Farmers Movement Archive

Ravneet Singh Bittu on dharna at Jantar Mantar alleges harassment by cops

LUDHIANA: Member of Parliament from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu, who has been on a dharna outside Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for the past five days in support of the agitating farmers, on Friday alleged that he and other Congress leaders camping with him are being harassed by the Delhi Police. Bittu said on Thursday late night, some policemen tried to remove their tarpaulin shed close to the footpath, under which he and other leaders spend the cold winter nights. The Ludhiana MP, along with other Congress leaders from Punjab, including MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, MLAs Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Kulbir Singh Zira, are camping in the national capital to demand convening of a special session of Parliament to repeal the contentious farm laws. Speaking to TOI, Bittu said, “We are camping here to wake up the central government. It has become deaf and dumb to the farmers’ demands, and instead of repealing the three anti-farmer laws, the Union ministers are only offering lollipops to the poor farmers. To express solidarity with the farmers, who are braving all odds and sitting on dharna outside Delhi, we decided to sit outside Jantar Mantar and support our farmers until the central government repeals these black laws.” He said they have been sitting on a silent protest for five days, but PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah do not seem to like this, so now the Delhi Police has started playing tactics to demoralise and forcibly evict them from there. “Earlier, they were only trying to scare the visitors, who used to come here to express their support to us, by keeping a watch on the movement of each visitor. But, the officials crossed all limits on Thursday night, when they forcibly tried to remove the tarpaulin over our heads. They are trying to create psychological pressure, so that we end our protest, but we will keep sitting here under all circumstances.”

The Times of India

2020-12-12

Ludhiana