Talks fail, farmers begin sit-in at Karnal mini secretariat

Talks fail, farmers begin sit-in at Karnal mini secretariat

After a massive gathering in Karnal against the August 28 police action on protesters, farm organisations laid siege to the mini secretariat there on Tuesday and refused to budge until the Haryana government shed its "raj-hath" (stubbornness) and acceded to their demands. BKU (Charuni) leader Gurnam Singh Charuni announced the indefinite sit-in after talks between leaders of the farm agitation and the district administration failed to break the deadlock.

A team of officials comprising Karnal Range IG Mamta Singh, Karnal SP Ganga Ram Punia and deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav met the farm leaders again to persuade them to end their protest, but they wouldn't back down.

The farmers have been pressing for immediate action against former Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha, who was seen in a video purportedly asking police personnel to smash the heads of protesters assembled there on August 28. They have also asked for Rs 25 lakh in compensation and a government job to the next of kin of farmer Sushil Kajal, who was allegedly assaulted at the protest and died after returning home.

Thousands of farmers from various parts of Haryana and Punjab had gathered at the new grain market in Karnal on Tuesday morning in response to the call by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) for a mahapanchayat. Most of the senior farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Charuni, Darshan Pal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, and political activist Yogendra Yadav, were present to lead the farmers.

Around 11am, the Karnal district administration invited the farm leaders for negotiations. Three rounds of talks were held in the span of around two hours, starting at 1pm, but there was no breakthrough. Immediately after leaving the meeting, Tikait announced that the farmers would march from the new grain market to the mini secretariat.