Crackdown on Haryana farmers on bandh eve

CHANDIGARH, November 2: As the crackdown on the Opposition and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) continued in Haryana, the State Government t...

CHANDIGARH, November 2: As the crackdown on the Opposition and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) continued in Haryana, the State Government today said it had asked field officers to deal with the situation during tomorrow’s Haryana bandh “firmly, but tactfully”.

Reports from different parts of the State said the police was still searching for BKU and Opposition activists, many of whom had gone underground. Among those held were workers of the BKU, Congress, Haryana Lok Dal, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), reports said.

An official statement, issued in the evening, said elaborate security arrangements had been made for the bandh and district authorities had been asked to take preventive measures. But the note was silent on the number of arrests. However, an agency report put the number of arrests at 200.

Story continues below this ad

Leader of Opposition Om Prakash Chautala condemned the arrests, saying these were reminiscent of emergency. The Government wanted to divert the attention of the people from issues of public concern and to incite violence to postpone the Fatehabad by-election, he said.

The bandh has been called by the BKU and the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti in protest against police firing on farmers at Mandiali village, in Satnali area of Mahendragarh, last month. Almost all Opposition parties are supporting the bandh.

Quoting Chief Secretary R S Varma, the statement said the Divisional Commissioners and the Deputy Commissioners had been asked to ensure that the people were not obstructed in their day-to-day work and shopkeepers not forced to down shutters “by anti-social elements”.