Farmers protest: In Jalandhar, hundreds of farmers from the outfit Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMC) have blocked railway tracks, blaming the authorities for employing force against the protestors.
A police officer recently smacked a woman farmer opposing the acquisition of land for the Bharatmala project on the Delhi-Katra national highway in the Gurdaspur district. The incident was reported when a video surfaced on social media.
Watch the viral video:
ANI tweeted, " Railway main line between Ludhiana to Jalandhar and Amritsar Jalandhar-Jammu blocked as farmers protest on railway tracks in Jalandhar. They are protesting over the incident wherein a Policeman was seen slapping an elderly woman protester in Gurdaspur during protest over land acquisition on Delhi-Katra national highway."
Chabba claimed that farmers who were peacefully protesting the government's acquisition of their farmland for the extension or construction of the Delhi-Katra national highway were being caned by police.
He claimed that the assault happened in Gurdaspur's Cheema Khudi village.
The protesting farmers have shut down the Ludhiana-Jalandhar and Amritsar-Jalandhar-Jammu railway lines. The incoming and departing trains between Amritsar and Delhi were reportedly impacted after 12.30 p.m. as a result of the farmers' protest on the railway tracks.
According to Gurbachan Singh Chabba, a spokesperson for the KMC, the farmers are protesting over the matter of compensation in relation to the purchase of land for the Bharatmala project. He claimed that although the government was acquiring land for the Bharatmala project, the farmers were not receiving the proper compensation.
"The highhanded attitude of the government and its police which applied force to uproot the farmers from their agriculture land is condemnable," he said.
The protest at Devidaspura, around 20 kilometres, was led by KMC leader Sarwan Singh Pandher.
Chabba responded that a number of discussions between the farmers' outfit and the administration were ongoing and a decision will be made by evening when asked how long the farmers would obstruct the train traffic.
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