The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday demanded the registration of an FIR for “murder” over the death of a protesting farmer on the Punjab-Haryana border and announced tractor marches next week.
Subhkaran Singh, 21, had died Wednesday amid clashes between Haryana Police and Punjab farmers, whose Delhi Chalo march has been stalled at the Khanauri border point in Punjab’s Sangrur district.
The SKM, which spearheaded the 2020–21 farm agitation against the now-repealed farm laws, announced that the farmers will observe a ‘black day’ on Friday to mourn the death.
It also said farmers will take out tractor marches on highways on February 26 and hold a Mahapanchayat in Delhi on March 14.
Speaking to reporters here, SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said a case of murder should be registered in the death of the farmer at the Khanauri border and his family should be given Rs 1 crore in compensation.
Further, Rajewal accused the Haryana Police of crossing into Punjab, firing at protesting farmers and damaging their tractors.
“Haryana Police entered Punjab, fired at us and also broke our tractors. A case under Section 302 IPC should be registered against the Haryana CM and Haryana’s home minister. A judicial inquiry should be conducted into the death of a farmer. On March 14, a ‘mahapanchayat’ of farmers will be held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi,” Rajewal said.
Subhkaran Singh, a native of Bathinda district, was brought dead at a hospital from Khanauri on the Sangrur-Jind border. He had died allegedly in a clash with police, 12 of whom were also injured, at the Khanauri border point on the Punjab-Haryana border.
The incident took place when the farmers rushed to the barricades, several layers of which have been erected by Haryana authorities to prevent farmers from proceeding with their march, clashing with security forces.The SKM held a meeting here on Thursday to discuss the situation at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, where thousands of farmers are camping as part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ call. Several SKM leaders from Punjab, Haryana, and other states participated in the meeting.
Sitting along with farmers at the Shambhu border on Wednesday, Sarwan Singh Pandher, General Secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said both forums—SKM and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee—had decided that the Dilli Chalo march would be put on hold for the next two days.
“We will deliberate on the whole situation, including what happened at the Khanauri border where a protester died and how we have to frame our policy and only then will the next course of action be decided,” he added.