Detention, house arrest bolt from blue for khap and farm leaders

Rohtak, May 28

The detention and house arrest by the police across the state came as a bolt from the blue for leaders of khap panchayats and farm organisation as they had no idea that the police might detain them in the wee hours today before they proceeded to Delhi for attending the proposed “Women Mahapanchayat” in front of the new building of Parliament in Delhi on Sunday.

“We actively participated in the farmers’ protest against three agriculture laws for over 13 months in 2020-21, but the police never ever arrested us from house, hence no khap leader was expecting such sort of action from the police. We would have moved to Delhi yesterday before today had we got any input about it,” said Balwant Singh Numbardar, president, Phogat Khap, adding that they were hoping for their detention on the Tikri border and other points in Delhi.

He said cops came to his house in Charkhi Dadri around 6 am today when he was planning to leave for Delhi. The cops arrested him and took him to the CIA police station, from where he was released in the afternoon. “The wrestlers’ protest will now emerge stronger as people will not tolerate such sort of atrocities,” he added.

Sources claimed that the police had started preparing a list of such khap and farm leaders ever since the Sarv Khap Panchayat announced “Women Mahapanchayat” in Delhi during its meeting in Meham on May 21.

“A close tab was being kept on the movement and location of such leaders on a daily basis so that the police in their district concerned did not have to face any inconvenience to detain them on Sunday morning. The plan was completely kept secret and it was executed in a well-planned manner, following which khap and farm leaders could not go even out of their districts,” claimed the sources.

Om Prakash Dhankar, coordinator, Sarv Khap Panchayat, told The Tribune that he was kept under house arrest at Dhakla village (Jhajjar) for over eight hours. “It was quite obvious that the police would not let us reach near the new building of Parliament in Delhi following the PM’s function today, but we never ever thought about the house arrest. The police action completely ruined our plan to reach Delhi,” he added.

Preet Singh, district president, All India Kisan Sabha, who hails from Bhambheva village (Jhajjar), was staying at his office in Rohtak in view of the Women Panchayat when the cops came there early in the morning and took him to the Civil Lines police station. “The cops might have found my location through my cell phone,” he added.

Meanwhile, farmers and khap leaders, who were trying to reach the dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to participate in the wrestlers’ march to Parliament, were detained by the police in Hisar and Jind districts today. Police teams reached the residences of prominent farm leader in the morning and detained them in their houses to prevent them from going to Delhi.

Farm leader Shamsher Nambardar was taken into custody by the police this morning from his village Ladwa when he left home to go to Delhi. In Khedar, woman activist Reman Nain was placed under house arrest by the police. Vikas Dhanda, district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, was also arrested at 6 am.