Farmer dies; Tikait calls officer who ordered lathi-charge ‘sarkari Talibani’
Addressing a farmers’ mahapanchayat in Nuh, Haryana, on Sunday, Tikait said officers like Sinha should be posted in Maoist-affected areas
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BBKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday called an IAS officer who ordered police to “crack the heads” of protesting farmers “sarkari Talibani”.
A video showing Karnal Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ayush Sinha, a 2018 batch officer, asking policemen to ensure farmers get “head injuries” went viral on Saturday. The farmers had stopped traffic on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting, where Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar and other leaders were present. At least 10 people were injured in the lathi-charge, with one injured farmer later suffering a fatal heart attack.
Also read: A day after police lathi-charge in Haryana, farmers call for Bharat Bandh
“It is very simple and clear: Whoever he is, wherever he is from, no one should be allowed to reach there. We will not let this line be breached at any cost. Just pick up your lathi and hit them hard… It’s very clear, there is no need for any instruction, just thrash them hard. If I see a single protester here, I want to see his head smashed, crack their heads,” Sinha is heard saying in the video.
Addressing a farmers’ mahapanchayat in Nuh, Haryana, on Sunday, Tikait said officers like Sinha should be posted in Maoist-affected areas.
“Yesterday, an officer ordered [policemen] to hit farmers on their heads. They call us Khalistani. If you call us Khalistani and Pakistani, we will say sarkari Taliban has occupied the country. They are sarkari Talibanis,” the farmer leader said.
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Sunday said Sinha will face action.
“The 2018 batch IAS officer’s video has gone viral. The officer later perhaps gave a clarification that he hadn’t slept for two nights… But he should know that farmers have not slept for 365 days. Action will be taken,” Chautala said.
Injured Farmer Dies of Heart Attack
Meanwhile, senior BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that a farmer who had been injured in the lathi-charge had died of a heart attack.
“Sushil Kajal, who owned one and a half acres of land, had been participating in the farmers’ agitation for the past nine months. He had suffered serious injuries in the police lathi charge at Karnal Toll Plaza yesterday and at night he succumbed to a heart attack… The farming community will always remember his sacrifice,” Chaduni said in a tweet on Sunday.
