Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
The leaders of the United Kisan Morcha have made it clear that now the farmers’ movement will continue for a long time. Farmer organizations celebrated Aakrosh Diwas on Friday, there will be a tractor march on the highway next Monday, and a farmer mahapanchayat will be held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on March 14. During this period, mutual rifts among farmer organizations also came to the fore. The United Kisan Morcha supported the movement of farmer organizations of Punjab, condemned the violence on the Khanauri border, demanded registration of FIR against the Haryana government and police, and a judicial inquiry into the death of the youth in Khanauri. Made the demand, but at the same time also said that at present the United Kisan Morcha is not involved in the movement of the organizations of Punjab. Now what to do next, how to bring all the farmer leaders together, a coordination committee has been formed, but at present there is no connection between the United Farmers Front and the farmer organizations of Punjab. On the other hand, the agitating farmer organizations of Punjab have announced that at present they will not talk to the government because the government is oppressing the farmers. Farmer leaders allege that Haryana Police entered the Punjab border and opened fire on the protesters, in which fourteen farmers were injured and one boy died. Farmer organizations say that the Punjab government is also playing a double game. On one hand, it shows sympathy with the farmers, on the other hand, tractors and trucks filled with ration and water coming to help the protesters are being stopped. Farmer organizations have said that Bhagwant Mann should clear his stand.
On Thursday, we showed the video in our show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’, in which it is clearly visible how the protesters in Khanauri tried to move through the fields instead of the road and attacked the police. They had sticks in their hands, some people were throwing stones at the police. It is clearly visible in the pictures that the police personnel do not have guns, they were fighting the protesters with sticks, from this video it is clear that the statement of the farmer leaders that the farmers are moving forward peacefully is not completely correct. They were trying to move forward and did not attack the police. Some more pictures were also found. Several thousand quintals of stubble was piled up near the Khanauri border. When the police stopped the farmers from moving forward, many farmers started moving forward picking up bundles of stubble. There was big planning behind this. When the protesters reached near the police cordon carrying the stubble, they set the stubble on fire. After the fire broke out, the farmers extinguished it by applying water and then sprinkled chilli powder on it. Due to this, terrible smoke started coming out from the half-burnt stubble. This smoke started irritating the eyes of the policemen, it became difficult for them to see and the policemen had to run away due to the burning sensation of the smoke mixed with chilli. When these chillies got trapped in the smoke, the farmers attacked the policemen in which 10 to 12 policemen were seriously injured. On Thursday, a team of forensic department reached Khanauri border. This team collected samples from the burnt stubble so that they could be tested to find out what was mixed in the stubble.
Farmer leaders of Punjab are repeatedly claiming that the protesters want to move towards Delhi peacefully and the government is oppressing the farmers, but the pictures tell a different story. I had also said yesterday that the kind of preparations that the farmer organizations have done, it seems that they have come prepared for war. Police officers have repeatedly said that the protesters had brought guns and swords. They had placed sharp weapons in front of the sticks. It is very difficult to understand and say what is actually happening inside the farmers’ protest. Reporters are not being allowed inside the camp of farmer leaders. There were scuffles with reporters at many places. On one side are the protesting farmers, on the other side are the police. Both have their own claims. Both have their own videos. Both say that the attack happened from the other side. Like farmer leaders allege that the police opened fire in which a young man died. Now it is true that the young man died, but the police claim that they did not open fire. Farmer leaders say that at least 14 farmers are injured. Police claims that 12 of its soldiers are in the hospital.
At one place, people involved in the farmers’ movement claimed that pellets came out of the bodies of the injured people. Police say that pellet gun was not used by him. All these claims and counter-claims mean that both the police and farmer leaders want to keep the public perception right and want public sympathy with them. It is not possible to immediately verify the authenticity of all the videos being sent to the media. It takes time. Like I saw a video today in which the police are deflating the tires of tractors, opening the tanks and pouring diesel on the road so that these tractors cannot move forward. But it is difficult to say where and when is this video from? Political parties are also giving statements according to their own. When Akali leader Sukhbir Singh Badal targeted Bhagwant Mann, Mann held the central government responsible. Due to this confusion, there is a deadlock and those students who have board exams these days are suffering the most. On Thursday, when a farmer leader said that this dispute and confrontation will continue till the elections, there was concern because due to this movement, thousands of traders working in these areas are incurring losses worth crores of rupees every day. (Rajat Sharma)
Watch: ‘Aaj Ki Baat, Rajat Sharma Sath’ full episode of February 22, 2024
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