A day after the farmers’ protest outside a college in Haryana’s Jhajjar, over a thousand farmers gathered outside Chief Minister ML Khattar's residence on Saturday, 2 October, protesting against the Centre’s three controversial farm laws and the Centre’s decision to delay paddy procurement in Punjab and Haryana till 11 October.
The farmers announced their intention to organise an overnight vigil. However, clashes broke out with the police, and the farmers were met with water cannons. A large number of Haryana police personnel have been deployed, along with tear gas vehicles, NDTV reported.
On Friday, protesters marched against an event attended by Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala in Jhajjar, but there too, clashes broke out. There have been allegations that the water used in the water cannons was sewer water, The Indian Express reported.
Farmers have also been protesting in grain markets in parts of Haryana and have blocked highways several times as a part of their protest.
Further, maintaining that they won’t allow any events by the ruling party and its leaders, farmers have also protested outside the residences of MLAs from the ruling BJP-Jannayak Janata Party alliance in several districts.
Saying that crop maturity had been delayed due to recent rains, the Centre postponed buying kharif, or monsoon, paddy from Punjab and Haryana till 11 October.
In response to the Centre’s decision, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait warned of protests on Friday, including at the headquarters of the district collectorate in Punjab, to force the centre to start paddy procurement, NDTV reported.
On Saturday, farmers also protested in front of Sonipat's BJP MP Ramesh Kaushik's house, demanding immediate commencement of paddy procurement.
Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Haryana leader Jagdeep Singh Aulakh had said earlier on Saturday, “Around 5,000-6,000 farmers will reach Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence in Karnal since he too represents an assembly constituency. Similar protests will be held across all constituencies of Haryana. We will park our tractors and trolleys filled with paddy crops outside the residences of MLAs and MPs”, Indian Express reported.
Farmers in large number also reached Karnal
On Thursday, clashes had broken out between farmers and police in Haryana's Karnal amid protests against a BJP event in Indri.
It has been over a year that farmers across the country have been protesting against the farm laws. Meanwhile, thousands of farmers have stood guard at the Delhi-Haryana and Delhi-UP borders, demanding the Centre to repeal the farm laws and assure them of MSP.
The Centre, however, has maintained that the laws will not be repealed, but it is ready for a “compromise”.
'I Miss Critics': PM Modi
Meanwhile, defending the farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview to Open magazine, “If you look at those who are opposing the pro-farmer reforms today, you will see the real meaning of intellectual dishonesty and ‘rajneetik dhokhadhadi’ (political deceit). These were the same people who wrote letters to chief ministers asking them to do the exact same thing that our government has done. These were the same people who wrote in their manifesto that they would enact the same reforms that we have brought”, news agency PTI reported.
He added, “Yet, just because some other political party, blessed by the will of the people, is enacting the same reforms, they have made a complete U-turn and in a brazen display of intellectual dishonesty, completely disregard what will benefit the farmers and only seek what they think will benefit them politically.”
Further, Modi also claimed that he missed critics and said, "I, with an honest mind, respect critics a lot. But, unfortunately, the number of critics is very few. Mostly, people only level allegations, the people who play games about perception are more in number."
He asserts that the reason for this is that, "for criticism, one has to do a lot of hardwork, research and, in today’s fast-paced world, maybe people don’t have time. So sometimes, I miss critics", PTI reported.
(With inputs from NDTV and PTI)
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