Release detained farmers, says union amid statewide protests
Farmer leaders announced that a meeting of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and SKM (non-political) would be held soon and a struggle would be announced against the Punjab government until farmers’ demands are met.
Farmers owing allegiance to the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) on Saturday organised statewide protests against the state government over the police crackdown against protesting farmers. They burnt effigies of Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann and sought release of detained farmers besides compensation for “vandalised” tractor-trailers.
On the call of the farmer organisation that spearheaded the sit-in at Shambhu at Haryana border, gatherings were held in 551 villages in 18 districts during which farmers protested against Bhagwant Mann-led state government, KMSC president Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra mentioned in a press release.
Addressing the protesters at various places, leaders said, “Bhagwant Mann, by becoming a puppet of the central government and Kejriwal, deceived the farmer leaders on the pretext of a meeting with central ministers.”
Sabhra said, “The state government betrayed trust by arresting farmer leaders on March 19 and dispersing the nationwide agitation against the central government on Shambhu and Khanauri borders through police brutality, lathi-charge and destruction of property.”
The farmer leaders announced that a meeting of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and SKM (non-political) would be held soon and a struggle would be announced against the Punjab government until farmers’ demands are met.
They further said that on March 23 and 24, protests at 50 sites would be continued to demand immediate release of the arrested farmers and labourers. “Compensation should be provided for the vandalism of tractor-trolleys and tents worth crores of rupees at Shambhu and Khanauri. Strict action should be taken against the culprits who stole trolleys and goods,” the protesters added.
The police recently removed protesters, their makeshift structures and also tractor-trolleys from Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites to open the national highway (NH) 52 and NH-44. Farmers had been staging a sit-in there since February 13 last year after their march to Delhi, seeking MSP for crops, was blocked by security forces at Shambhu and Khanauri border .
