Punjab: Police action on farmers has triggered widespread protests, with police detaining nearly a thousand people from across the state on Thursday. Hundreds of farmers belonging to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) – two bodies that had spearheaded protests against the Centre at Punjab’s Khanauri and Shambhu borders – mobilised against the government’s action. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti president Satnam Singh Pannu criticised the state government, claiming that instead of bringing about changes as promised by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before coming to power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is engaged in “revenge politics”. A significant clash between farmers and police took place in Faridkot. Despite prior warnings, farmers gathered at Pakka and Vada Bhaika villages in an attempt to disrupt traffic. A large number of protesters gathered near Pakka village in the morning with the aim of blocking the Bathinda-Amritsar highway. Police detained the farmers when they refused to back down and took them to unknown places by bus. The protesters raised anti-government slogans when they were detained.
A similar situation was witnessed at Vada Bhaika, where farmers scuffled with police personnel. The turbans of several farmers fell off in the scuffle. Police detained around 500 farmers from both the places. Farmer leader Sukhdev Singh expressed disappointment over the Punjab government’s stance, saying they “expected support” but now faced “direct action”. He also condemned the detention of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and accused the government of “destroying” tractors at protest sites. Singh reaffirmed that their struggle will continue until their leader is released. Defending the police action, DSP Tirlochan Singh said the farmers had already been warned. He said, “Blocking national highways causes huge inconvenience to the public. Farmers were repeatedly advised against it, but when they refused to comply, action was taken.” In Bathinda, police foiled an attempt by Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta-Siddhupur) to block Bathinda-Amritsar highway and shut down Jida toll plaza. Heavy police deployment was made at key locations. In Gurdaspur, around 50 farmers, who were sitting on a dharna outside the deputy commissioner’s office for the past three days, quietly left after police officials warned them of detention. SSP Aditya said no use of force was needed as the farmers voluntarily left the spot after being informed of the consequences. Meanwhile, authorities have beefed up security at Babri bypass check-point on the Gurdaspur-Batala-Amritsar national highway, a place often used for protests. In Sangrur, police detained BKU (Azad) state-level leader Jaswinder Singh Longowal and over 150 farmers when over 200 activists, including women, staged a sit-in outside the DC office. In Muktsar, police detained around 200 farmers who were attempting to block the Malout-Bathinda and Muktsar-Bathinda roads in protest against the action at Khanauri and Shambhu borders. Mild force was used to disperse protesters in Gidderbaha, with some eyewitnesses reporting that police had to take help of commuters to remove the protesting farmers. In Fazilka, police foiled attempts to block the Fazilka-Ferozepur highway near Theh Qalandar village. In Bhawanigarh, around 30 farmers affiliated to the BKU (Siddhupur) were detained while attempting to block the Sangrur-Bhawanigarh main road.
