After ‘positive talks’, farmers say Karnal impasse may end
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Friday said the third round of talks with the Karnal district administration over the August 28 police action on farmers concluded on a “positive” note and hinted that the ongoing impasse may end by Saturday
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Friday said the third round of talks with the Karnal district administration over the August 28 police action on farmers concluded on a “positive” note and hinted that the ongoing impasse may end by Saturday.
The SKM is a platform of farm unions spearheading the protests against the agricultural laws since November last year.
Neither the farmer leaders nor government representatives disclosed what was discussed in the meeting which lasted for more than four hours.
The farmers, however, said that most of their issues pertaining to the police clashes last month were resolved and that only two or three were left for discussion in the next round of meeting on Saturday.
“The meeting was very positive and we are expecting that this issue might be resolved in the next meeting at 9 am on Saturday,” farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said.
Haryana additional chief secretary Devender Singh, who presided over the meeting, also said the talks with farmers proved to be positive and that another meeting was slated for the weekend.
The development comes at a time when farmers have been staging an indefinite protest at the main-entrance of Karnal’s mini-secretariat since September 7 against the police action last month.
Several protesters were lathicharged while heading towards Karnal to protest against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting on August 28. Around 10 farmers were injured in the incident.
Soon after, a video had surfaced in which IAS officer Ayush Sinha was allegedly instructing policemen to “break heads” of the cultivators if they breached the security cordon at the BJP meeting.
Among other issues, the farmers have sought the suspension and registration of an FIR against Sinha, who was later transferred out of Karnal and posted as additional secretary of Citizen Resources Information Department (CRID).
At Friday’s meeting, the government assured to initiate action against the IAS officer, according to people familiar with the development.
The farmers also sought compensation of ₹25 lakh and a government job to the kin of farmer Sushil Kajal, who they claimed died due to police action, and financial assistance of ₹2 lakh each to the injured farmers besides free treatment in government hospitals.
Charuni said the farmers will hold a discussion with other senior SKM leaders on Friday night and all issues are likely to be cleared during Saturday’s meeting.
After two meetings with the protesters failed, the state government had sent Singh for talks with a 13-member delegation of farmers led by Charuni on Friday.
The SKM had called a meeting of all senior leaders at Karnal on September 11 to announce a ‘big decision’ if their demands were not met.
“As the talks were positive, the decision about SKM’s meeting for further course of action will be taken on Saturday morning,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) spokesperson Rakesh Bains.
