Dushaynt condemns lathi charge on farmers, demands inquiry

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Sunday condemned the police’s use of force on agitating farmers at Pipli in Kurukshetra and demanded a probe into the incident.

“Action should be taken against those who first stopped (farmers) and then gave permission. The incident of Pipli is highly condemnable,” said Dushyant while talking to the mediapersons in Gurugram.

Dushyant’s Jannayak Janata Party is an alliance partner of the Manohar Lal Khatter-led Haryana Government.

Recently, Dushyant’s younger brother and senior leader of JJP, Digvijay Chautala had also condemned lathicharge on agitating farmers in Pipli. Digvijay is heading JJP’s students’ wing- Indian National Students Organization (INSO). Earlier, two BJP leaders, Dharambir Singh and Brijendra Singh, Lok Sabha MPs from Bhiwani and Mahendragarh, respectively, had also supported the protesting farmers and condemned use of police force by the government without listening to their voice in a democratic country.

Meanwhile, the Deputy CM accused the Congress of misleading the farmers on the issue of Centre’s agriculture-related ordinances. He said that the Congress has indulged in shallow-minded politics on this issue and is misleading the farmers.

The three ordinances are not brought by the Haryana Government but the Central Government.  The decision to bring ordinances was taken to ensure that all farmers could get the benefit of MSP, Dushyant said. The welfare of farmers is the top priority of the State Govt and several policies and schemes are being implemented in this regard, he added.

Notably, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and other organisations held a protest in Kurukshetra’s Pipli last week. The farmers were protesting against agriculture-related ordinances brought on June 5 - The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, as, they said, the ordinances are anti-farmer. In the police action during the protest, many farmers were left injured and the district police had later registered cases against farmers, including Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni, for damaging public property and violating restrictions on assembly.