Karnal: The farmers’ protest outside the mini secretariat in Karnal — against a lathi-charge on agitating farmers in the city on 28 August — continued for the second day Wednesday. While no incidents of violence were reported till the evening, a three-hour meeting between the district administration and farmer leaders remained inconclusive.
The meeting was attended by Rakesh Tikait and Gurnam Singh Chadhuni, leaders of the farmers’ agitation. As of Wednesday evening, the farmers have decided to continue the protest outside the Karnal administration office.
The farmers’ demands centre around the suspension of IAS officer Ayush Sinha, who was caught on video allegedly telling policemen to break the heads of farmers if they cross the line during their 28 August protest. About 10 farmers were reportedly hurt that day, when police used force to stop them from marching to the venue of a BJP event in Karnal. The farmers have claimed that one of the agitators also died due to the lathi-charge, a claim refuted by the district administration.
The situation outside the mini secretariat remained tense Wednesday, as personnel of the Haryana Police, Central Reserve Police Force and Rapid Action Force, including a significant number of women, kept a watch. As many as 40 companies of security forces, including 10 of the Central Armed Police Forces, have been deployed to monitor the ground situation.
The administration has also installed three CCTV cameras near the protest site, and was monitoring the situation through a drone camera.
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Farmers demand action against IAS officer
Section 144 has been imposed in the district and internet services continued to remain suspended for the second day Wednesday, as the authorities tried to broker a truce with the farmers.
Wednesday’s talks between the district administration and a delegation of leaders from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation of almost 40 farmers’ unions, followed a similar attempt made by the authorities to diffuse the situation the previous day.
Activist and Swaraj Abhiyan president Yogendra Yadav, who was present at the meeting, told ThePrint that the talks “remained inconclusive because the government is not ready to move even one step ahead”.
“We were hoping the government’s side would propose some solution, but they did not. They have not agreed on our two most important demands — one to register an FIR against IAS officer and former Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha, and second, that he be suspended and disciplinary action be taken against him. Instead, he has been transferred with promotion, and the government has said the choice of his words were wrong, but he took the right action,” Yadav said.
Adding that the Haryana government was “ready to go to any extent to save the IAS officer whose action has shamed the whole country”, Yadav said the protest outside the Karnal mini secretariat would continue.
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Singhu Border scenes recreated
With hundreds of farmers gathered outside the mini secretariat, the area resembled scenes from the Singhu Border between Delhi and Haryana, where protests have been on since November last year.
Tents have been set up across the road from the Karnal mini secretariat, where leaders address the gathered crowd, keep up the tenor of the agitation. A langar (community kitchen) has also been started to feed the protestors, with tea, biscuits, fruits and snacks doing the rounds Wednesday evening.
Bharatiya Kisan Union president Rakesh Tikait told ThePrint that the protest will be joined by farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, and will continue along with their other ongoing protests, until their demands are met.
(Edted by Poulomi Banerjee)
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