Karnal lathi charge: Opposition slams Khattar govt

The Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) condemned the BJP-JJP government in Haryana for police beating up protesting farmers in Karnal on Saturday

The Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) condemned the BJP-JJP government in Haryana for police beating up protesting farmers in Karnal on Saturday.

Police canecharging farmers at Karnal's Bastara toll plaza on Saturday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

Leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda in a statement said that farmers were canecharged by the police despite protesting at Bastara toll plaza which is a good 15 kilometers away from the spot where the BJP event was organised. “This shows the anti-farmer mindset of the state government,’’ Hooda said.

INLD general secretary Abhay Chautala said the police action against farmers who were protesting peacefully was an act of cowardice.

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said that the brutal lathi charge by the police showed that BJP-JJP government was an enemy of the farmers.

Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the BJP-led ML Khattar government has once again used brute force in a desperate bid to end the farmers’ stir against the draconian farm laws. “Khattar government-sponsored attack on farmers is not only unacceptable but outright condemnable,” said Amarinder.