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'We have two demands...': Farmers protest over sunflower MSP, block NH44
Apart from leaders of various khaps and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait were present at the mahapanchayat.
Farmers from Haryana and Punjab blocked National Highway 44 (Delhi-Chandigarh) as part of protests over demands the government offer MSP, or minimum support price, in its procurement of their harvest of sunflower seeds.
The farmers have said they are unhappy with the state's offer of ₹29.13 crore (distributed among 8,528 farmers) as interim relief under a scheme that pays a fixed amount - ₹1,000 per quintal - for produce sold below MSP.
READ | Farmers block Delhi-Chandigarh highway, traffic diverted at Kurukshetra
Farmers (also from Uttar Pradesh) have said they are being forced to sell their crops to private buyers at ₹4,000 per quintal when the MSP is ₹6,400.
In visuals circulated online hundreds of farmers streamed onto the national highway near Kurukshetra in Haryana waving flags and holding placards.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has denied reports the highway has been blocked; "We are not blocking the highway. It is not right... highways should not be blocked," he told reporters.
"We have only two demands - release farmers detained and start purchasing sunflower seeds at MSP. We are ready to hold discussions with the government."
However, one video shows a chain of tractors parked across a road blocking traffic and another shows dozens of farmers marching down a road in large numbers making it almost impossible for traffic to pass.
A third shows tractors and farmers gathered at a major intersection and the crowd forces traffic to stack up behind them.
According to ANI, traffic on parts of NH44 was diverted because of the protests.
Wrestlers' support farmers
Significantly, present at a mahapanchayat (or meeting) of the farmers in Kurukshetra was Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia, who is leading his fellow athlete's battle against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Singh.
READ | Tikait's 'message' on wrestlers' protest: 'Arrest Brij Bhushan or else…'
Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj, has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by seven female wrestlers but remains both a Member of Parliament and the head of the WFI.
June 6 farmers protest
Farmers also protested last week - and blocked the Delhi-Chandigarh highway then too, and that protest turned violent after police unleashed water cannons and lathi-charged the protesters in a bid to 'control' the situation.
Police sources told ANI they took action because 'this is a National Highway... the protest was blocking the way of many people. Following protocols... we asked them to leave... situation now peaceful (and) some people detained'.
READ | Protesting farmers block NH-44 in Haryana over sunflower seeds row
Nine Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) leaders, including chief Gurnam Singh Charuni, were later arrested on various charges, including rioting and unlawful assembly. Tikait today was referring to them when he demanded the authorities release detained farmers.
CM Khattar slams some farmers
Haryana chief minister ML Khattar has hit out at some farmer unions for instigating protests; he accused them of 'playing politics', claiming that a few farmers crossed state borders to sell their millet crop at higher prices despite his government having procured it at MSP.
