The farmers were baton charged on a day Haryana extended its Covid lockdown by another week.
Farmer leaders alleged that plastic bulllets were fired at the protesters in Hisar.
Chandigarh:
A number of farmers were reportedly injured today after the Haryana police baton charged them for protesting at an event attended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar even as the state extended its Covid lockdown by another week.
Farmer leaders alleged that the police had fired plastic bullets, too, and arrested several protesters. They also used tear gas to disperse the farmers who had removed barricades put up by the police.
This happened in Haryana’s Hisar today. tear gas shells fired at protesting farmers while they were protesting against CM Manohar Lal Khattar who visited the district to inaugurate a covid hospital. https://t.co/TiYV5zVDNupic.twitter.com/465wSlmFPX
— Mohammad Ghazali (@ghazalimohammad) May 16, 2021
Reports have also emerged of parts of a National Highway 9 being blocked by the farmers for around two hours following the incident. The Grand Trunk Road will be blocked between 3pm and 7pm by the farmers.
Gurnam Singh Charuni, a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who arrived in Hisar after hearing about the incident said if all those arrested farmers are not released, then the protesters will gherao police stations in Haryana.
Later in the day, farmers sat near the residence of Hisar Inspector General in protest amid a heavy police presence.
Farmers sitting on protest near the residence of IG, Hisar police. Heavy presence of police force with barricades. pic.twitter.com/awZspMFsTm
— Mohammad Ghazali (@ghazalimohammad) May 16, 2021
“I want to ask Mr Khattar. Going by the video of the event, there were more than 500 people attending. Couldn’t this inauguration have been done online. Did you have to go there in person?” asked Mr Charuni.
“They are deliberately setting up a confrontation. They are spreading Covid and defaming us for it,” he said in a video message before leaving the Kundli border point between Delhi and Haryana for Hisar.
Thousands of farmers have, for the past many months, been protesting against the Central government’s three agricultural laws passed last year. They have camped along various points like Kundli along Delhi’s border, refusing to back off despite the ongoing Covid crisis in the country.
Haryana has been under a lockdown for the past two weeks, and has now extended it by another week till May 24, owing to the pandemic. Chief Minister Khattar was in Hisar today to inaugurate a COVID-19 care centre.
On Saturday, the state reported 144 virus-related deaths and 9,676 fresh cases, pushing its infection count to 6,85,312. So far, 6,546 people have died from the infection in the state.