Chandigarh: Several farmer leaders including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal were detained in Mohali while returning from a meeting with a central delegation, as Punjab Police evicted farmers from Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites which were blocked for more than a year.
Police sources said late on Wednesday the protest sites have been cleared after dismantling temporary structures and stages, and removing trolleys and other vehicles stationed by the farmers.
Farmer leader Guramneet Singh Mangat said the farmer leaders were detained in Mohali in the evening while they were headed to the Shambhu protest site after the meeting in Chandigarh with the delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
While the BJP criticised the police action and alleged the AAP government was trying to “sabotage” the talks, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema justified the eviction of farmers, saying industries and businesses have been hit hard due to the prolonged closure of two highways — “the lifelines of the state”.
“The AAP is committed to youths and generating employment. They will get jobs if the trade and industry functions smoothly,” Cheema said.
There were signs from early in the day of an impending police action at the two protest sites as they witnessed heavy deployment even as the farmer leaders met the central delegation in Chandigarh.
Farmers said earlier in the day that ambulances, buses, firefighting and anti-riot vehicles were deployed near the protest sites. There were around 200 farmers at the Khanauri site and around 50 at Shambhu border point.
Asked when the traffic can resume, a senior police officer said that after the road on the Punjab side will have been be cleared, the resumption of movement depends on when the Haryana government removes the barricades.
In a statement, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu strongly condemned the detention of farmer leaders and alleged the AAP government in Punjab was trying to “sabotage” talks between the Centre and farmers.
He said he spoke to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, urging him to remove the barricades put up by the security personnel. He said it will take two to three days for its removal and thereafter, the road will be opened from the Haryana side.
The protesting farmers — led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha — have been camping at the Shambhu (Shambhu-Ambala) and Khanauri (Sangrur-Jind) border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year when their march to Delhi was thwarted by security forces.
They have been protesting in support of various demands including a legal guarantee to MSP for crops.
In Chandigarh, the talks between farmer leaders and a central delegation to discuss various demands of farmers remained inconclusive.
After the more-than-three-hour meeting, Agriculture Minister Chouhan said, “The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The discussions took place in a positive and constructive manner.
The talks will continue. The next meeting will take place on May 4.” Following the meeting, as the departing farmers entered Mohali from Chandigarh after, they were met with heavy barricading in Mohali. Farmer leader Mangat said that Abhimanyu Kohar, Kaka Singh Kotra and Manjit Singh Rai were detained alongside Pandher and Dallewal.
Pandher was detained from the Zirakpur barrier and taken to the Bahadurgarh Commando Police Training Centre in Patiala. Dallewal, who was in an ambulance, was also detained.
Farmers claimed that the driver of Dallewal’s ambulance was removed and police took control of it.
Some farmers protested the police action and entered into a scuffle with the security personnel.
Justifying the police’s eviction action, Cheema said, “Trade has been suffering. After considering all situations, this action has been taken.
We have been telling farmer leaders that their fight was with the Centre. ‘You fight with the Centre. We are with you. You are causing heavy loss to Punjab by closing the border’.” Cheema said the Punjab government remains committed to supporting farmers in their legitimate demands and emphasised that AAP ministers are actively working to present farmers’ concerns before the central government.
“We urge farmer leaders to focus their struggle against the central government while allowing Punjab to progress. We stand with the farmers today, as we always have, and will continue to fight alongside them,” said Cheema About 3,000 police personnel, led by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Patiala Range) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, were at the Khanauri border point to evict protesters. Similarly, police personnel also reached the Shambhu border point to clear the road.
At Khanauri, Sidhu told the protesters that the government has issued directions to clear the road. The DIG said the police consider them their elders and their own and have not come for any confrontation.
But he also told them their strength of 3,000 outnumber the farmers’ 200. The DIG warned the youths not to misbehave with security personnel.
The police officer said that prohibitory orders, banning the assembly of five or more people, has been imposed so their gathering is illegal.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Sukhchain Singh made announcements on a loudspeaker, asking the protesters to clear the road swiftly — “in 10 minutes”. Later, policemen detained the protesters and packed them in buses stationed at the protest site.
Police personnel could be seen dismantling the stages in Shambhu and Khanauri border points. At Shambhu protest sites, police deployed JCB machines to remove the structures set up by the farmers.
From the Khanauri protest site, the ‘saroop’ of Guru Granth Sahib was carried to the other place under ‘rehat maryada’ (Sikh code of conduct).
Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Nanak Singh said the road will be spick and span like there was no ‘dharna’ here. To a question, Singh said no force was used against farmers.
The farmers wanting to go home have been facilitated, he said.
Another police officer at the Shambhu border said the farmers’ dharna was illegal and action has been taken as per law. “We requested farmers to end the ‘dharna’. They agreed to it,” said the officer.
Many opposition leaders lashed out at the AAP government for police action against farmers. Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi dubbed “detention” of farmer leaders as an “attack” on the farming sector, calling the police action unfortunate.
Senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa strongly condemned the police action, terming the detention of Dallewal and Pandher a “cowardly act” of the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government.
Bajwa said it has never happened in the history of Punjab that the government “arrested” the leaders after calling them on the pretext of a meeting.
Bajwa said there was not even an iota of doubt left that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is working as a “puppet” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government.
It has been established that he did this at the direction of his “masters” in the BJP, claimed Bajwa.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema strongly condemned the “detention” of farmer leaders.
“This is highly undemocratic & illogical action and amounts to betrayal with the farm leaders. After the meeting, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan himself said that the next meeting will be on May 4.”
