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Curfew continues

Special Correspondent

Farmers observe black Diwali over irrigation water issue

JAIPUR: Farmers in the Phase I area of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project in northern Rajasthan observed a "Black Diwali'' on Saturday to protest against the State Government's unrelenting attitude towards their demand for more water for irrigation. There were no festivities in the region marking the occasion.

Curfew in Raola and Gharsana towns of Sriganganagar district, which was relaxed because of the festival on Saturday, continued on Sunday.

Though a few representatives of agitating farmers came to Jaipur on Saturday to meet their leaders Hetram Beniwal and Sahib Singh Punia -- who were brought to the capital after their arrest -- there were no official talks between the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangharsh Samiti (KMVSS), spearheading the agitation, and the authorities.

Even as Public Works Department Minister Rajendra Rathore has reportedly expressed the Government's willingness for negotiations, the farmers are insisting that their leaders should first be released. With the eruption of fresh trouble between villagers and police near Raola on Friday, farmers are not willing to withdraw their agitation.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Amra Ram told The Hindu here that KMVSS would hold a massive `Mahapadaav' (sit-in) in the region after the curfew is lifted to intensify the farmers' agitation.

"The State Government can no longer afford to ignore the unrest among farmers. It will have to accept their demand,'' he said.

About a dozen villagers, mostly women, were injured when police resorted to lathi-charge and tear gas to disperse mobs in two villages near Raola on Friday. Police say they had gone to the villages to make preventive arrests.

Tension has been continuing in the region since early this week when the agitating farmers turned violent and fought a pitched battle with police, in which over 100 people were injured. Both Raola and Gharsana towns were handed over to the Army after the violence.

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