Unions observe farmer Shubhkaran’s second death anniversary across Punjab
Farmers gathered across Punjab on Saturday to observe the death anniversary of Shubhkaran Singh, who had allegedly died of a bullet wound during the stir against the Centre at the Khanauri border of the state two years ago.
The protesting farmers, who had been seeking a legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, had accused the Haryana Police of opening fire to prevent them from marching towards New Delhi.
The call to observe the death anniversary was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, the bodies that had led the months-long protest at the Khanauri and Shambhu border points before being evicted by the state police in a crackdown last year.
On Saturday, a large number of farmers observed the death anniversary in 18 districts. A bhog of an akhand path was performed at Bathinda’s Balloh village, the native place of the farmer.
Dallewal pays tributes in Kanpur
The BKU (Sidhupur) president, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, paid tributes to Shubhkaran at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Dallewal is on the Kisan Jagriti Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, demanding a legal guarantee of MSP and debt waiver.
Farmers slammed the state’s AAP government for failing to construct Balloh-Tajoke road, which was to be named after Shubhkaran.
They said the promises of constructing a stadium in his name and the upgrade of the government school in the village remained unfulfilled.
Addressing the gathering at the Bathinda village, Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) general secretary Kaka Singh Kotra said soon a protest would be staged outside the Bathinda District Administrative Complex over the demands.
Balloh village sarpanch Amarjit Kaur said a memorial, along with a statue of Shubhkaran, had been built in the village with contributions from residents.
“The government has given Rs 1 crore as compensation and provided a job to his sister, but the other announcements are yet to be fulfilled,” she said.
