Farmers gather in Karnal for mahapanchayat, officials hold talks with their leaders
Karnal(PTI): An 11-member delegation of farmer leaders was invited to hold talks with the district administration here on Tuesday as protesters in large numbers assembled for a mahapanchayat and later planned to gherao the district headquarters.
Senior leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), including Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Yogendra Yadav and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have arrived here for the mahapanchayat demanding action against the police lathicharge on farmers on August 28.
These senior leaders will be part of the talks with the administration and have said that they will raise various demands during the interaction. "We are talking to a delegation of farmers, Karnal Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav told PTI over phone.
Officials said details of the meeting will be shared later.
Meanwhile, security arrangements have been beefed up in Karnal as the farmers have planned to gherao the mini-secretariat here.
There is heavy deployment of Haryana Police as well as central forces in Karnal, while security forces in adequate strength have also been deployed at the new Anaj Mandi here where farmers are holding the mahapanchayat and plan to move towards the mini-secretariat, they said.
Officials said vehicular traffic on the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala National highway was plying normally in the morning.
Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni had earlier in the day appealed to the farmers to assemble at the Anaj Mandi in a peaceful manner.
Next course of action will be decided at the mahapanchayat, Chaduni had said in a video message.
However, a statement issued by Haryana Police and Karnal district administration said some people had reached the new Anaj Mandi armed with lathis and iron rods, which does not show good intention on their part.
Ground intelligence reports indicate that some elements from Rambha, some from Nissing and some from other places have reached the Anaj Mandi armed with lathis, iron rods, which does not show good intention on their part, according to the statement.
The statement said police and district administration have spoken to farmer leaders who have tried to persuade such elements to leave the venue, but they are not listening to their leaders .
Karnal district administration and police is warning such mischievous elements not to take the law into their hands and maintain public order. All such elements will be strictly dealt with in accordance with law, it said.
Braving inclement weather in the morning, farmers reached the new Anaj Mandi riding tractors and motorcycles.
Senior police officials have been put on duty at the new Anaj Mandi. There is also heavy barricading and deployment of security forces at the mini-secretariat.
A day ahead of the proposed gherao of the mini-secretariat by the farmers, central forces were deployed, mobile internet services suspended and prohibitory orders banning gathering of people were imposed.
The Haryana government, which had earlier ordered suspension of mobile internet services here from Monday 12:30 pm to Tuesday midnight, decided to suspend these services in four adjoining districts -- Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Panipat districts with effect from 12 am to 11:59 pm on Tuesday.
Forty companies of security personnel, including 10 companies of central armed police forces, have been deployed in Karnal district where local authorities have also imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC, officials said.
The SKM, an umbrella body of farmer outfits protesting against the farm laws, had threatened to lay siege to the Karnal district headquarters on Tuesday if its demands were not met.
The Haryana Police had lathicharged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a national highway near here on August 28 while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting.
Over 10 protesters were injured. The SKM had said a murder case should be registered against IAS officer Ayush Sinha who was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to "break heads" of protesting farmers.
Sinha, who was later transferred in a reshuffle also involving some other IAS officers, has now been posted as the additional secretary in the Citizen Resources Information Department.
Chaduni said a meeting with district administration officials was held here on Monday, but after failing to get any satisfactory response about their demands they decided to hold a mahapanchayat on Tuesday before proceeding to the mini-secretariat to gherao it.
He had earlier sought registration of a case against those involved in the lathicharge.
He also demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh and a government job for the family of a farmer who died after allegedly sustaining injuries in the lathicharge.
However, the administration here claimed that the farmer was not injured in the police action but had died due to a heart attack.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
