Farmer leaders and Opposition parties condemned Saturday’s police lathi-charge on protesters led by Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Ravikant Tupkar in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. Tupkar claimed around 50 agitators were charged with serious crimes, leading to Opposition parties calling for the immediate removal of the Buldhana police superintendent. Speaking with The Indian Express Sunday, Tupkar said they have been protesting against the low compensation amount received by growers of soybean and cotton. The ‘low’ compensation received under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has also been a point of contention. The farmer leader has claimed that he and his supporters have been put under house arrest. On Saturday, Tupkar had led a rally to the district collector’s office where he had threatened self-immolation. “We were protesting in a peaceful manner but without any provocation, the police lathi-charged us mercilessly,” he claimed. Tupkar said around 50 of his supporters were taken into custody. “It is our right to protest and the police had no right to use force against us,” he said. Congress state chief Nana Patole condemned the police action. “This year too, the crops were damaged due to the natural calamity… the farmers were protesting in front of the Buldhana Collectorate for their demands to get compensation, to get the right price for cotton and soybean, but the police brutally lathi-charged them,” the Congress said in a release. “Is protesting for your demands a crime in a democratic state? What was the need to lathi-charge? We will not tolerate this kind of bullying by the Shinde-Fadnavis government. The entire case should be thoroughly investigated and action should be taken against the guilty,” Patole said. Meanwhile, Congress district president Rahul Bondre and former minister Rajendra Shingane were stopped by the police Sunday while they were on their way to meet the protesting farmers.
