Farm unions seek martyr status for protest victim Shubhkaran Singh, videography of post-mortem

Tribune News Service

Aman Sood

Patiala, February 22

A day after a young farmer died at Khanauri, his post-mortem is yet to be conducted as farmer unions have put the condition that that his family be compensated with of Rs 1 crore before it. However, the government has reportedly offered Rs 40 lakh to the family.

Meanwhile, after a day of bloody clashes, which left over 100 injured, peace reigned at Shambhu on Thursday as the number of agitators was much less.

Over 24 hours after 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh died due to a suspected rubber bullet injury, the authorities at Government Rajindra Hospital were awaiting a request from the police to conduct the post-mortem. The farmer unions have demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation from the Punjab Government and a job for a family member.

Answering a query pertaining to the delay in the autopsy, senior SKM (Non-political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said they had conveyed their two conditions to the Punjab Government.

“If the government is serious about the farmers’ issue, it should declare Shubhkaran as ‘shaheed’ (martyr) and provide benefits accordingly. Also, the government should constitute a board of doctors to conduct the post-mortem, and it should be videographed,” he said.

Additional DGP (Intelligence) Jaskaran Singh held a closed-door meeting with farmer union leaders in Patiala. They demanded that Rs 1 crore be paid to the young farmer’s family, as is the case with martyr cops and soldiers. The union members also raised the issue of registration of an FIR pertaining to murder and attempt-to-murder charges against Haryana cops who, they said, trespassed into Punjab.

Following the death of the farmer, whose landholding was a little over two acres, the politics in Punjab is on the boil, with rival political outfits blaming the Punjab Government for allowing Haryana cops to enter Punjab and attack farmers. Bhagwant Mann has already warned of appropriate action against the officials concerned and an FIR against the “guilty” Haryana cops. “I stand by the family of the victim and will do my best for them,” he had said in a video posted on Thursday.

Crowd thins out at Shambhu

The situation remained calm for the entire day on Thursday, with youngsters missing from the scene as Haryana cops on vigil. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters were injured when farmers gathered at the border area and tried to enter Haryana by breaking the barricades. The cops fired tear gas shells, rubber bullets and even used drones to drop smoke-bombs on the protesters.

Today, farmers were seen sitting in their tractor-trolleys, playing cards.

Yesterday, the farmer unions had announced that a final decision about the ‘Dilli Chalo’ morcha would be taken on Friday evening and they had declared two days of dharna at Shambhu and Khanauri.

“We request people across the country to put black flags atop their houses and vehicles as a symbol of protest and showing solidarity with the deceased farmer.

“We will take a final call on our agitation tomorrow after discussing details with union members,” said Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher.

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