Ten-day ‘Gaon Bandh’ farmers’ agitation kicks off in MP

As Madhya Pradesh witnessed the first day of the 10-day-long ‘Gaon Bandh’ or ‘Kisan Avkash’ called by farmers’ groups in the state to observe the first anniversary of the infamous Mandsaur firing incident where six farmers were killed by the police, security has been beefed up across the state to prevent any untoward incident. The situation is tense throughout the state after a debt-ridden 50-year-old farmer committed suicide in Raisen district on May 31 in the third such incident in a week.

According to Raisen district police, Dilip Dhakad, (50), a resident of Nayagaon Kala Village, Bareli Tehsil, consumed pesticide in the intervening night of May 28 and 29. Relatives rushed him to the hospital but he died.

The Raisen police said Dilip had taken a loan of Rs 3 lakh. However, he only received Rs 20,000. He wanted to sell a piece of his farmland to repay his debt and he had approached several potential buyers too.

This is expected to impact the ‘Gaon Bandh’ or or ‘Kisan Avkash’ protest, scheduled from June 1 to 10. During these 10 days, farmers and villagers will not supply agricultural products like vegetables, fruits, milk, etc. to mandis, especially those in the urban areas.

The agitation is on similar lines of last year’s Mandsaur protests. The state government has taken several precautionary steps to deal with any unpleasant situation. According to police, additional forces have been deployed in 35 districts of the state. Nearly 10,000 canes, chest guards and additional vehicles have also been sent to the districts.

In the most sensitive Mandsaur and Neemuch districts which were the epicentre of last year’s, the district administrations have identified troublemakers and asked them to sign a ‘peace bond,’ promising not to create any nuisance during the agitation.

“Nearly 1200 people have been identified and told to sign the peace bond,” said Amit Singh, the Mandsaur district SP.

Meanwhile, rumour of a farmer suicide surfaced on Friday morning but the police identified the deceased as Daulat Singh (60), a daily wage labourer from Khajurikala.

Fearing shortage of vegetables, milk and other farm products, residents of Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Ratlam, Shajapur, Sehore and several other districts were seen stocking up on those items.

However, district officials of Indore and Bhopal are requesting farmers to continue to supply their products to the mandis.

“I have instructed the officials to keep the mandis open on Sunday and communicate with the farmers to maintain supply,” said Bhopal district magistrate Sudam Khade, while talking to media.

Last year, during the farmers’ protest, farmers had dumped tonnes of onions and other products on the roads. They also drained thousands of litres of milk on the road.

They were demanding appropriate prices for their products and loan waiver. The situation turned ugly when six farmers were killed in police.