Farmers vow to continue stir in Karnataka

BENGALURU : Farmers in Karnataka were swift to respond to the nationwide call for ‘chakka jam’ by farmer leaders on the Delhi borders. Demonstrations were held across the state, as tillers occupied highways and held tractor rallies, protesting against the three new farm laws passed by the Union government last September.  

The three hour ‘chakka jam’, from 12 noon to 3pm, was organised in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kolar, Koppal, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Tumakuru and other places. The farmers said that the agitation would continue till the Centre repeals the laws, and alleged that the Centre was against farmers. The months-long protests at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders outside Delhi had failed to have any impact on the Centre, they alleged.

Kurubur Shanthakumar, farmer leader and state president of the Sugar Cane Growers’ Association, said that those running the government are indifferent to the farmers’ agitation and their demands. Tension gripped NICE Road near Kengeri, Yelahanka, Mysuru Road, Tumakuru Road, Hosur Road and Hoskote Road. 

Tractor rallies on highways leading out of Bengaluru brought vehicle movement to a halt, leading to 2-km long traffic jams at toll gates at Nelamangala, Kudlu Gate, Devanahalli and NICE Road, with serpentine queues of goods trucks, KSRTC buses and private vehicles.

This had a cascading effect on Bengaluru, where traffic was affected on Saturday afternoon. The protest also saw demonstrators being detained in Yelahanka and Devanahalli, as police tried to clear the roads for traffic. Over 100 farmers were detained by Yelahanka police and taken to police training centres. They were let off in the evening. 

Addressing the farmers, Shanthakumar condemned the police and alleged that the force was controlling farmers to curb their movement. A senior police officer in Kengeri police station limits suspected that some of the agitators who were sitting on the Mysuru highway were not farmers.

The officer asked a protester about the crops he had grown to prove that he was a farmer. A heated argument followed and the farmers were taken into preventive custody. Pro-Kannada activists and other organisations also held protests on Magadi Road and other places to support the farmers’ agitation.