Farmers Movement Archive

Akali leaders consider shifting farm agitation from Punjab to Delhi

A day after their kisan marches to Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh were cut short and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership was detained and let off, the party leaders will be meeting shortly to discuss the strategy to put pressure on the Centre to revoke the three farm laws.Party sources said that the SAD leaders will be meeting to discuss their course of action and are considering shifting the protest from Punjab to Delhi.“We are considering taking the protests against the farm bills to the national capital, New Delhi. The party’s core committee meet is expected to take place shortly after which we will announce the further course of action. We are considering beginning a sit-in or a chain hunger strike outside Parliament,” said the party’s kisan (farmer) wing president Sikandar Singh Maluka.On Thursday night, police detained SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, former Union minister and Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and other senior Akali leaders when they were trying to enter Chandigarh while leading marches from the three Sikh Takhts (seats of temporal authority). The Akali leaders were to submit a memorandum, addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind, to Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore demanding the repeal of the farm laws. While Sukhbir and senior SAD leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, Bikram Singh Majithia and Jagir Kaur, were taken into preventive custody near Mullanpur; Harsimrat, Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Dera Bassi MLA NK Sharma and Youth Akali Dal president Parambans Singh Bunty Romana were detained at Zirakpur. The police used water cannons and canecharged the protesters to disperse them as they tried to force their way across the barricades placed to stop them from entering Chandigarh at the Mullanpur and Zirakpur borders. The Chandigarh administration had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, banning assembly of five and more people at one place. The police wanted only a few leaders to meet the Punjab governor to submit the memorandum but the SAD leadership demanded that all Akali members be allowed. “We detained them (Akali leaders) for a brief period and they were later released,” Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Chahal said. CHANDUMAJRA, JAGIR KAUR INJURED Chandumajra and Jagir Kaur received minor injuries as they fell on the ground in the melee. The Akali leaders were taken to the Sector 17 police station where they again held a protest against the Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration and demanded that they be allowed to give memorandum to the governor. Before being detained, Harsimrat addressed her supporters stating that they would continue to protest till the Union government rolled back the agriculture laws. She claimed her party had not been taken into confidence before introducing the bills. Earlier in the day, Sukhbir, Harsimrat and Chandumajra launched kisan (farmer) marches from Akal Takht, Amritsar, Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, and Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, respectively, and headed for Chandigarh to hand over a memorandum, addressed to the President, to the Punjab governor, with an appeal to convene a special session of Parliament to amend the recent farm laws. BADAL SENIOR CONDEMNS USE OF FORCE Meanwhile, Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal strongly condemned the use of force on “peaceful” Akalis by the Chandigarh Police and said that the “brutal” lathicharge made this a “painful and dark day” for democracy in the country’s history. Last week, the SAD had announced to part ways with the NDA, the third major party to walk out of the BJP-led coalition in the last couple of years. On September 17, Harsimrat Kaur Badal had quit the Union Cabinet after the SAD chief strongly opposed the farm bills in Lok Sabha, claiming the legislations will “destroy” the agriculture sector in Punjab. President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the three contentious bills -- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. (with PTI inputs)

Hindustan Times

02-10-2020

Chandigarh