Farmers Gherao SP’s Office in Hisar to Demand Justice for Injured Farmer

Jaswinder Singh (name changed) collects the empty water bottles of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) members protesting at the Hansi (Hisar, Haryana) superintendent of police’s (SP) office against the alleged brutal assault on one of the farmers demonstrating against Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha member Ram Chander Jangra when he came to inaugurate a community centre in Narnaund on Friday.

The SKM, which had demanded that Jangra and his aides be booked for attempt to murder and an FIR registered against two farmers after the Narnaund violence withdrawn, on Sunday called for gheraoing the SP’s office after talks with the police were inconclusive. Farmers organisations allege that the farmer, identified as Kuldeep Rana, was brutally assaulted by Jangra’s personal security officers.

A member of the SKM volunteer team, Singh collects the bottles in a jute bag to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at the protest site. A software engineer with a leading American multinational, Singh tells Newsclick that he has been rallying IT professionals in Bangalore in support of the farmers’ protest against the three farm laws.

Back home in Hisar for vacations, Singh has chosen to volunteer in the protest. “White-collar workers, who have a regular source of income, are beginning to understand the interdependent relationship between agriculture and the economy. We clearly saw what happened to other sectors of the economy when the pandemic hit us. Only the agriculture sector grew,” he says.

Fearing a collapse of the economy if agriculture “too goes to the corporate sector”, Singh says, “There is a high possibility of collapse if only a few companies have a stake during a pandemic or recession. I am vulnerable as well and I may lose my job. If I lose my farms, how will my father feed the family?”

Singh feels attempts are being made to “malign the movement by stoking violence ahead of crucial Supreme Court hearing on November 11” and antagonise one caste against another. It’s a time-tested formula”. Jangra has alleged that he was targeted specifically because of his backward community. However, farmer leaders have refuted his allegation by emphasising that they have called for gheraoing different ministers from different communities.

As the protest continues, the farmers forcefully close down a nearby liquor outlet alleging that government-sponsored men were luring farmers to consume alcohol and create law and order problems. A farmer sitting next to the stage says, “This is a strange situation where the protesters are peaceful and the administration violent.”

The atmosphere gets suddenly charged up when farmer leader Vikas Shishar announces that the lawyers in the court adjacent to the protest site have suspended work in support of the agitation.

Chahna Azad, a student of Government Inter College, Hansi, feels the grief of the families who lost their members during the agitation at the borders of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. “I have been active in the movement for the last one year. I met Kuldeep several times at the Mayyar Toll Plaza. When I heard that Kuldeep was attacked, I was hurt and anguished. I hope he gets discharged from the hospital and joins us back,” she told Newsclick. She added that many students have joined the protest. “How will my father pay my fees if these laws are implemented?”

Amit Sangwan, a member of SKM’s legal cell, told Newsclick that the police didn’t follow the law while registering the FIR and arrested farmers. “There are many judgements which mandate that the police should file FIRs from both the sides if two private entities are involved.” Mentioning Lalita Kumari vs Govt. Of U.P.& Ors, he said, “The Supreme Court clearly mentioned the conduct of the police. The police did not take a minute in arresting the farmers but are awaiting orders from higher-ups even while he is battling for life at the hospital.”

Soon, Kuldeep’s daughter makes a tearful appeal to the protesters with a song summing up that the movement must go on even if her father dies. The farmers are in tears, more determined to get justice. Later, the farmers form a committee comprising Rakesh Tikait, Inderjit Singh, Abhimanyu Kohar and others to talk to the administration.