SKM ends gherao of Karnal Mini Secretariat after Haryana govt agrees to suspend Karnal SDM

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) ended the four-day-long gherao of the Karnal Mini Secretariat on Saturday after the Haryana government agreed to suspend Karnal Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ayush Sinha, who was seen asking policemen to hit protesting farmers on their heads in a viral video.

In a statement, SKM said, "Farmers gave a historic lesson that the administration cannot act with impunity against peacefully protesting farmers."

"The four-day long gherao of the Karnal Mini Secretariat ended today after the BJP-JJP government accepted the farmers' demands. The Khattar Government agreed to suspend Ayush Sinha, the official who ordered the breaking of farmers' heads on August 28," the statement said.

SKM said that there was also an agreement between the Haryana farm unions and the administration for a judicial inquiry under a retired High Court Judge who will look into the role of Ayush Sinha for the police violence which allegedly "resulted in the death of one farmer and injury to countless others."

"The probe will be completed within a month. The government also agreed for compensation to the family of Shaheed Sushil Kajal, and support in the form of two jobs to be provided to family members. Compensation will also be given to the farmers injured in the violence. These decisions were taken in consultation with, and after taking into confidence local farm unions as well as legal activists of the state. With this, the gherao at Karnal Mini Secretariat ended, in the same victorious fashion as previous dharnas in Hisar, Tohana, and Sirsa over the past several months,' the SKM said.

The farmers' union further alleged that the BJP-led government failed to deliver its promise of doubling farmers' income and the debt of agricultural households increased by 58 per cent over the last five years.

"The Modi government has been dangling the elusive goal of "doubling farmers' income" for several years now. The deadline for the promise made in 2016, for doubling farmers' income in six years (i.e. by 2022), is just a few months away...And now, the report card on the Modi government's jumla is officially out. NSO's 77th round of survey shows that over 50 per cent of the agricultural households are in debt, with the farmers' debt increasing by 58 per cent over the last five years," the statement said.

Reiterating that SKM will hold Bharat Bandh on September 27, SKM said, "As a part of Mission UP, farmers will also protest against all BJP and allied parties leaders, as being done in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand."

"Farmers will also protest against Ambani-Adani and will free toll plazas across UP. Meanwhile, a farmers' march will start from Champaran, Bihar on October 2nd (Gandhi Jayanti), and will travel 350 km to reach Varanasi on October 20," it added.

The statement was signed by SKM leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma 'Kakkaji', Yudhvir Singh, and Yogendra Yadav.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor