- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE ongoing farmers’ protest in northern India took an ugly turn on Saturday (28) when the police in the state of Haryana allegedly lathicharged on protesting farmers in Karnal after they blocked multiple roads and highways.
On Sunday (29), thousands of farmers came out on the streets in neighbouring Punjab and blocked all important state and national highways that go through the state for two hours, protesting the alleged lathicharge over their fellow agitators in Haryana.
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The alleged lathicharge of Saturday took place after the farmers started protesting against a meeting of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the upcoming municipal elections chaired by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Several farmers received serious injuries as the police allegedly resorted to applying force to disperse them and clear the national highway.
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One leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), a farmers’ body, claimed that one of the injured farmers died of heart attack but the police refused to agree.
Khattar said the farmers should have protested peacefully, cautioning that the police will take steps to maintain law and order if the highways are blocked and stones are pelted at the forces.
On Sunday, the blockade continued from noon till 2 pm local time in various villages of Punjab. The protesting farmers also burnt effigies of the Haryana government during the protests.
Manjeet Dingh Dhaner, a senior vice president of BKU in Punjab’s Dakaunda area said the Haryana government ordered action against the farmers that led to several of them getting injured. He said the politicians also backed the lathicharge.
“Hence, we need to stay united in our fight for our farmer brothers. This is the reason that we called for a chakka jam strike across the state on Sunday. We need to get ourselves heard and also want to give a loud and clear message to the administration that we farmers are united,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
In a video which has now gone viral, Karnala sub-divisional magistrate Ayush Sinha was seen ordering police personnel on Saturday to “break the head” of protesters who had gathered to protest against the chief minister of Haryana and other BJP leaders of the state. The video led to a major outrage.
Sukhdev Singh, a farmer from Kokri Kalan in Punjab, told the Express, “Effigies were burnt in 705 villages of Punjab and at 39 pakka dharna sites. Even on Saturday, villagers had burnt effigies in hundreds of villages. Farmers, labourers, women, youngsters, everyone have been participating in our protests in large numbers. The farmers were protesting in a peaceful manner [in Karnal on Saturday] and hence this inhumane action against them was absolutely uncalled for.”
He added,” The SDM of Karnal and all the police officers involved should be immediately booked in the case. Even the Haryana CM needs to face action as one of the protesting farmers died.”
Jhanda Singh Jethuke, another protester said they will gherao (blockade) the personal residence of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh in Patiala on September 13.
Singh, who is from the Indian National Congress, on Saturday slammed Khattar over the police action against the farmers saying it was not the first time that the farmers faced such treatment from Haryana’s BJP government and it only showed the state government is desperate to end the farmers’ stir over the allegedly draconian farm laws.
