Farmers Movement Archive

BKU expels water cannon boy Navdeep, his father for ‘anti-union activities’

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) has expelled radical farmer leader from Ambala, Jai Singh Jalbera and his son Navdeep, 26, popularly known as water cannon boy, for allegedly getting involved in ‘anti-union activities’ and misappropriation of funds.The decision comes days after the duo went against the union’s plan of action, during governor house gherao in Panchkula and got into a brief scuffle with fellow protestors.Later, a committee was constituted by union chief Gurnam Singh Charuni, comprising Ambala and Yamunanagar district presidents Malik Singh and Sanju Gudiyana among other leaders, that submitted its findings this week and a decision was taken on Friday.Following the expulsion, Gudiyana said the committee had asked the father-son duo for a response regarding their indisciplined behaviour during the protests.“Navdeep refused to appear while Jai Singh failed to justify their actions. He couldn’t explain the utilisation of funds that the union had received. Navdeep had even bought a personal mobile phone using the funds,” Gudiyana added.Soon after, the union activists on Saturday started calling for a rollback of the decision which was “taken in a hurry.” No leader is ready to speak on the matter.People familiar with the case said the expulsion should be looked into again as they have contributed equally and faced many cases for standing against the Centre’s farm laws.“While Jai Singh has aggressively led the protests, Navdeep has been a popular face among the youth and their removal could have consequences. They have assisted in many successful campaigns, mostly against the programmes of BJP leaders that were cancelled after the farmers’ resistance,” they said.The duo has been a crowd-puller for the union in the Ambala region since the protests began last year. Navdeep had risen to international fame in November last year, when farmers from Haryana and Punjab were rushing to Delhi on tractor-trailers, breaking police barricades, and he had jumped over a moving tractor after closing a nozzle of a water cannon trying to stop them.Navdeep has refused to comment on the expulsion stating that they are expecting a solution soon.

Hindustan Times

03-07-2021

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