‘Police Action On Haryana Farmers Akin To 2nd Jallianwala Bagh’

A policeman interacts with farmers protesting outside the Circuit House, where Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma and others held a party meeting, in Jalandhar, on August 26 (PTI)

The Shiv Sena on Monday termed as the “second Jallianwala Bagh” the lathicharge on farmers by the police in Haryana and said the ML Khattar government has no right to remain in power anymore.

An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the renovated Jallianwala Bagh complex in Amritsar, a second Jallianwala Bagh was happening in Haryana.

At least 10 people were injured on Saturday as police lathicharged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway in Haryana while heading towards Karnal, to protest against a Bharatiya Janata Party meeting attended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar and other leaders.

“The seeds of cruelty being sown by the government will bear sour fruits. This is for sure. The Manohar Lal Khattar government has no right to remain in power,” the Sena said.

It said the lathicharge incident might make farmers in India revolt and take revenge for each drop of blood that was shed by them.

“The farmers in Haryana were lathicharged on their heads because they raised slogans against CM Khattar. A Union Minister speaks of attacking the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and when action is taken against him legally, the state government is called intolerant. Why are the critics silent on the Khattar government’s action on farmers?” the Sena asked.

Union Minister and BJP MP Narayan Rane was arrested on August 24 after his “would have slapped CM Thackeray for the latter’s ignorance of the year of India’s independence” remarks kicked up a huge row.

He was released on bail the same night.

“Farmers have been protesting at the Ghazipur border near Delhi for the last one year demanding repealing of the three Central farm laws, stopping privatisation of agriculture and preventing APMCs from being taken over by select corporates, MSP law. But PM Modi hasn’t met them yet. The government is so stone-hearted. The government wants ‘Jan Ashirwad’. Will they get the ‘Ashirvad’ (blessings) of people by breaking the heads of farmers,” the editorial asked.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday virtually inaugurated the renovated complex of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial.

On April 13, 1919 the British forces fired indiscriminately on a large and peaceful gathering of protesters at the Jallianwala Bagh, in Amritsar (Punjab), killing over 1,000 people and wounding hundreds of them.