Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers’ highway protest gets good response

MYSURU: The nationwide protest against the passage of the Centre’s farm legislations got a good response in the district on Friday. Urging the Centre to withdraw the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, farmers supported by nine farmer organizations blocked national highways at different places affecting traffic movement for some time. Farmers blocked the highways towards Mysuru at Nanjangud, HD Kote, Hunsur, Bannur and T Narasipura. As district police denied permission to block highways, police detained hundreds of protesters at the Mysuru Bengaluru junction near Columbia Asia Hospital on outer ring road on Friday morning. They bundled them into a hired KSRTC bus and released them later after warning. Socialist activist P Mallesh, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha general secretary Hosakote Basavaraju and others were among those arrested and released later. The farmers said the bills would affect people directly and indirectly engaged in agriculture and allied activities including chemical fertilizer shop owners, cattle and pig farmers, dairy farmers, seeds and chemical and agriculture tool distributors. Following the rasta roko call, district police had deployed 200 police personnel including 14 inspectors and 16 PSI level officers on the city's outskirts to prevent untoward incidents. Meanwhile, Karnataka State Sugar Cane Growers Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar who led the protest at Mysore Bank Circle at Bengaluru, said Friday’s highway bandh call had received overwhelming response from farming communities across the state. “The protest will be intensified until the demands of farmers are fulfilled by the Centre and state. As many as 34 organizations expressed their support on their own and took part in the agitation. The Karnataka bandh call on September 28 will be withdrawn if both the Centre and state withdraw the contentious farm bills, he said.

The Times of India

2020-09-26

Mysuru