Punjab: Cops-farmers clash over land acquisition in Gurdaspur
The farmers’ unions have claimed that at least seven to eight farmers have been injured during the scuffle
A clash broke out between farmers and police officials on Tuesday morning in two villages—Nangal Jhor and Bharath — in the Gurdaspur district over land acquisition for the Delhi-Katra Expressway, which is being constructed under the Centre’s Bharatmala project.
The farmers’ unions have claimed that at least seven to eight farmers have been injured during the scuffle.
As per the farmer unions, they had gathered in front of the gurdwara in Nangal Jhor village to start a sit-in against the police’s attempt to forcefully acquire land for a national highway project and this led to a scuffle.
The farmers alleged that the administration had tried to acquire their land without any prior notice and offered unreasonable compensation.
“The police forcibly removed protester’s turbans and destroyed their wheat crop. No compensation has been paid for the land which was being acquired,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher, convener of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and leader of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC).
Condemning the police action, videos of which went viral on social media, Pandher alleged that the police resorted to lathicharge, injuring many farmers.
HT couldn’t independently verify the veracity of the video clips.
Pandher and the other farmers later burnt the effigy of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar.
Addressing the journalists here, Pandher said that the way the Bhagwant Mann government is using force to seize the lands of farmers is highly condemnable.
He said that the organisation will hold a protest outside the DC office in Gurdaspur from March 17 on this issue.
“With an aim is to clear the misconceptions being spread by the government and the so-called pro-government intellectuals regarding MSP and other demands, a joint conference will be held by farmer organisations on March 17 at the Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh,” he said.
He said that under no circumstances they will allow the lands of the farmers to be taken without giving proper compensation. “The government should first issue compensation to the affected farmers and also compensate for the deliberate damage to the wheat crop,” he said, adding that the farmers will continue the protest until their demands are met.
This is not the first time that land acquisition for the Bharatmala project has run into trouble with farmers in the state. In February last month, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) terminated the contract with the firm concerned for the construction of the Amritsar-Tarn Taran stretch of the Delhi-Katra Expressway.
According to the letter dated February 26, 2025, the NHAI terminated the contract for the four-lane greenfield expressway segment connecting Amritsar with the DAK Expressway from MDR Junction at chainage 40+900 (Dhundha village, Tarn Taran) to chainage 70+950 (near Mannawalla village, Amritsar).
Earlier, in January, activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), held a protest against land acquisition.
