Farmers hold protests across state, burn copies of agri laws
Observe Sampoorna Kranti Diwas to mark the day when three farm laws were promulgated as ordinances last year
BATHINDA/SANGRUR: On a call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of 40 farmers’ unions, protests were held across Punjab on Saturday to observe “Sampoorna Kranti Diwas” marking the day when three farm legislations were promulgated as ordinances last year.
Carrying black flags, farmers raised slogans against the Bjpled central government and burnt copies of the contentious laws, which they said will destroy the farming community.
Cops were deployed and barricades put up near the protest sites to maintain law and order.
In Phagwara, farmers burnt copies of farm laws near the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate. The protesters assembled near the GT Road and marched towards his residence. The Union minister was not at home at the time of the protest. The agitating farmers also held a protest near Parkash’s residence in Mohali.
Protests were also held in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, Abohar, Hoshiarpur, Barnala, Nawanshahr and Patiala.
In south Malwa, activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-ugrahan) held dharnas outside the residences of BJP leaders Surjeet Kumar Jyani in Fazilka and Dyal Sodhi Tungwali in Bathinda.
No untoward incident was reported, though protesters violated Covid guidelines at several places.
Copies of farm laws were also burnt in Sangrur, Bhawanigarh, Lehra and Barnala. In a joint statement, farmer leaders said the central government used Covid-19 to pass the “black laws” last year and brought three ordinances to hand over the agriculture sector to the corporates.
In Hoshiarpur, farmers took out a protest march from a gurdwara to the local BJP office at Shastri market and then burnt the copies of the legislation.
Khanna farmer seen tearing national flag, held for sedition
LUDHIANA: A 52-year-old farmer was arrested for allegedly tearing the national flag and making derogatory remarks against the Union government and judiciary in a video. The accused was booked for sedition by the Sadar police, Khanna, on Friday.
The accused has been identified as Sandeep Singh, alias Vicky, of Ikkolaha village in
Khanna. Police said the accused is facing trial in criminal cases, including forgery and land grab.
Khanna sadar station house officer Sarabjit Singh said in the video shared video on social networking sites, the accused could also be heard trying to instigate people to wage a war against the government. The SHO said the relatives of the accused claimed that his mental condition is not stable.
A case under Sections 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 121-A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121) and 124- A (sedition) of the IPC, Section 2 of Prevention of Insult To National Honour Act and Section 66 of Information and Technology Act has been registered against the accused.