Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers demand Prez rule, block highways; Punjab MLAs on dharna at UP border

MEERUT/MUZAFFARNAGAR/AGRA: Angry farmers hit the streets across several districts of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, blocking roads and highways, including the Yamuna expressway, to protest against the violence that erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. Six Punjab MLAs as well as deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, meanwhile, sat on dharna at UP-Punjab border near Saharanpur after they were stopped from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri. Motorcade of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, however, managed to break through police barricading at Garh Mukteshwar in Hapur and left for Lakhimpur Kheri. Three Congress MLAs from Rajasthan, including Chetan Singh, were detained for two hours by Agra police while trying to reach Lakhimpur. They were later escorted outside the state borders. As politicians kept trying to troop in, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait warned members of the BJP against visiting villages in the region. “I have appealed to residents not to invite any MP or MLA from the BJP in their villages. It is better for these leaders to abstain from visiting or they themselves will be responsible for any untoward incident.” Farmers sat on dharna across all districts of west UP, including Meerut, Agra, Shamli, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar, blocking several highways. A large number partially blocked the Mant toll plaza on Yamuna Expressway in Mathura and demanded imposition of President's rule in UP. Superintendent of police (rural) Shireesh Chandra told TOI that vehicles passing through the toll from Noida to Agra had to go at a slow pace as not all toll lanes were operational due to the protests. The Rampur-Rudrapur highway was blocked for several hours, leading to traffic jams on the stretch. Hundreds of farmers were seen leaving in private vehicles for Lakhimpur Kheri from Bulandshahr while in Shamli they lay down on roads, challenging authorities to mow them down. In Meerut, they locked the district magistrate’s office and sat in protest. Farmers in Agra alleged that as many as 500 of them were detained in their homes to stop them from participating in protests. BKU Agra division president Gajendra Singh Parihar said, “We had plans to protest at district headquarters but over 500 farmers were detained in their homes.” Farmer leader Sardar B M Singh was also detained in Hapur and taken to a government guest house. Several memorandums were submitted to respective authorities by district-level BKU presidents. Protestors in Agra submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India, demanding resignation of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni. They also demanded that Teni’s son be arrested within 10 days. “If he is not held, we will launch an indefinite strike,” said BKU Agra district president, Rajveer Lawaniya. Another memorandum submitted to the President of India through Mathura administration demanded dismissal of the state government “on account of total collapse of law and order”. In Aligarh, Samajwadi Party workers burnt the effigy of CM Yogi Adityanath and demanded an inquiry into Sunday’s violence from a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. Farmers are demanding government jobs as well as Rs 1 crore ex-gratia for kin of the deceased.

The Times of India

2021-10-05

Meerut