The Haryana Police have arrested nine leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) after farmers blocked the national highway near Shahbad in the Kurukshetra district on Tuesday evening. The protest was against the government's decision to not procure sunflower seeds at minimum support price (MSP).
The BKU leaders, including its president Gurnam Singh Charuni, were detained on Tuesday evening after the police resorted to baton-charging and spraying water cannon to clear the blockage. They have been charged under various IPC sections, including rioting, unlawful assembly and using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty.
Superintendent of Police, Kurukshetra, S S Bhoria told PTI that besides the nine BKU (Charuni) leaders, over two dozen protesters, who had been rounded up in connection with the farmers' protest, were released last night. The nine arrested BKU (Charuni) leaders would be produced before a court on Wednesday.
Bhoria said efforts are being made to convince protesting farmers at Shahbad-Ladwa Road to stop their dharna and vacate the spot at the earliest.
The farmers launched the protest on the 25-kilometre stretch of the Delhi-Chandigarh national highway on Tuesday following a call given by Gurnam Singh Charuni.
The traffic from NH-44 had to be diverted to various other routes in the afternoon. The blockade also affected vehicular movement on the Delhi-Chandigarh and Delhi-Ludhiana-Amritsar routes. Police used water cannons and resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protesters. The highway was cleared, and traffic movement was restored after 7 pm, following police action.
The farmers are reportedly protesting against the government's move to include sunflower seed in the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana. Under the scheme, the government will pay a fixed compensation of Rs 1,000 per quintal against the produce sold below MSP.
The protesters claimed they were forced to sell their produce to private buyers at around Rs 4,000 per quintal as against the MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal. The farmers said they had given the government time till Monday to accept their demand, but it did not pay heed.
Congress flays BJP
The Congress has said that BJP's "anti-farmer" attitude has come to the fore again in Kurukshetra with the police lathi-charge on farmers.
The opposition party said the 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogan given by former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri has been overturned by the current dispensation into 'Mare kisan, pite kisan, jai dhanwan' (Farmers die, farmers beaten up, hail the rich).
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the BJP's "anti-farmer attitude" is coming to the fore again and again.
"Sometimes farmers are attacked by bringing Land Acquisition Ordinance and "black agricultural laws" and sometimes they are assaulted directly, as happened in Kurukshetra," he said on Twitter.
"We strongly condemn the lathi-charge on the farmers who were protesting peacefully. The government should fulfil their demand for MSP and not try to brutally suppress their voice," Ramesh said.