SKM decries CM Khattar’s defence of Karnal lathicharge

Karnal Lathicharge Image Courtesy:thehansindia.com

Farmer leaders demanded today that the Haryana government charge Karnal Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ayush Sinha with murder in addition to his dismissal for the Karnal lathicharge incident.

On Sunday, farmers organisation Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) paid its respects to belated protesting farmer Sushil Kajal, who died during the Saturday violence. However, leaders like Balbir Singh Rajewal were all the more shocked on hearing about Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s statement defending Sinha’s actions.

Even Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is from the BJP, demanded an immediate dismissal of the official. Malik hinted that if the Khattar government does not take action against Sinha, it can only be assumed that he was acting on instructions from elsewhere.

“It is utterly shocking that the Chief Minister is choosing to brush aside the barbaric and illegal instructions as only a wrong choice of words. It once again clearly reiterates what we have been saying, which is that the Khattar-Chautala government is at war with its own people,” said SKM leader Darshan Pal in a press release.

According to farmers, Khattar said that concerned farmers do not have anything to do with the Haryana government because they are protesting for the repeal of the three farm laws. However, the SKM pointed out that the Haryana government has treated farmers brutally, acting as a puppet for the central government.

In response to Khattar’s statements, the SKM put out a call to boycott BJP and allied parties and organise black flag protests against them. Already on Monday, a kisan panchayat in Gharonda grain market issued an ultimatum to the state government demanding action against Sinha by September 6.

Similarly, in Yamunanagar on Sunday, BJP officials had to cancel two programs fearful of facing farmers’ ire. A programme by Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gurjar, Yamunanagar MLA and Mayor and BJP leader Sonali Phogat, MP Ratanlal Kataria were cancelled by the party when large numbers of farmers started gathering to protest these events.

The SKM called the action of the administration to file cases against 100 protesting farmers as ‘shameful’. Leaders asked for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all such cases by the Haryana government.