M A I N   N E W S

Chautala meets BKU delegation
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 4
Keeping in line with the growing tendency on the part of governments to leave political issues to the judiciary for settlement, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, too has left the contentious issue of the release of arrested BKU leaders to the courts, even as the ice seems to have been broken between the state government and the agitating farmers.

Mr Chautala, who had been hitherto refusing to talk to “antisocial” elements, as he would dub the BKU activists, met a delegation of the BKU leaders in Delhi last night and assured its members that his government would respect the verdict of the court on the issue of the release of the arrested BKU leaders like Mr Ramphal Kandela and Mr Mahender Singh Ghimana. A court hearing is fixed for June 6.

Mr Chautala told the delegation that the government could not now order the release of the arrested leaders as the “matter was under the jurisdiction of the courts”, whose decision would be respected by the government, indicating that no appeal would be filed by the state if the court released the BKU leaders either on bail or otherwise.

The delegation comprised Rasaldar Dharam Singh, treasurer of the Haryana BKU; Mr Hoshiyar Singh Kundu, a member of the BKU executive; Mr Inder Singh Hooda, president of the Kiloi wing of the BKU; Mr Ram Mehar Hooda, pradhan of the Hooda khap; and Mr Jiya Lal, general secretary of the Kaithal district unit of the BKU.

The BKU leaders said despite the raging controversy over the “mayhem” at Kandela (where four persons were killed in police firing) and their ongoing agitation, they had responded to the peace initiative of the government. Therefore, the BKU had sent the delegation to meet the Chief Minister. They said the meeting was held in a “very congenial” atmosphere.

The BKU leaders said though no agreement was reached at the meeting, which, they insisted, had the blessings of their president, Mr Ghasi Ram Nain, “it should be viewed as a positive and concrete step towards the peaceful settlement of the present chaos”

However, reports from Jind suggest that Mr Nain has denied any knowledge about the meeting. He is reported to have described the meeting as the “government’s move to create dissensions within the BKU”. He reportedly reiterated his demand that unless all BKU activists were freed and cases against them withdrawn, he would not hold any talks with the government.

The BKU leaders, who met Mr Chautala, said they had apprised the Chief Minister of their major preconditions for talks, which included the release of all BKU activists. The BKU, they said, was desirous of holding fruitful negotiations with the government for the redress of the grievances of the farmers.

Mr Chautala is believed to have assured the delegation that his government would never abandon its pro-farmer policies and he was always prepared to accept the genuine demands of the farmers. He also favoured a meaningful dialogue with their representatives. However, he expressed his concern over what he described as the sneaking of antisocial elements into the farmers’ agitation who were “trying to get petty political mileage at the cost of the lives of innocent farmers”. He is also believed to have expressed his willingness to clear “all misgivings against my government, which was truly pro-farmer”.

Interestingly, the delegation termed the fears expressed by Mr Nain about the life of the arrested BKU leaders as “misplaced”. It said in a statement that Mr Kandela and Mr Ghimana were in the Mahendragarh and Gurgaon jails and were safe and in good health.