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Will intensify stir of farmers not released, say protesters
The protesters condemned the state government for what they described as “illegal and undemocratic” arrests of farmer leaders and workers
Farmers affiliated with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) and other groups under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) on Monday burnt effigies of chief minister Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar and several other parts of Punjab to protest the arrest of farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher. The protesting farmers also warned of sit-in demonstrations outside the offices of senior superintendents of police (SSPs) in Amritsar and Sangrur from January 20.
The protesters condemned the state government for what they described as “illegal and undemocratic” arrests of farmer leaders and workers, as well as for the baton charge on farmers and labourers after the conclusion of a protest in Sangrur district.
The arrests were carried out ahead of a rally addressed by Mann at Majitha on Sunday. The KMM had announced plans to approach the CM at Majitha to question him over the government’s failure to deliver on assurances made to farmers. However, police launched a crackdown after midnight on Saturday, detaining dozens of farmer leaders, including Pandher. Despite the crackdown, a group of farmers managed to reach close to the rally venue after breaking police barricades at Majitha. Police resorted to mild use of force to stop them and detained several farmers.
A KMSC spokesperson said around 15 farmer leaders and workers, including Pandher, were forcibly arrested and sent to jail. Additionally, 23 members of BKU Ekta Azad were lodged in Sangrur jail, while senior leaders Dilbagh Singh Harigarh and Jaswinder Singh Longowal were sent to Patiala jail.
To protest the arrests, farmers gathered at the Golden Gate in Amritsar. Similar demonstrations were held across several districts of Punjab, the spokesperson said.
Addressing the gatherings, leaders of the Morcha said the government action was an attempt to crush a peaceful farmers’ movement demanding democratic rights, terming the crackdown a misuse of state power and a conspiracy to intimidate farmers, the Morcha warned that sit-in protests would begin on January 20 outside SSP offices in Sangrur and Amritsar if all arrested leaders were not released by Monday evening. They further cautioned that the agitation would be intensified across the state if the demands were ignored.
Protests spill over to Haryana
The KMM spokesperson said demonstrations were held at Golden Gate in Amritsar and in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Kapurthala, Sultanpur Lodhi, Ferozepur, Moga, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Patiala, Patran, Rajpura, Longowal, Bathinda, Rampura Phul, Mansa, Fazilka, Malerkotla and Mohali, besides hundreds of villages and blocks. Effigies were also burnt in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Shahabad in Haryana.
Issuing a warning to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal, farmer leaders said that if all arrested leaders were not released immediately and unconditionally, the party should be prepared to face intensified and widespread opposition at the grassroots level. “The farmers’ movement will not be broken by pressure. Instead, it will emerge stronger,” the KMM said in a statement, adding that the struggle would continue until justice is delivered and democratic rights are restored.
