AMBALA/KURUKSHETRA: The police stopped Punjab and Haryana farmers and activists in Ambala and Kurukshetra from proceeding to wrestlers' mahila samman mahapanchayat outside the new Parliament building in Delhi on Sunday.
Nearly 200 Punjab based farmers including most women associated with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) led by their president Sarvan Singh Pandher had reached Gurdwara Manji Sahib in Ambala City on Saturday night. Farmers of KMSC had taken a break at Ambala, however, heavy police force was deputed outside Gurdwara Manji Sahib by district administration in the night.
On Sunday morning, the farmers at Gurdwara Manji Sahib were not allowed to proceed towards Delhi, as the Ambala police had heavily barricaded the access to the National Highway (NH)-44 towards the national capital to stop them. The workers of KMSC including women sat on protest in scorching heat outside the Gurdwara gate, demanding to allow them to proceed towards Delhi. The Ambala police did not allow them to leave, following which, they returned towards Punjab at about 3 pm.
Workers of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Shaheed Bhagat Singh who attempted to proceed towards Delhi were also stopped by Ambala police at Shahapur village on the National Highway (NH) 44 (GT Road).
Sarvan Singh Pandher said, "It is very shameful that the accused is not being arrested while those demanding justice are being held. This is a big attack on fundamental rights of the people. Our workers including women were not allowed to move towards Delhi and forced to protest in scorching heat on the road. We protested peacefully as the wrestlers appealed for peaceful support."
Ambala superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said, "Adequate arrangements were made to maintain the law and order situation and the protestors went back towards Punjab after staging a protest."
On the other hand, BKU Charuni spokesman Rakesh Kumar Bains was also detained by the police in the night on Saturday from his home in Shahabad in Kurukshetra district. Rakesh was taken to the Shahabad police station and later released by the police but he was then kept under house arrest till Sunday afternoon.
BKU Charuni national president Gurnam Singh Charuni was also detained from his home at about 5 am on Sunday, by Kurukshetra police and taken to crime investigation agency (CIA)-II office at Kurukshetra. BKU Charuni then gave a call to gather outside the CIA-II office at 12 noon, demanding release of their leader. A group of BKU Charuni workers gathered outside the CIA-II office, after which, Charuni was released by police at about 1 pm on Sunday.
Gurnam Singh Charuni said, "This is injustice in the country. The government does not have any law and force to arrest the accused (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh), while today our workers were arrested. We will continue our protest."
Kurukshetra SP Surender Singh Bhoria said, "The farm leaders were kept in preventive custody, to maintain the law and order situation, who were later released."
