Hundreds of farmers detained in Gurugram during march towards Delhi
Chandigarh: Hundreds of farmers were detained by police from the Manesar area in Haryana’s Gurugram today when they tried to march to Delhi to protest unfair compensation for over 1,800 acres of farmland sold to the state government.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the entire Manesar area was converted into a cantonment earlier to stop the farmers from marching to the Indian capital, and when the farmers started moving towards Delhi, police swung into action and took them into custody.
Earlier, the Dakshin Haryana Kisan Khap and others had announced that they would carry out a peaceful march to Delhi. The march was also aimed to show solidarity with the ongoing ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation. They had announced to support the key demand of the protesting farmers for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops and illegal land acquisition.
Farmer leaders called the Haryana government a dictatorship over the police action. They said that they were not given the right price for 1,810 acres of land in five villages in Manesar and decided to protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi today.
“The government wants to loot the farmers’ land by taking it at throwaway prices,” said Mahendra Singh, a farmer leader.
“Today, the farmers wanted to march peacefully to Delhi but the government adopted a dictatorial attitude and did not allow the farmers to go beyond Manesar. The government is afraid of the farmers’ movement, but until the demand for MSP guarantee is not met, the farmers’ movement will continue,” Santokh Singh, one of the protesters, said.
