Tamil Nadu cops detain Pandher, other farm leaders in Coimbatore
The four-member delegation of farm union leaders had landed at Coimbatore to participate in a planned kalash yatra of deceased farmer Shubh Karan Singh in Tamil Nadu. The kalash yatra has been scheduled in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in the upcoming week
Several Punjab farm union leaders, including Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Morcha secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher, were detained at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
The four-member delegation of farm union leaders had landed at Coimbatore to participate in a planned kalash yatra of deceased farmer Shubh Karan Singh in Tamil Nadu. The kalash yatra has been scheduled in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in the upcoming week.
Shubh Karan was killed during the farmers’ stir at Khanauri border on February 21.
Other leaders who were taken into preventive custody include Gurmeet Singh Mangat, Manjit Singh Rai and Harwinder Singh. They were later released late in the evening.
Before starting the yatra, the farm union leaders decided to hold a protest outside the office of the Coimbatore district collector against the Union government demanding a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP). The protest was part of a nationwide call of burning effigies of the Union government on April 7. The Tamil Nadu police didn’t allow the protest to happen and detained the Punjab farm union leaders. The farm leaders were taken to the nearest police station.
Gurmeet Singh Mangat, before getting detained, said, “The fight to save farmers will continue. We are not scared of arrest at all. We will hold kalash yatra tomorrow.”