Farmers Movement Archive

Tikait booked for rally amid curbs

Ambala: Bhartiya Kisan Union (Arajnaitik) national president Rakesh Tikait was booked on Saturday for taking out a rally at this district’s Dhurali village in defiance of the prohibitory orders and Covid protocol. The event was a Kisan-Mazdoor Mahapanchayat and Tikait claimed no one had been infected during the farmers’ agitation. He alleged: "The government is trying to end our agitation in the name of Covid-19 but we are building concrete houses on the site. We’ll dig in till November and December." The rally at Dhurali had no social distancing or the participants in masks, so the Ambala police booked the organisers. Tikait, his farmer union’s Haryana state president Rattan Maan, division president Baldev Singh, district president Jasmer Saini, Lavneet Behgal, Kapil Sharma, nephew Sanjeev Chaudhary, youth state president Ravi Azad, national general secretary Yudhvir Singh, and members Harpreet Singh, Inderpal Singh, and Mihan Singh were booked on the complaint of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Chandi Ram under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, and sections 188 (defying public servant), 269 (negligent act), and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Ambala Sadar police station. ASI Chandi Ram stated in his complaint, "Tikait gathered 250-odd people at Dhurali, who refused to go home. They put lives in danger." Tikait told the media on Saturday: "Healthcare is the central government’s responsibility. Looking at the oxygen crisis, the Prime Minister should resign."

The Times of India

2021-05-03

Gurgaon