PHAGWARA: The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Doaba has strongly condemned the arrest of top farmer leaders following the seventh round of talks between central and Punjab ministers and protesting farmers. The union also denounced the heavy police deployment at Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites, where farmers have been staging peaceful demonstrations for the past 13 months.
In a statement issued here, BKU Doaba General Secretary Satnam Singh Sahni termed the government’s actions as a blatant show of hostility towards farmers. He alleged that police forces were being used to forcibly evict protesters, with reports emerging of lathi charges and other coercive measures, including targeting women and children.
He further accused the central government of bowing to corporate interests and international trade policies, citing recent trade agreements with the United States and other global powers. “The arrest of hundreds of SKM (Samyukt Kisan Morcha) leaders during the Chandigarh protest and now this brutal crackdown expose the government’s anti-farmer stance, ” Sahni said.
The farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the fulfilment of promises made in a written agreement by the Union Agriculture Ministry at the time of the Delhi protest suspension. They have also called for the withdrawal of the new farm marketing policy.
BKU Doaba has demanded the immediate release of the arrested farmer leaders and urged the government to address their “legitimate” demands without delay. The union also condemned the reported house arrests of several farmer leaders across the state.