New Delhi, (Asian independent) The cases filed against the farmers in Hisar on May 16 following their protest against the Centre’s three farm laws will be withdrawn, it was decided in a meeting between the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and the district administration after another large demonstration in the Haryana town on Monday.
Meanwhile, one of the protesting farmers succumbed to a heart attack.
According to the SKM, the detailed discussion between the two sides saw the district administration seek apology for the police action on May 16, which came ahead of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s visit. Three decisions were taken in the meeting.
Firstly, the police cases filed on May 16 against the protesters will be withdrawn; secondly, the administration will get the farmers’ vehicles damaged by the police on May 16 repaired; and thirdly, a government job will be provided to an eligible kin of the deceased farmer, Ramchandra.
Ramchandra had suffered the heart attack while coming to the farmers’ protest venue at the Krantimark Park.
“The Haryana government is continuously seeking to defame the farmers, and blame them for spreading coronavirus. The famers want to make it clear that the disease is spreading in the state because of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
“If the farmers held a protest, it was due to Khattar’s visit. If the Chief Minister stops issuing statements against the farmers and not file false cases against them, then he can turn his attention to combating the spread of coronavirus, and the farmers will not need to come out onto the streets to protest,” the SKM said.
Appealing to the Centre to withdraw the three contentious farm laws and bring in a law assuring the minimum support price (MSP) so that the protesters can go home, the farmers alleged that for some reason, the government is holding out.
The farmers also said that they would observe Buddh Purnima on May 26 at their protest sites on the borders of the national capital and elsewhere.
As the date marks the completion of six months of their protests and the seventh anniversary of the Narendra Modi government, the farmers, several labour organisations and others have decided to hold protests on that day.
SKM leaders said that on May 26, they would raise their voice against the “repressive” actions of the Modi government, which is, according to them, “oppressing” the farmers and various other sections of the people.
“On May 26, various people’s organisations will observe the day as ‘Virodh Divas’ to send a message to the Modi government that in a democracy, it is the people who are paramount, not the government,” one of the leaders said.
