Farmers protest: Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday announced to conduct a tractor rally on February 26 (Monday). They will also hold a massive kisan mahapanchayat at Ramlila Maidan on March 14 (Thursday).
Several farmer unions demanded Rs 1 crore compensation from the central government for the 21-year-old man who died during the protest on Wednesday (February 21). Farmers leaders yesterday put the 'Delhi Chalo' march on hold for two days after a protester was killed and about 12 police personnel injured in clashes at Khanauri border, one of the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border.
Punjab farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu had resumed their agitation early in the morning after a two-day lull following the fourth round of talks on Sunday night with a panel of three Union ministers in an attempt to break the deadlock. Police fired tear gas shells at the two border points multiple times to disperse groups of protesters when they attempted to move towards the layers of barricades stalling their march to the national capital.
Earlier in the day, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who is among the Union ministers engaging with the farmer leaders, called for further talks and appealed to the protesters to maintain peace. Thousands of farmers remain camped at Khanauri and Shambhu with their tractor-trolleys and trucks agitating for their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver.
Farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa identified the dead farmer as Subhkaran Singh (21), a resident of Baloke village in Punjab's Bathinda district. Patiala-based Rajindra Hospital's medical superintendent H S Rekhi told reporters that three people, one of them dead, were brought to the hospital from Khanauri. The deceased had an injury to his head and the other two are stable, Rekhi said and added that the exact cause of death will be known after postmortem.
A Haryana Police spokesperson said around 12 police personnel were injured when they were attacked with lathis and stones thrown at them in Khanauri, located in Punjab's Sangrur district, close to the border with Haryana's Jind.
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