Farmers protest outside homes of AAP ministers, legislators

Farmer outfits on Monday staged protests outside residences of ruling Aam Aadmi Party ministers and legislators against the Punjab Government-ordered crackdown that had drawn curtains on over a year-long stir at the state’s borders with Haryana.

Members of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha were evicted from the Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites by the Punjab Police on March 19.

The Monday’s protests, held at 30 locations in 17 districts, came days after farmer outfits rejected an invitation of talks with Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian while asking the state government to first create a congenial atmosphere for it.

The farmer outfits also held a demonstration outside the home of the agriculture minister at Khuddian village in the Lambi Assembly segment. Except for two incidents of altercation, the protests remained largely peaceful.

A faceoff was witnessed between supporters of Dharmkot AAP legislator Devinderjeet Singh Laddi Dhos and the protesters in Moga. Similarly, farmers and the police came face to face in Jalandhar as cops foiled the protesters' bid to surround the residence of Minister for Defence Services Welfare Mohinder Bhagat.

'Toll tax a kind of jizya'

The toll tax hikes for commuters on national highways was one of the topics vehemently raised by the protesting farmers.

The farmer leaders also sought to corner the government over the issues of illegal sand mining, absence of a state agriculture policy and the drug menace. In Amritsar, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher compared the toll tax with jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims in medieval times.

He alleged that the farmer protest sites were cleared in a police action on March 19 to facilitate toll plaza operators, who were prevented by farmers from collecting the tax during their over a year-long stir.

He said as soon as the protesters were evicted, the toll plazas came back to business, with their operators making commuters pay heavy amount.

On Sunday, the Centre-controlled National Highway Authority of India had hiked the toll tax on all national highways for all kind of vehicles from Rs 5 to Rs 15. Pandher slammed the move and accused the state and Union governments of being vindictive towards Punjab.

The farmer leader also demanded action against Shambhu police station SHO Harpreet Singh and AAPs Ghanaur legislator Gurlal Singh Ghanaur.

He accused the SHO of being soft on people involved in the theft of tractor-trailers during the police crackdown on farmers. “These persons are said to be close aides of Gurlal Singh Ghanaur,” claimed Pandher.

The MLA rejected the charge, terming it baseless.

Meanwhile, farmer leader Tejveer Singh led the protest outside the residence of Health Minister Balbir Singh in Patiala.

Farmers blocked the road leading to his home and demanded strict action against people involved in the theft of their belongings from the protest sites.

“What more could you expect? A cop, along with his relative, has been booked for stealing the trolley of farmers from Khanauri,” he said.