The agitating farmers also blocked traffic on the national highway for over four hours, causing hardship to thousands of commuters who used village link roads to bypass Pipli. (Photo: Twiiter/CaptAjayYadav)A day after during a protest In Haryana, state Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni and 300 unidentified people were booked for damaging public property and flouting prohibitory orders, news agency PTI reported.
Three separate FIRs were registered at the Sadar police station in Thanesar on Friday. “These FIRs have been registered against Gurnam Singh Charuni and several unknown people for unlawful assembly, causing damage to property and preventing government employees from performing their duty,” PTI quoted SHO Naresh Kumar as saying. The FIRs also mention charges for the violation of the National Highway Act and the Disaster Management Act, he added.
The BKU members and other farm bodies had blocked a national highway in Kurukshetra’s Pipli and clashed with the police during a stir against three union government legislations, which they termed as “anti-farmer”. The police had resorted to a lathicharge when farmers from the Shahbad area forced their way to the protest site. The agitating farmers smashed windowpanes of a fire brigade vehicle and pelted the police with stones.
The Shahbad Markanda police lodged cases against 300 unknown people. SHO Devinder Kumar said an attempt to murder charge was also added to the FIR as many farmers, with their tractors, tried to run over police personnel manning the barriers erected to stop them.
The Kurukshetra administration had issued prohibitory orders after the farmer organisations called for the protest and asked them not to hold the rally while citing increasing cases of Covid-19.
However, the farm bodies stood their ground saying political parties were also being allowed to hold functions. To prevent the movement of farmers to Pipli, police had installed nakas across the state. Farmer leaders say the agitators were detained at several places in the state. Independent MLA from Meham, Balraj Kundu, and his supporters were detained in Rohtak. Despite that, a large number of farmers managed to reach Pipli.
जीन्स और टी शर्ट कब से हो गई हरियाणा पुलिस की वर्दी?
देश के अन्नदाता पर बिना वर्दी के लाठियाँ बरसाने वाले ये कौन लोग हैं?
बुजुर्गों पर लाठियाँ बरसा रहे ये गुंडे हैं कौन?
क्या खट्टर-चौटाला जवाब देंगे?#कुरुक्षेत्र_की_रण pic.twitter.com/eRkL1W04ZN
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) September 10, 2020
Top leaders from the Congress’ Haryana unit, including AICC spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state party chief Kumari Selja, expressed solidarity with the farmers on Friday.
The farmer organisations are demanding a legislation to ensure Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the wake of three ordinances introduced by the central government — the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, and an amendment in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The ruling BJP has launched a campaign in support of the ordinances, calling them “reforms” in the agriculture sector.