Farm unions will protest on 26 November

In Ludhiana district, till Thursday, 36 FIRs were registered against farmers for working in their fields. Sources revealed that most of these FIRs were lodged against unknown persons. Only two FIRs have been registered in the urban area of Ludhiana. One FIR was lodged in Khanna, while four and seven FIRs were lodged in Samrala and Raikot respectively. Most of these FIRs are against unknown persons. 15 FIRs have been registered in Jagraon. Jagraon Assistant Superintendent of Police Satvinder Singh Virk said that he reached the spot after getting accurate information about the fire in the fields. “If there is no one at that place then it is not necessary to file an FIR against the land owner because sometimes agricultural land is given on contract or lease,” he said. 14 FIRs have been registered against unknown people in Payal. Rajwant Singh, a farmer from Khamano village, was arrested and fined by the police for setting fire on the road. “The government should not label us as criminals by filing FIRs and making ‘red entries’ in the income records,” he lamented. Meanwhile, various farmer unions will hold a three-day protest in Chandigarh from November 26 to put forward their demands related to MSP and have also promised to cancel these FIRs. 32 agricultural unions took part in the protest. HS Lakhowal, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Syndicate, said, “Farmers are the food producers of the country and the government treats them as such. “Instead of taking farmers to the commissary, we should provide packing machines to take them back.”