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Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, August 14
An approach road from Hansi to Rohnat village of Bhiwani district known as “Lal Sadak” bears testimony to the sacrifices of people of this region in the First War of Independence in 1857.
Today, the memorial, constructed on the road, to martyrs is a picture of neglect.
The British government had crushed more than 100 persons from Rohnat, Mangali, Hazampur, Jamalpur, Bhatla and other villages under a road roller on the road as punishment for participating in the mutiny.
The five villages were ransacked, torched and their residents were handed out capital punishment.
Mahender Singh, a historian, said that after crushing the uprising, the British unleashed atrocities on the people, especially from the five villages.
“Prominent leaders were hanged to death, while a special drive was launched to single out persons who had participated or helped the revolutionaries. The British authorities crushed on an average 15 persons every day on August 11, 12 and 13, 1857, on the road after reclaiming the possession of a fort in Hansi. Nearly 60 more persons were killed in a similar fashion on the road,” he said.
The road is known as “Lal Sadak” because it was soaked in blood of the martyrs. Rohnat villagers were the prime target of the brutality.
Pankaj Kumar from Hansi said the district authorities never unfurled the Tricolour at the memorial. “Sometimes, locals perform unfurl the national flag on Independence Day and Republic Day,” he added.
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