On the eve of a protest against non-payment of compensation to the flood-hit farmers proposed to be held in Chandigarh on Tuesday, farmer leaders of 16 unions led by Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) were arrested across Punjab.
This is fallout of botched negotiations between senior officers of the Chandigarh and Punjab Police with the leaders led by state president of the KMSC, Sarvan Singh Pandher, failed. Among those arrested are Pandher, press secretary, BKU (Krantikari) Kanwardilip Singh, state press secretary, KMSC, Chamkaur Singh and Borh Singh, both leaders of BKU (Behramke).
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) condemned the arrest of several Kisan leaders in different parts of the state to prevent them from staging a dharna in Chandigarh to demand compensation for the victims of the devastating floods in Punjab.
SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was rubbing salt to the wounds of the peasantry by refusing to release compensation to them and arresting Kisan leaders who wanted to highlight the misery of the farmers, farm labourers and poor sections of society.
“This is not only dictatorial but inhuman also. SAD demands the immediate release of all arrested farm leaders and also supports their right to protest,” he added.
Alleging that the AAP government was trying to run away from awarding fair compensation to the farmers, the SAD leader said instead of awarding interim relief of Rs 25,000 per acre immediately after the state was struck by floods in July final award of Rs 75,000 per acre was being demanded by the farm organisations, the government was now trying to run away from giving compensation to farmers.
Dr Cheema said farmers were in dire strait as the government was yet to pay the compensation for last year’s crop damage.