Crackdown on farmers: 1,000 detained as protests erupt across state

The police crackdown on farmers triggered widespread protests, with the police detaining close to a thousand people from across the state on Thursday.

Hundreds of farmers belonging to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) — the two bodies that had spearheaded the protest against the Centre at Punjab’s Khanauri and Shambu borders — were mobilised against the government action.

Satnam Singh Pannu, president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, slammed the state government, claiming that instead of bringing a change as promised by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before coming to power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann engaged in the “politics of revenge”.

A significant confrontation between farmers and the police took place in Faridkot. Despite a prior warning, farmers gathered at Pucca and Vada Bhaika villages in an attempt to disrupt traffic.

A large number of protesters assembled near Pucca village in the morning, aiming to block the Bathinda- Amritsar highway.

As farmers refused to budge, the police detained them and transported them to undisclosed locations by a bus. Protesters raised anti-government slogans as they were taken into custody.

A similar situation unfolded in Vada Bhaika, where farmers entered into a scuffle with police personnel. Turbans of several farmers fell off in the melee.

The police detained around 500 farmers from both locations.

Farmer leader Sukhdev Singh expressed disappointment with the Punjab government’s stance, saying they had “expected support” but now facing “direct action”.

He also condemned the detention of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and accused the government of “destroying” tractors at the protest sites.

Singh reaffirmed that their struggle would continue until their leader was released.

Defending the police action, DSP Tirlochan Singh said prior warnings had been given to the farmers. “Blocking national highways causes immense inconvenience to the public. Farmers were repeatedly advised against it but when they refused to comply, action was taken,” he said.

In Bathinda, the police thwarted an attempt by the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta-Sidhupur) to block the Bathinda-Amritsar highway and shut down the Jeeda toll plaza. Heavy police force were stationed at key locations.

In Gurdaspur, nearly 50 farmers, who had been sitting in protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office for the past three days, dispersed quietly after police officers warned them of imminent detention. SSP Aditya stated no force was required as the farmers left voluntarily upon being informed of the consequences.

Meanwhile, the authorities have reinforced security at the Babri bypass check-point on the Gurdaspur-Batala-Amritsar national highway, a site frequently used for protests.

In Sangrur, the police took Jaswinder Singh Longowal, a state-level leader of the BKU (Azad), and more than 150 farmers into custody after a dharna was staged outside the DC office by over 200 activists, including women.

In Muktsar, police detained nearly 200 farmers attempting to block the Malout-Bathinda and Muktsar-Bathinda roads in protest against the crackdown at the Khanauri and Shambhu borders.

Mild force was used at Gidderbaha to disperse the demonstrators, with some eyewitnesses reporting that the police had to enlist the help of commuters to remove protesting farmers.

In Fazilka, police foiled attempts to block the Fazilka-Ferozepur highway near Theh Kalandar village. At Bhawanigarh, approximately 30 farmers belonging to the BKU (Sidhupur) were detained while attempting to block the Sangrur-Bhawanigarh main road.

(With inputs from Balwant Garg, Sukhmeet Bhasin, Archit Watts, Ravi Dhaliwal, Praful Chander Nagpal and Sushil Goyal)