Farmers hold protest against PCOCA, give 1 month for rollback
STIR PLAN Say will hold statelevel rallies on February 17 and 18
JALANDHAR : Thousands of activists of the Talmel Front Punjab staged a protest against the implementation of the Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA) at Desh Bhag at Yadgar Hall here on Sunday.
Farmers having affiliation with various unions in the state participated in the rally and announced that they would intensify their protest from February.
“We are giving the Congress government a month to rollback the decision to implement the PCOCA, failing which we will hold a state-level protest rally at Barnala on February 17 and in Jalandhar on February 18 against the state government,” Gurnam Singh, said a member of the Talmel Front Punjab.
Farmer leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Dakaunda), BKU (Ugrahan), Pen du Mazdoor Union and many others joined the protest along with their supporters.
Raising anti-government slogans, they said that the PCOCA would give extraordinary powers to the police, which could be used against the common man.
“Farmers were being exploited in the name of debt collection and land grabbing due to the non-payment of dues. This will prove a new ‘Gunda’ Act if the government implements it successfully,” Kashmir Ghugshor, general secretary of the Pendu Mazdoor Union said.
Meanwhile, the agitators also demanded debt waiver and a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the kin of the farmers, who had committed suicide.