Tikait demands action on police over lathicharge

NEW DELHI: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait reached Haryana’s Karnal on Sunday and met farmers injured in police action on Saturday.

Tikait met four injured farmers admitted at Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) and said Karnal subdivisional magistrate (SDM), who ordered the lathicharge, should be booked along with other cops involved in it.

“This incident has proved that they want to take control of the country with the help of force but we will not allow them to succeed,” Tikait added.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)-- a front of several farmer organisations jointly leading the ongoing protests against the three farm laws---has also demanded strict action against Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha, who was purportedly filmed while instructing cops to target protesting farmers’ heads if they attempted to cross the barricades at the protest site.

“We demand strict action against the Karnal SDM and all the farmer unions in Punjab will block all roads for two hours from 12pm to 2pm in solidarity with Haryana farmers and demand action against the SDM”, SKM leader Darshan Pal said in a video message.

Farmers claimed that at least 10 amongst them were injured in a police lathicharge while they were protesting near the Bastara toll plaza on NH-44 at Karnal, close to the hotel where chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar was holding a meeting of state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit.

Police said the protesting farmers invited action by not heeding warnings that their assembly was unlawful since Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which bans the assembly of five or more people, was imposed in the area. According to the police, the farmers were adamant on moving towards the venue of the BJP meeting.

The farmers’ front is now demanding that the SDM is terminated from service.

“The duty magistrate (SDM) should be terminated for the torture and terrible lathi-charge on farmers and action should be taken against [other] police officers and [the government should] get compensate injured farmers and also get them treated for free,” Pal added.

The district authorities didn’t comment on the video purportedly featuring SDM Ayush Sinha’s controversial instruction to the force to carry out a brutal attack on farmers. Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav did not respond to the several text messages and phone calls.

The SDM had earlier said that the cops were briefed as per the law. “I didn’t watch the video yet but the briefing to the cops was given as per the CrPC,” he had said.

After the police action, the protesting farmers blocked all highways and link roads in Haryana for over four hours.

Farmers agitating against the Central farm laws have been staging protests near the public functions of the state’s ruling BJP- Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) combine in Haryana since last year.

Several farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year, seeking a repeal of the new farm laws, which they say will erode their bargaining power, weaken a system of assured prices, and leave them vulnerable to exploitation by farm businesses.