Cong holds protests against lathicharge, NHRC seeks report from Karnal admin

Congress on Thursday held statewide protests against the lathicharge on farmers in Karnal as the NHRC sought a report from police on the incident.

On the complaint of Haryana Congress, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, Karnal regarding the lathicharge on farmers on Saturday at Bastara toll plaza in Karnal.

Four weeks time has been given to submit the report, Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja said in a statement Thursday.

Selja, who earlier in the day took part in a protest held by the party in Karnal against the lathicharge incident and land acquisition amendment bill passed by state assembly, said she was hopeful that NHRC's order seeking the report will pave the way for justice to the farmers.

Congress held demonstrations against the lathicharge incident at various places in the state including Panchkula, Bhiwani and Kurukshetra.

Selja, a former Union Minister, hoped that the administration would submit the report to the NHRC after conducting a fair investigation and strict action would be taken against the guilty.

She said that a Congress delegation had met the NHRC two days ago and submitted a memorandum, requesting justice in the incident "The Congress party demands strict action against those who carried out this lathi charge and cases should be registered against them," she said.

Selja said that what happened on August 28 was "shameful".

"Farmers were lathicharged, their blood was shed and this was not the first time such a thing happened. This government has done this many times, but the most shocking thing is that the way the farmers were treated.

It was pre-decided by this government and the administration that the farmers would be lathicharged. It can be imagined that when officers use such language to give instructions to police, it cannot be done without the government's support," she said.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government on Wednesday transferred 19 IAS officers, including Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha, who was recently caught on tape allegedly telling policemen dealing with a farmers' protest to ''break their heads''.

Sinha is now the additional secretary of the Citizen Resources Information Department.

Police had used force on the protesters at Bastara toll plaza when farmers allegedly tried to march towards the venue of a BJP meeting, in which the chief minister and other senior BJP leaders from the state were present.

On August 31, a delegation of Congress MLAs led by former chief minister B S Hooda had met Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, seeking a judicial probe into the lathicharge on farmers in Karnal. On the issue of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Congress has alleged that the Haryana government has "delivered another blow" to the rights of farmers through the Bill.

Before it was passed in the Assembly, Congress had demanded that it be either withdrawn or referred to a select committee.

"This Bill is anti-farmer, anti-poor and undemocratic. The Bill was passed hurriedly without a detailed discussion in the House," Hooda, who led a delegation to the Governor, had said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)