Bidadi township issue: Farmers stage road blockade in Mysuru against alleged police brutality
Several farmers staged a blockade near Bandipalya on the Mysuru-Nanjangud highway on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday to condemn the alleged police brutality
Several farmers staged a blockade near Bandipalya on the Mysuru-Nanjangud highway on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday to condemn the alleged police brutality on farmers protesting against the Bidadi Township Project. Acting on the directions of State Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar, the Mysuru taluk unit of the association convened a meeting of farmers at Kuvempu Park near Gun House in Mysuru to discuss the issue and condemn alleged police brutality on the farmers on Monday. Following the meeting, the farmers reached the Mysuru-Nanjangud Road to stage a blockade. They raised slogans condemning the officials for allegedly attempting to take possession of the farmers’ land using police force.
They also raised slogans accusing the police of acting on the behest of the government and condemned the State government for depriving farmers of their livelihoods. Mysuru district general secretary of State Sugarcane Growers’ Association Baradanapura Nagaraj said the protesting farmers, including women, blocked the vehicles of the officials, who had come to conduct a land survey at Mandalahalli in Bidadi on Monday unilaterally without obtaining the consent of farmers. The farmers expressed their strong opposition in an effort to protect the land that is their source of livelihood. “At this juncture, police personnel deployed at the spot resorted to a lathi-charge on the pretext of dispersing the protesters and allegedly used force indiscriminately even against elderly people and women.
The police brutality is condemnable. Several farmers and women protesters were injured and admitted to hospital. Attempts were also made to forcibly arrest the protesters, while police cases have been registered against several of them,” alleged Mr. Nagaraj. The protesting farmers in Mysuru have urged the government to immediately withdraw the final notification for acquisition of the “fertile agricultural land, which has sustained generations of farmers, has lakhs of coconut and mango trees, and contributes lakhs of litres of milk supplied to Bengaluru every day”. Stringent disciplinary action should be initiated against the police officers who resorted to an “inhuman lathi-charge” on farmers and women who were peacefully asserting their rights, said a statement issued by the farmers in Mysuru.
The farmers have also urged the authorities to immediately release all the farmer leaders and protesters taken into custody. The farming community will not bow to the government’s “authoritarian approach of displacing farmers in the name of development or to police brutality”, the protestors said while pledging support to the affected farmers of Bidadi. “If the government continues with its adamant approach and proceeds with forcible land acquisition, the agitation will be intensified across the State in the coming days,” said a statement issued by the protesting farmers.
The BriefWire