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SKM condemns protesting farmers' arrest in Noida
New Delhi: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Tuesday condemned the Uttar Pradesh government for the arrest of farmers at the Dalit Prerana Sthal on the Noida-Delhi Highway.
In a statement, the SKM said police have arrested hundreds of farmers, including more than one hundred women, and forcefully evicted them from the protest site.
"This is a violation of the constitutional right to peaceful protest and the SKM urges the judiciary to intervene and protect the fundamental rights.
"The SKM reminds the CM of Uttar Pradesh that using police force cannot resolve the burning issues of the people who have lost their valuable land and livelihood for a pittance," the SKM said.
They also accused police of violating the consensus reached with the farmers' leadership on December 2, asking for seven days for the chief secretary to discuss with the farmers' leadership and resolve the demands.
"As per their request, the farmers had shifted the spot of the struggle to the Dalit Prerena Sthal of Ambedkar Park and continued the night and day sit-in struggle. But police force was deployed in huge numbers and forcefully evicted the peacefully agitating farmers," they said.
"Six farmers were martyred in police firing as part of this struggle in 2008, 2011 and 2012. There were massive struggles across the country against such widespread land acquisition to facilitate corporate profiteering," they said, adding that the then UPA-2 government was forced to enact the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013(RFCTLARR Act) to protect the land rights of farmers.
The SKM alleged the Adityanath government has failed to ensure justice to farmers.
"The circle rate of land has not been revised since 2017. Farmers in UP have been denied adequate, lawful compensation and benefits assured by the LARR Act 2013, including employment, resettlement and rehabilitation," they said.
Police on Tuesday arrested more than 160 protesting farmers, including the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Parishad Sukhbir Khalifa, who were holding a sit-in at the Dalit Prerna Sthal here after their march to Delhi over land compensation and other demands was stopped a day earlier.
