Kurukshetra: NH-44 blocked, farmers cane-charged

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, June 6

The Haryana Police on Tuesday cane-charged farm activists who had gathered under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) and had blocked the NH-44 at Shahabad in Kurukshetra to press for their demand seeking procurement of sunflower at minimum support price (MSP).

Led by union president Gurnam Singh Charuni, hundreds of farmers had gathered in Shahabad to hold a mahapanchayat to protest the government’s decision against procuring sunflower on an MSP announced by it earlier.

Around 12.30 pm, the farmers started moving towards the national highway and staged a sit-in on a flyover. Around 7 pm when the farmers refused to lift their blockade, the police used water-cannons and then cane-charged the protesters.

Charuni alleged that though the government had announced the MSP of Rs 6,400 for sunflower, it wasn’t procuring the crop at the specified rate. “Citing losses due to the crashing of oil prices, the government is offering Rs 4,800 per quintal as procurement price and another Rs 1,000 under the Bhavantar Bharpai scheme. The farmers are at a loss of Rs 600 compared to the MSP,” he said.

Charuni maintained that if the government was allowed to procure sunflower below the MSP, it would adopt similar tactics for other crops. Several farmer leaders, including Gurnam Singh, Pankaj Habana, Rakesh Bains and Jasbir Singh Mamumajra, were detained while some activists suffered minor injuries.

Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sharma and SP Surinder Singh Bhoria remained on the spot during the protest. IG (Ambala Range) Sibash Kabiraj too reached around 7.40 pm when the traffic was restored. “The NH-44 is an arterial road. Repeated attempts to pacify the farmers proved futile. Mild force was used and there is no report of any serious injury,” said the SP.