A video of SDM Karnal Ayush Sinha shared by BJP MP Varun Gandhi shows him instructing Haryana police personnel to hit protesting farmers on their heads if they tried to cross the barricades.
Close to 10 people were injured on Saturday after the state police lathi-charged a group of farmers who had stopped traffic on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting, where Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar and other senior leaders were present.
When asked by mediapersons, he said that he was not aware of the video. He said that for the compliance of Section 144, some directions might have been given as stones were being pelted.
“It is very simple and clear, whoever he is, wherever he is from, no one should be allowed to reach there. We will not let this line be breached at any cost. Just pick up your lathi and hit them hard… It’s very clear, there is no need for any instruction, just thrash them hard. If I see a single protester here, I want to see his head smashed, crack their heads,” Sinha is heard saying in the video.
“Any doubt?” the SDM added in the end.
“No sir,” the group of policemen shouted.
The police said only mild force was used as the protesters were blocking the highway and stopping traffic.
“Stone-pelting had started at many places… It was said during the briefing to use force proportionately,” Sinha told news agency ANI.
“I hope this video is edited and the DM did not say this… Otherwise, this is unacceptable in democratic India to do to our own citizens,” BJP’s Varun Gandhi tweeted.
Strongly condemning the action, senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, “Khattar Sahab, today you have rained lathis on Haryanvis’ soul… coming generations will remember the blood of farmers which has been spilled on the roads.”
The state police drew severe criticism for the action against the farmers, and several roads were blockaded at different places in protest. The affected routes included the Fatehabad-Chandigarh, Gohana-Panipat and the Jind-Patiala highways, and the Ambala-Chandigarh and the Hisar-Chandigarh national highways.
Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni alleged that the police brutally lathicharged the protesting farmers, leaving many injured. Several protesters present at the site near the Bastara toll plaza around 15 km from Karnal claimed to have witnessed 8-10 people sustain injuries in the police action.
Swaraj India president and key leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha Yogendra Yadav said the lathicharge exposed the true face of the Haryana Police. “They (farmers) were protesting against the visit of CM Khattar and other BJP leaders to Karnal. This is the true face of Haryana police,” Yadav tweeted.
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