Farmers call for strict action against SDM, CM Manohar Lal Khattar defends

New Delhi : A farmer's Panchayat has issued seven-day ultimatum to the government to take strict action against Karnal SDM Ayush Singh, for allegedly asking police officials to break the head of farmers via lathis. CM Manohar Lal Khattar has defended the SDM and said that only thing that can be questioned in the whole incident is the choice of words by the officer.

“Protection of democracy is the work of the administration. They are assigned to do this job. We have heard and seen the audio and video (of the SDM instructing cops)...Rest, the DGP is probing the incident and the local administration, too, is doing the same. We shall act as and when the report comes to us,” Khattar told reporters in Chandigarh.

At least 10 people had sustained physical injuries in the lathi-charge on protesting farmers who allegedly tried to block the highway movement.

The farmers’ panchayat chaired by BKU (Charuni) national president Gurnam Singh Charuni at the Gharaunda grain market in Karnal demanded that Singh be suspended along with some other officials, including inspector Harjinder Singh, for allegedly targeting the protesters without provocation. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha made a similar demand. 

“We want FIRs to be registered against them. We also demand Rs 25 lakh in compensation and a government job for the kin of farmer Sushil Kajal, who died of injuries suffered in the lathicharge, and Rs 2 lakh to each injured farmer,” Charuni said.

Farmers will indefinitely gherao the Karnal secretariat on September 7 if the government fails to act on the panchayat’s demand by September 6, he warned.