Signalling that the state government was coming with a sledgehammer approach on the increasingly raucous bunch of paid protesters, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him about the increasing “inappropriate incidents” emerging at the farmer protest sites.
“There is no objection if the farmers’ movement goes on peacefully. But the inappropriate incidents, especially against women, are very worrying. These incidents are being opposed locally as well. Haryana government will not allow law and order to deteriorate under any circumstances. The Union Home Minister has also assured action in this regard,” said Khattar whilst talking to media after the meeting.
आज केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री श्री @AmitShah जी से दिल्ली में मुलाकात कर उन्हें किसान आंदोलन में बढ़ रही हिंसात्मक व अनैतिक घटनाओं, विशेषकर महिलाओं के साथ हो रही घटनाओं के संदर्भ में अवगत करवाया। pic.twitter.com/7y9lPPvkdK
— Manohar Lal (मोदी का परिवार) (@mlkhattar) June 17, 2021
While Khattar did not elaborate on the incidents, he was certainly referring to the alleged gangrape of a 26-year-old woman from West Bengal, who was participating in the farmers’ protest at Tikri border, and was raped by a gang of protestors that included an AAP leader and later died of Covid-19 on April 30.
Reported by TFI, after allegations of gang rape, a 42-year-old man from Jhajjar succumbed to injuries due to burns near the Tikri protest site with the victim’s family alleging that he was set on fire by his fellow protesters who were drinking together.
Mukesh’s brother Madan Lal, who had filed the complaint with the SHO of Sector 6, alleged that his brother had gone to “roam” outside around 5 pm and reached the protest site. He stated, “I got to know that the four protesters sprinkled oil on my brother with the intention of killing him, and set him on fire.”
Similarly, a netizen named Shivani Dhillon had taken to Twitter to share the plight of a women nursing assistant, who went to the protest site, inspired by a few of the protestors but endured a harrowing time where she was harassed constantly.
And it is not only the innocuous people travelling to the protest sites whose lives are being turned upside down, it is the villagers near the protest site and their lives that have come to a complete standstill for the better part of the last six months.
Reported by TFI, residents of the Singhu village complained that the road routes going towards Haryana have been jammed by the farmers. As a result, all the heavy vehicle movement has been diverted through the streets of the village.
The big heavy-duty trucks pass through the dilapidated streets of the village, posing a problem for the villagers. Even the narrow streets of the village see big SUVs and other cars pass through them which more often than which leads to huge jams.
At a time when central and state governments have been issuing desperate calls for the people to stay indoors and practise social distancing to avoid contracting the deadly virus, such cramped movement through the village has increased the risk of another wave of coronavirus.
The Farmer’s protest was hijacked by vested interest groups and political parties in its infancy. Since then, the protest has metamorphosed into a playground breeding all kinds of anti-national activities. The government tried to negotiate in good faith but it was not repaid and thus it is high time that an iron fist is used to set things straight.