Give our farmers immediate freedom, Siddaramaiah urged the MP government

Bhopal: Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday for detaining agricultural leaders from Hubballi in Madhya Pradesh. The leaders were on route to Delhi to take part in the farmers’ protest that is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

“It is really regrettable that the Madhya Pradesh government detained Hubballi farmers on their way to a demonstration in Delhi tomorrow. The chief minister wrote on X, “I urge that the Madhya Pradesh government immediately free all of our state’s farmers and let them to take part in the demonstration in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar tomorrow.

“Even though the Madhya Pradesh government has taken action, it is evident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central BJP government are the real criminals behind this act,” he said.

The chief minister, Siddaramaiah, said that the administration headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi primarily intended to scare farmers.

History demonstrates that the first act of aggression committed by the BJP, whether at the federal level or in state governments, is directed at farmers. Farmers in Karnataka who asked for fertilizer were brutally shot down by the BS Yediyurappa-led government when the BJP initially came to power. The brutality that the central government of Narendra Modi imposed against farmers in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh resulted in the deaths of many of them. The chief minister said, “It seems that the primary goal of Narendra Modi’s administration is to scare the farmers into submission.

Karnataka farmers disembarked at the Bhopal train station on Sunday night, their route to take part in the protest, according to a police official with knowledge of the incident.

According to the police, they were being held under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 151, which deals with disruption of peace.

The police official said, “They were arrested based on an intelligence input regarding farmers’ protest in Delhi.”

A few farmers said they were dragged against their will to a location where a female farmer was hurt.

But according to Bhopal’s deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Ramji Srivastava, “all 75 farmers—25 of whom are female—are safe.” They escaped capture. They were asked to preserve law and order and were prevented from traveling to Delhi. They are lodging at a marriage hall furnished with all amenities, including meals.

The DCP said, “After 24 hours, we will decide the next step according to the law,” when asked what would happen if they couldn’t agree to return to Karnataka.

Bhartiya Kisan union leader Shivkumar Sharma and its president Anil Yadav were arrested in Bhopal, while Aam Kisan union leader Ram Inaniya was held in Narmadapuram. According to those acquainted with the situation, Anil Yadav claimed in a WhatsApp message that he had been taken to prison on Sunday night and that Sharma had been detained by the police at an undisclosed location.

Along with the leaders of the Hubballi farmers, police also detained Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh president Shivraj Rajoria of the Madhya Pradesh district of Narmadapuram.

Leaders Sachin Sharma and Mahesh Upadhyay were also taken from Pipariya. An officer said that they were taken to prison by a sub-divisional magistrate court (SDM) court.

The superintendent of police (SP) of Narmadapuram, Guru Karan Singh, said, “Police had received input that all three leaders were going to Delhi to participate in the protest so they have been arrested under IPC Section 151.”