Leaders of farmers’ groups have put their protest march to Delhi on hold till February 29, The Indian Express reported.
This came after the death of a 22-year-old protestor, Shubhkaran Singh, during clashes with the police at the state border between Punjab and Haryana.
During the intervening period, the protestors will organise several programmes, including a candlelight candle march, seminars about the World Trade Organization, the burning of effigies, interaction with agriculture experts and a discussion on the suggestions made by the experts, Sarvan Singh Pandher, coordinator of the farmer group Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, told the newspaper.
The subsequent course of action will be announced on February 29.
On February 13, farmers’ groups from Punjab began the march to Delhi to push for a law guaranteeing a minimum support price for agricultural commodities and the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission Report’s wider recommendations on farming in India.
Thousands of farmers have been stopped at Punjab’s border with Haryana.
On Wednesday, farmer leaders suspended their protest march until Friday following the death of Singh due to a head injury sustained allegedly during police action against the farmers at Khanauri near the state border.
Singh’s family has rejected the compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job offered by the Punjab government. “We are seeking justice for our child and it can’t be equated with money or job,” The Indian Express quoted a family member as saying.
Farmer leaders said that they will not allow a post-mortem on Singh’s body until the guilty are punished.
On Friday, the police in Haryana’s Hisar district fired tear gas shells on farmers who were protesting at Kheri Chopta village in support of those agitating at the state’s border with Punjab. The farmers were planning to march towards the border, when the police used force to disperse the crowd.
The police also used water cannons, while the farmers threw stones, The Indian Express reported. A few farmers were injured in the clashes.
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