Tear gas, lathi-charge and detentions as Punjab Police blocks farmers’ march

Earlier, on Friday morning, several Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) (Ekta Ugrahan) leaders were detained across the state by police ahead of the outfit’s protest. The farmer union had planned a protest outside the District Administrative Complex here and also proposed to hold a gathering at the Bhucho Khurd village.

Farmer leaders said police used tear gas and blocked their entry when they tried to move towards the district administrative complex here for the protest.

Amid the traffic jam, visuals showed a woman stuck on the national highway carrying an infant in her arms and an ambulance facing a difficult time navigating the hold-up.

Some school vans were also seen stuck in the jam.

As farmers protested elsewhere in the state, visuals from the Barnala district showed a scuffle between a group of the BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) members and police at Tapa.

BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) vice-president Jhanda Singh Jethuke said, “Hundred of union members were detained, including 12 senior leaders. Police raids had begun Thursday night in Barnala, Sangrur, Tarn Taran, Bathinda and Mansa districts. Many leaders were picked up early on Friday in a clear attempt to suppress a peaceful protest,” he said. Harinder Bindu, president of the women’s wing of the union, said, “Several women leaders were also detained, Farmers were denied their right to assemble.”

The farmers were trying to head towards Bathinda but were stopped by police. The union members then tried to cross the barricades on their way, but they were prevented from moving forward. The union leaders claimed that several of their members were detained and taken into preventive custody by police. Later in the night, they were released. BKU Ugrahan leaders said that they will announce their next plan of action after the meeting of officer bearers.

“Many of our leaders were detained at different parts of the state, including Bathinda, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Moga,” a senior leader of the farmers’ outfit, Sukhdev Singh, said. “We have been demanding the release of two BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) leaders who have been lodged in Bathinda jail since April last year. Their arrests came after our union supported a group of teachers who were protesting against alleged corruption at a school,” he said.

Singh said talks had also been going on with the authorities regarding their release in recent days, and they had received assurances that the issue would be resolved.

At many places in the state, the farmers staged ‘dharnas‘ against their leaders being detained on Friday, he added.

Police said that the restrictions were imposed to maintain law and order and prevent traffic disruption or clashes. SSP Bathinda Jyoti Yadav said the situation was being handled through dialogue and that efforts were underway to defuse tensions.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said, “From the Congress that stood shoulder to shoulder with farmers during their toughest struggles to an AAP Punjab government that stops them with lathis and tear gas — Punjab has seen a painful shift.”