties. “It is an internal dispute among 36 communities because everyone wants to get in the Government sectors. Golden era has gone when a Jat used to take the risk of his life for the sake of his mother land.”
Many, who saw development during Governments led by Om Prakash Chautala and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, now feel cheated. The general refrain on their lips is as to who benefited from this mindless violence. “If Jats thought that they could arm-twist the Government by burning and looting properties, State infrastructure, they were sadly mistaken. They have turned people from other communities and castes against them who were targeted during the Jat quota stir” said another septuagenarian citizen who did not wish to be named.
“It will take ages to obliterate the air of mistrust that has now engulfed Rohtak and entire Haryana as people are now seeking answers from the leaders and elders of Jat community” said Inderpal.