Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 10: The Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had yet another test of farmers’ wrath and was forced to cancel his scheduled “Kisan Mahapanchayat” after the police outnumbered by the protesters could not save the venue at Kaimla village in Karnal from being ransacked and damaged on Sunday.
The police resorted to mild lathi charge, burst teargas shells and also used water cannons but failed to stop the agitating farmers from raiding the venue, uproot the tents, ransack the chairs and other furniture temporarily placed at the venue and even damaged the stage before the chief minister arrived at the scene. At the behest of the police, Khattar later cancelled the meet and returned from Karnal.
The protesting farmers opposed to the centre’s three contentious farm laws had earlier raided the helipad prepared for Khattar’s helicopter to land forcing the authorities to change the landing site.
Farmers managed to reach the venue despite being stopped some three kilometer away by the police.
According to eyewitnesses, a clash first broke out between the farmers marching towards the helipad and the police, which was trying to stop the protesters. Over 1,500 police were deployed as security for the meeting and seven check-points were set up ahead of the venue. Agitating farmers, however, managed to breach six check-points and arrive near the helipad, forcing authorities to move the landing spot for Khattar’s helicopter to a different location.
The farmers then moved to occupy Khattar’s “Kisan Mahapanchayat” venue where around 2,000 people, who the protesters claimed were only BJP supports posing as farmers, were waiting. But neither the police nor the BJP supporters could match with the enraged farmers who flung chairs, tore banners and vandalised other arrangements made for the meeting.
The agitating farmers waving black flags also shouted slogans against the BJP government’s at the centre and in the state demanding scrapping of the three farm laws for which thousands of the farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some other states are holding dharna for the last 46 days on the borders of Delhi braving the cold weather and frequent unseasonal rains.
Various senior leaders of BJP and JJP have been facing protests during their public appearances for the last many days. In one of such incident, Khattar’s cavalcade was also obstructed by an agitated mob of farmers in Ambala a few days ago. After the incident Ambala’s then police superintendent Rajesh Kalia was shunted out of the district.
Earlier, home minister Anil Vij’s cavalcade had also hit a blockade when the angry farmers shouted anti-government slogans.
Various other Haryana leaders including the deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, whose JJP party’s support is vital for the survival of the Khattar government, agriculture minister J P Dalal, education minister Kanwar Pal and various BJP MPs had been facing such protests outside their residences in their respective constituencies and their public appearances as well.
Farmers had also disrupted BJP’s programme in Barwala on Saturday. Farmers had earlier announced that they would not allow any BJP or JJP leader to hold their scheduled public events across the state unless the three farm legislations are repealed.
The Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala in a Tweet condemned the police action against the farmers and said it was shameful that the government was stopping farmers. “When you are having a Mahapanchayat, what is the point of stopping the farmers from coming there? Meaning is clear — you are not concerned with the farmers but only by the event. Remember, it will be impossible to leave your house without police. Withdraw black laws,” Surjewala said.
