Karnal bears signs of being a Fort Knox for farmer activism
A day ago, the road to the mini secretariat in Karnal was impregnable - it was turned into a garrison with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces, as farmers thronged the street for a sit-in protest, days after a crackdown on those agitating against the farm laws. Langars serving food to protesters and security personnel alike were overwhelmed. The mini secretariat threatened to turn into another Singhu border for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
But the same street now wears a deserted look; there aren’t enough farmers to pack the tent where protest leaders sit, let alone the entire street. “Yesterday over 10,000 people ate langar here. But today, hardly 2,500 have come here for lunch,” said Gulshan Lal, filling a glass of lassi for a policeman, just outside the Nirmal Kutiya Gurudwara.
Farmer leaders, after a string of failed talks with the administration on Wednesday, announced that the sit-in protest would continue until their demands are met. But their list of demands is shorter now – they are no longer seeking ~25 lakh ex-gratia to kin of Sushil Kajal, the farmer who died during the crackdown on August 28; they have also dropped demand for the immediate release of arrested protesters. What they only want now is that the M L Khattar government in Haryana suspend Ayush Sinha, who was sub-divisional magistrate of Karnal until recently before his transfer to Chandigarh.
Local farmer leaders on Thursday were holding their meeting in the absence of top Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders. “Many SKM leaders have left the protest site. We hope they will come back soon with thousands of other farmers,” says Gurpal Singh, a farmer from Amritsar.
According to sources, the SKM leadership wanted a quick solution to the Karnal problem, but the government refused to accept farmers’ demands. “SKM leaders wanted high drama and ‘heroic exit’ on Wednesday night by courting arrest but there wasn’t consensus on it,” said sources. By Thursday morning, most of them silently left the spot.
The farmers fear that having more morchas will not only reduce their strength but also give a chance to the government to repeat the Bastara toll plaza incident. Around 10 farmers were injured after the police reportedly resorted to lathicharge to disperse a group of farmers near Bastara toll plaza on National Highway-44 on August 28.
Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, on demand for Sinha’s suspension, said: "Nobody can be hanged without a probe just because someone demands it.”
“The government is ready for a probe into the entire Karnal episode,” he added, stressing investigation into the role of agitating farmers.
Sinha was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to "break heads" of farmers if they crossed the line during their demonstration last month.
By 11 am, there was a slight increase in the number of farmers coming to the protest site. In a bid to avoid further confrontation, Inspector General (Karnal Range) Mamta Singh ordered removal of all barricades. “Sab kuch khol do (open everything); nobody should say that the police have blocked the street,” she said. Yet the crowd was a far cry from the gathering seen just a day ago.
Suresh Koth, member, Haryana Sanyukt Morcha, while making calls to locals to join the Karnal protest as the number at the site falters, said: “We request farmers to come outside Karnal mini secretariat. We have to maintain our strength till the SKM’S meeting on September 11,” said.
Jatinder Singh Chhina, state press secretary of Kirti Kisan Union, was confident that the government will accept their demand. “They will agree. Otherwise we will sit here forever,” he said.