- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE farmers’ protest in the northern Indian state of Haryana against the police brutality of August 28 seems to have taken a worse turn as the talks between the protesters and the representatives of the state government remained inconclusive on Wednesday (8), the second consecutive day.
The farmers, who have staged a protest in the state’s Karnal city, have said that they were thinking of keeping a permanent protest site there.
“We may have a permanent protest like the Singhu and Tikri border here,” said farmer leader Rakesh Tikait. He dded that they do not want the ongoing protests at the Delhi border to get “disturbed by this one”.
The farmers set up tents outside the government offices in Karnal on Tuesday (7) evening as talks with the state government led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar seeking justice for the August 28 victims did not succeed.
The protesting farmers, who marched to the state’s mini secretariat in Karnal after the first round of talks, have been seeking suspension of Ayush Sinha, an Indian Administrative Officer who allegedly asked the police to break the heads of the protesters who were blocking the highway the day Khattar and other leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party were holding a political meeting in Karnal. Khattar himself represents Karnal in the Haryana state assembly.
Ten people were injured in the police action that followed while one person died. The police said the death was due to heart attack, which the farmers have subbished.
On Tuesday, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmers’ groups, accused the state government of protecting and promoting the “the murderous official”.
“We are not going anywhere from here until our demands are met,” Gurnam Singh Chaduni, the chief of Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni), was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
About Ayush Sinha’s suspension, he said, “We are saying transferring him is not a punishment. We are also saying when farmers are booked for even road blockade, why not take action against the officer who ordered (the police) to break heads. Is there any law under which such an order can be given?”
