Farmers' march to Mumbai will continue as talks inconclusive
Mumbai : The farmers' long march from Nashik to Mumbai will continue after their leaders' late night parleys with Maharashtra government to address their demands remained inconclusive, the march organisers said Thursday.
Farmers have embarked on a 180-km march from Nashik to Mumbai for the second time in the last 12 months to protest against what they termed as the "betrayal" of peasants by the BJP governments at the state and centre.
The Kisan Long March-2, expected to take over nine days to complete, is being organised by the CPI(M)-backed All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS).
The march could not be taken out Wednesday as police stopped many farmers from reaching Nashik, the AIKS claimed. Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan met some AIKS representatives in Nashik Wednesday night.
"We held talks with the minister for over three hours.
The government appeared positive to 80 per cent of our demands. The minister said he would speak to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis first," AIKS president Ashok Dhawale said.
Dhawale said Mahajan informed AIKS representatives that the assurances would be given in writing. "The AIKS has decided to go ahead with the march beginning Thursday morning till the government does so," he added.
Dhawale said police were also present during the meeting with Mahajan. They (police) are not going to stop the farmers now, he added.
Mahajan could not be reached for his comment.
The AIKS has accused the government of not fulfilling assurances given to farmers last year after they marched between the two cities, seeking farm loan waiver, minimum support price for crops, irrigation facilities and provision of pension to agriculturists.
The AIKS also said it is opposed to the multi-billion dollar Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which has seen several farmers along the proposed route approach court against land acquisition.
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Mob assault victim whose ears were cut with pliers, hands were broken dies in Bihar
Nalanda: A 50-year-old cloth vendor who was brutally assaulted by a mob and had his ears cut off and was branded with an iron rod in Nalanda district last week, died during treatment on Friday night, police said.
According to a report published by The Indian Express, the victim, Mohammad Athar Hussain, a resident of Gagan Diwan village, was undergoing treatment at Pawapuri VIMS hospital after being attacked on December 5 while selling clothes on his bicycle.
He allegedly suffered severe injuries, including fractures and burn wounds. Police said six people have been arrested and two minors detained in connection with the case.
Mohammad Shakib Alam reportedly said, Hussain, who also lived partly with his in-laws in Barui village, was returning home when his bicycle broke down near Bhattapar village under Roh police station, forcing him to look for a puncture shop.
“When he asked a group of people about a puncture repair shop nearby, they asked his name and profession and then assaulted him, cut his ears, beat him with a heated rod,” TIE quoted Shakib as saying.
According to the report, Hussain is quoted as saying, “They tied my hands and feet, locked me in a room, and began to beat me up. They beat me with bricks and rods, breaking my fingers and hand. They even cut my ears and finger ends with pliers,” he claimed, adding that the mob had “stripped him to check his private parts, branding his body with a heated iron rod that peeled his skin off”.
“Someone struck me with a rod, another climbed on my chest and throttled me, causing blood to gush from my mouth. My entire body was raw and peeling from the assault.”
In her complaint filed on December 6, Hussain’s wife Shabnam Parveen named 10 residents of Bhattapar village and said several others were involved. She alleged that her husband was falsely accused of theft, brutally beaten, and tortured. She also claimed that villagers threatened her family when they tried to intervene.
The FIR invokes Sections 190, 191(2) and 191(3) (unlawful assembly and rioting), 126(2), 115(2), 117 and 118 (grievous hurt and use of dangerous means), 109 and 74 (abetment and common intention), and 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, with murder charges added after Hussain succumbed to his injuries.
Police also confirmed that a counter-complaint was filed by one of the accused, alleging that Hussain had attempted a burglary. However, officials said both versions are being investigated.
“Gold bangles, mangalsutra, silver girdle, and brass utensils… were stolen from our house,” the complaint claims. “My brother Satyanarayan spotted the thief, and villagers caught him with some recovered items. Hussain struck Satyanarayan with a rod during capture, injuring him,” police said.
According to a police source, an emergency 112 call led Roh police to the village at around 2.30 am to rescue the severely injured Hussain. He and the suspects were then taken to the police station.
Hussain was first taken to PHC Roh, then referred to Nawada Sadar Hospital and finally Pawapuri VIMS, where he died. A post-mortem has been conducted.
Nawada Superintendent of Police Abhinav Dhiman allegedly said a special team has arrested eight people so far and efforts are on to trace the remaining accused.
