Police Assault 'BKU (Ekta Ugrahan)' Activist, Jailed Leaders Get Bail

In a second action within 12 days, the Panjab Police fired tear gas shells to stop members of farmers’ union Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) from marching towards the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner’s office on 18 Feb. The farmers were demanding the release of their jailed leaders Shagandeep Singh Jeond and Baldev Singh Chauke. The earlier police action on 6 Feb had triggered the protests in and around Jeond village. Farmers initially staged a sit-in protest on the Bathinda–Chandigarh highway, which led to traffic disruption. Later the protesters shifted to an internal village road in Jeond village. As farmers attempted to move towards Bathinda, the police blocked their march and resorted to firing tear gas shells. Bathinda Senior Superintendent Police Jyoti Yadav said, 'The mob had gathered on the roofs of some residences and pelted the police team with stones. We used mild force and lobbed teargas shells to disperse them.' However, ground reports ascertain that it was not a ‘mild force’. Police pulled out a marginal farmer Charanjit Singh from his home and fractured his leg with batons. Another activist Preet Singh sustained injuries on his right hand. By late evening, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to the two farmer-activists. Earlier, on 16 Feb, tensions flared at several locations on roads leading to Killi Chahal village of Moga district, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was organizing a state-level rally against drugs. A convoy of farmers led by farmer union Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leaders Satnam Singh Pannu and Balwant Singh Brahmke was halted on the Moga–Jalandhar road by the police. On 18 Feb, residents of Singhabala village also of Moga district, took out a Jago (wake-up) march expressing their resentment against the union and Panjab government’s policies, including the upcoming Electricity Amendment Bill and Seeds Bill. Concurrently, in Samana, Patiala district Gurjeet Singh Khalsa has been protesting atop a 400 ft tower since 12 Oct 2024 demanding a stringent anti-sacrilege law. Activists and farmers who planned to reach Samana in modified tractor-trailers carrying groceries, cooking gas, and other essentials in solidarity with Khalsa on 24 Feb were being blocked by the police (earlier coverage).