MYSURU, 18 DEC

Police on Wednesday foiled an attempt by a few farmers’ associations to disrupt train services at the Mysuru city railway station in a bid to show solidarity to the farmers protesting at Shambhu and Haryana – Delhi border.

The protest was organised by the State Sugarcane Growers Association (SSGA) and a few other farmers’ organisations that are part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM).

When the protesters tried to enter the city railway station, police arrested SSGA president Kuruburu Shanthakumar, who is also state unit president of Karnataka State Farmers Federation, along with SKM south India convener and several other activists.  

The protesters raised slogans against the Union government for its failure to fulfil its promises to farmers, such as legal guarantees for the minimum support price (MSP), waiver of farmers’ loans in all private and public sector banks and withdrawal of the order to collect credit information for sanctioning loans to farmers.

A few activists, who had entered the city railway station prior to the arrival of other activists, squatted on the tracks for a few minutes. Police, however, arrested and removed them from the tracks. They were released later.

Following the farmers’ protest, the police increased security around the city railway station.

The protesters also expressed concern over deteriorating health of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a hunger strike at the Haryana – Delhi border in support of their demands.    

They said blamed the Union government for the deteriorating the health of the farmer leader and warned of intensifying their agitation in the coming days. –Salar News