Skip to main content

'Move to curtail democratic rights': Farmer's death in Chandigarh, attack on protesters

Counterview Desk

The civil rights network, Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as “strongly condemning” the alleged murder of farmer Pritam Singh and “repression” against Kisan Union by police, has said that the incident took place as a result of chaos following a police lathi charge against protesting farmers who were marching to Chandigarh to raise their demands against Punjab and Hayana governments.
In a statement, it said, “More than 25 districts of Punjab and Haryana were severely affected from the heavy rains and floods this season which has caused a huge crop loss to farmers dependent on agriculture but the administration has not announced any compensation for them as of now.” 
This led farmers of both the states to protest.

Text:

On August 21, 2023, elderly farmer Pritam Singh died amid a police lathi charge against protesting farmers who were marching to Chandigarh to raise their demands against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Pritam Singh was run over by a tractor in the chaos that ensued when the police decided to stop the farmers from exercising their democratic rights and attacked them with lathis.
The protests stem from the on-going crisis with Punjab. More than 25 districts of Punjab and Haryana were severely affected from the heavy rains and floods this season which has caused a huge crop loss to farmers dependent on agriculture but the administration has not announced any compensation for them as of now.
The kisan leaders have been demanding compensation not just for Punjab but for the entire north India region affected by these floods, urging the government to set up a package of Rs 50,000 crore for relief and compensation. In terms of compensation, they are demanding Rs 50,000 per acre for crop loss, Rs. 5 lakh for housing damages and repair work as well as relief of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives in the floods.
After negotiations with the administration failed and memorandums were submitted to the authorities, 16 Kisan Unions collectively gave a joint call on 22nd July to march towards Chandigarh a month later on 22nd August, if they saw no change of positions from the government. 
Both the Punjab and Haryana governments began a pre-emptive strike against this call and arrested more than 20 kisan leaders and hundreds of active farmers from their homes in a bid to eliminate the leadership of this protest and curtail the backlash from it.
Even so, the farmers began the march to Chandigarh to surround the Chief Minister’s offices and make their demands heard. In an attempt to stop them from reaching their destination, the administration lathicharged the farmers heading towards Chandigarh on 21st August and 22nd August which took the life of Pritam Singh and amputated the leg of another one. Even after all these incidents, the arrests have only intensified, with youth kisan leader Baldeep Singh being arrested on 22nd August even after strong demonstrations from farmers after the repression in Longowal.
The state’s attempt at curtailing the democratic rights of these farmers intensified in other ways too, with several social media accounts of both the leading farmers and the grassroot journalists being blocked, a direct attack against the democratic rights to organise and protest, along with curtailment of media professional’s ability to report the truth to the larger people of the country.
Particularly, the Facebook page of Gaon Savera, which covers rural Haryana and Punjab and run by journalist Mandeep Punia and his team, was blocked. This is the third such local and grassroot platform, after Lokvani and National Savera which has been curtailed in such an undemocratic manner.
In other places, the Haryana government deployed police vans which would try to overtake buses and tractors carrying protesting farmers and obstruct their paths on highways by placing police vehicles in front of them. Police have continued their attempts to block protests by increasing personnel in key areas of Mohali, the entry point to Chandigarh in the last 24 hours.
We strongly condemn these actions of the administration and demand the Punjab Government, Haryana Government and Chandigarh administration to stop these repressive measures with immediate effect.
---
*Organising team: AIRSO,AISA, AISF, APCR,BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, bsCEM, CEM, CRPP, CTF, Disha, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Fraternity ,IAPL, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, , Morcha Patrika, NAPM, NBS, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samajvadi Manch, SFI, United Against Hate, WSS, Y4S

Comments

TRENDING

Defeat of martial law: Has the decisive moment for change come in South Korea?

By Steven Lee  Late at night on December 3, soldiers stormed into South Korea’s National Assembly in armored vehicles and combat helicopters. Assembly staff desperately blocked their assault with fire extinguishers and barricades. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had just declared martial law to “ eliminate ‘anti-state’ forces .”

70,000 migrants, sold on Canadian dream, face uncertain future: Canada reinvents the xenophobic wheel

By Saurav Sarkar*  Bikram Singh is running out of time on his post-study work visa in Canada. Singh is one of about 70,000 migrants who were sold on the Canadian dream of eventually making the country their home but now face an uncertain future with their work permits set to expire by December 2024. They came from places like India, China, and the Philippines, and sold their land and belongings in their home countries, took out loans, or made other enormous commitments to get themselves to Canada.

A groundbreaking non-violent approach: Maharishi’s invincible defense technology

By MajGen (R) Kulwant Singh, Col (R) SP Bakshi, Col (R) Jitendra Jung Karki, LtCol (R) Gunter Chassé & Dr David Leffler*  In today’s turbulent world, achieving lasting peace and ensuring national security are more urgent than ever. Traditional defense methods focus on advanced weapons, military strategies, and tactics, but a groundbreaking approach offers a new non-violent and holistic solution: Maharishi’s Invincible Defense Technology (IDT). 

This Indian British Marxist blamed USSR's collapse in 1991 on Khrushchev's 'revisionism'

By Harsh Thakor*  Harpal Singh Brar, British Indian Marxist scholar and communist leader, has passed away in Chandigarh. He was 85. He was a lifelong supporter of socialism, Marxism, and the working class. He will be remembered among British Communists.

Chalapathi's death in encounter suggests Maoists' inability to establish broader mass support

By Harsh Thakor* The Maoist movement experienced a significant loss during the Ramagudem encounter on January 21, with the death of Chalapathi (Pratap), a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist). His death, along with 15 others, marks a major setback for the movement. Reports suggest that his location was revealed to security forces through a selfie with his wife.

Why do we mostly resist and refrain from communicating on sanitation topic?

By Nikhil Kumar, Mansee Bal Bhargava* According to UN SDG Progress report (2022), at the present moment no targets for SDG 6 are expected to be met by 2030. In 2022, 2.2 billion people had no access to safe drinking water and 3.5 million lacked safe sanitation. Approximately 50% of the world’s population was reported to have been under resourced in enough water for part of the year and a quarter of that population was living under “extremely high” water stress. Add to it, droughts have affected over 1.4 billion people between 2002 and 2021.

Govt of India asked to work for release of 217 Indian fishermen detained in Pakistan since 2021

By A Representative  Members of the fishing communities from Gujarat and Diu, Union Territory, held a press conference in Ahmedabad, urging the Union Government to take proactive measures to secure the release of Indian fishermen currently detained in Pakistan. Presently, 217 Indian fishermen, mostly from Gujarat and Diu, are held in Pakistan’s Malir Jail. Of these, 53 have been incarcerated since 2021 and 130 since 2022.

34 Dalit families in IIT Kanpur without toilets in Open Defecation Free India

By Sandeep Pandey   When Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur was set up in 1959, two villages were uprooted. The farmers were given meagre compensation for the standing crop. No compensation was given for the land to build this institute of national importance. Each family was promised a job but what was not told to them was that one would require specialised skills to get a job at IIT. Some members of these families were, of course, absorbed for menial work. Some washerfolk families were also invited from outside to live on campus to take care of the laundry needs of students, staff and faculty members. One of these men was cajoled by IIT authorities then to forego a regular employment at IIT and instead take up clothes washing work.

अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट निराशाजनक: 19.3% अल्पसंख्यकों के लिए मात्र 0.0661% ठोस आवंटन

- मुजाहिद नफ़ीस*   1-2-2025 को भारत सरकार द्वारा संसद में वर्ष 2025-26 का बजट वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण जी ने पेश किया| इस वर्ष का बजट 5065345 करोड़ है जो कि पिछले साल के संशोधित अनुमान से लगभग 7.39% की बढ़ोतरी हुई है| वहीं अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट मात्र 3350.00 करोड़ है जो कि कुल बजट का 0.0661% लगभग है|  पिछले साल 2024-25 में 3183.24 करोड़ था|

जाति-व्यवस्था, पितृ सत्ता, धार्मिक अंधविश्वास, पाखंड, लैंगिक असमानता, छुआछूत, सामाजिक भेदभाव पर पेरियार के तार्किक विचार

- जर्नादन रविदास   प्रमोद रंजन द्वारा संपादित पुस्तक ‘जाति-व्यवस्था और पितृसत्ता’ भारत का सुकरात कहे जाने वाले ई. वी. रामास्वामी पेरियार के इस विषय पर केंद्रित लेखों और भाषणों का संग्रह है। इस पुस्तक में हम पेरियार के बहुत ही तार्किक विचारों को पाते हैं। मसलन, पेरियार का कहना है कि “मैं विवाह या शादी जैसे शब्दों से सहमत नहीं हूं। मैं इसे केवल जीवन में साहचर्य के लिए एक अनुबंध मानता हूं।” इसी तरह वे कहते हैं कि “जो आदमी ईश्वर और धर्म में विश्वास रखता है, वह आजादी हासिल करने की कभी उम्मीद नहीं कर सकता।”