Farmers Movement Archive

Cops lathicharge protesting farmers on way to BJP meet

CHANDIGARH: Vehicular traffic on several state and national highways in Haryana came to a standstill after police lathi-charged protesting farmers on Saturday afternoon at Karnal’s Bastara toll plaza to stop them from marching to the venue of a BJP state-level meeting chaired by CM Manohar Lal Khattar. The meeting to discuss strategy to be adopted for the yet-to-be-announced elections to Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies in Haryana was attended by the CM, state BJP president OP Dhankhar, ministers Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Mool Chand Sharma, Kamlesh Dhanda, Sandeep Singh and several other MPs and MLAs. Thousands of farmers, carrying black and BKU flags, gathered at Bastara toll plaza from Saturday morning after a call was given to protest and show black flags to the state BJP leaders. At noon, when the protesters tried to head towards Karnal from the toll plaza, police stopped them. However, the farmers were adamant on moving towards Karnal and tried to block the National Highway 44, thereafter police used lathi charge to disperse them. Farm groups estimated around 10 farmers had been injured while Haryana police put the number at four. Haryana ADGP (law and order) Navdeep Singh Virk said 10 police officers had been injured. Police have detained several protesters, including BKU (Charuni) district president Jagdeep Singh Aulakh. CM Khattar defended police action and said it is not legitimate to block highways. He blamed the farmers for blocking the highway and pelting stones on police. Meanwhile, a viral video, whose authenticity could not be verified, showed Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha instructing officers to hit protesters on their heads if they tried to breach the barricades.

The Times of India

2021-08-29

India