After protest, Hisar admin agrees to withdraw cases filed against farmers

New Delhi: Hundreds of farmers staged a protest at Haryana's Hisar on Monday against the three farm Bills, against which the farmers have been protesting for the past six months and to mark the violence that took place on May 16.

On May 16, in a clash between the farmers and Haryana Police many farmers were injured after which FIR was filed against 350 farmers.

"It is horrible of the Haryana Police and the government to first beat up the protesters and then book them under various laws," 57-year-old Ravinder Singh, a resident of Hisar said.

He said that farmers have been sitting in protest for six months and the government has taken no initiative to speak to them. Amidst a crippling Covid-19 wave in the country, the farmers gathered in large numbers to express their anger. "We will surround the Commissioner's residence," Singh added.

However, instead of surrounding the office, farmers gathered at Hisar's Krantiman Park and protested there. Monica, who hails from Hisar and is a farmer expressed her anger over the government's apathy saying that "no violence over the farmers will be tolerated".

"Today's protest is peaceful. On May 16 as well the protest was silent yet the police resorted to rubber bullets shelling and lathi-charge," she said. Meanwhile, the Hisar district administration on Monday agreed to withdraw all cases registered against farmers following their clash with police on May 16.

The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting between the district administration and representatives of various farmer unions here.

Many other demands of farmers were also accepted during the meeting, farmer leaders claimed. During the protest as protesters continued to gather, it was announced that a man has died on his way. A resident of Haryana's Ugrahan Village, Ram Chandra Kharba was on his way when he had a heart attack that took away his life. "We would like to mourn the loss of our comrade who died on the way to the protest," BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said, calling him a "martyr".

Later the body was brought to the protest site where the protesting farmers paid their last respect. The 69-year-old farmer's body was wrapped in a tri-colour after which an ambulance came and took him to the nearby hospital. Meanwhile, a delegation consisting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha met the IG to discuss the matter. Heavy deployment was seen in the area with both the state police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) in place. The protest also witnessed the presence of many farmer leaders including Rakesh Takait. Farmers from Tikri and Singhu Border also joined the protest at Hisar.

"This is simply a protest to ask for our right and nothing else. They speak about Covid but we are already dying and beaten up so how does it matter? They can conduct rallies then it is okay but asking for your right becomes a crime," Satish Kumar who hails from a local village in Haryana said. May 26 will mark six months of farmers' protest against the three farm Bills. with agency inputs