HISAR: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) started a dharna outside the mini secretariat in Sirsa in protest against the arrest of five farmers and registration of an FIR under various charges, including sedition, following the attack on the vehicle of Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa last week.
Alleging misuse of the sedition law, SKM leader Rakesh Tikait demanded the release of the farmers and withdrawal of the FIR. “This is a British-era law which is being used to muzzle our voice. If someone throws a stone and it breaks the windowpane of a car, does it amount to sedition?” questioned Tikait. He alleged when the police assaulted farmers and damaged their vehicles in Hisar last month, no action was taken against them.
Tikait said the government was trying to shift the centre of the farmers’ agitation from Delhi borders to other places like Sirsa. “Our struggle for repeal of the three farm laws will continue,” he said.
Later in the evening, Deputy Commissioner Aneesh Yadav and SP Arpit Jain held a meeting with a delegation of farmers’ leaders, but no headway could be made. Tikait alleged the administration failed to justify the action taken against the farmers and also refused to listen to their demands. “We will continue the dharna outside the mini secretariat till our demands are met,” he said. Earlier in the day, the Sirsa administration had imposed Section 144 and deployed 25 companies of security forces to restrict farmers from reaching the protest venue. However, the farmers crossed the barricades at several places and gathered at Bhagat Singh Park before proceeding towards the mini secretariat.