Other States - Rajasthan   

Curfew re-imposed in Gharsana and Raola towns

Special Correspondent

Talks between Rajasthan Government, farmers fail

JAIPUR: Curfew was re-imposed in Gharsana and Raola towns of Sriganganagar in Rajasthan on Thursday as the crisis stemming from the death of a villager injured in police action last week continued unresolved.

The body of Chandu Ram Saran, who succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, continued to remain in his native village, 10 LM, in Anupgarh tehsil where thousands are keeping a vigil.

The talks between a five-member team of representatives of the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti (KMVSS) and the Divisional Commissioner of Bikaner in the afternoon failed, leaving the situation in and around 10 LM villages in Anupgarh volatile. The leaders of the KMVSS, speaking from Anupgarh over phone, told The Hindu that people would take the body to Gharsana on Friday.

"We are left with no option but to carry the body to Gharsana. The march is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Thousands of people will join the march. Wherever the police stop us we will lay a `padav' (siege)," said Tara Singh Siddhu, leader of the Communist Party of India, on phone from the village.

The talks failed as the farmers' representatives— who included Pradesh Congress Committee president B.D.Kalla, CPI (M) MLA, Amra Ram, Rameshwar Dudi, ex-MP of Bikaner and KMVSS leaders, Sant Lekha Singh and Vallabh Kocher— insisted on a package to the family of the deceased while the official side said the package could be decided only on the basis of post-mortem on the body.

The State Government has already washed its hands of any responsibility for the death of Chandu Ram. State Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said in Jaipur that Chandu Ram's father should be blamed for taking him away from the hospital against the doctors' advice. Contrary to the Government stand that the patient had left the hospital, the family of the deceased maintains that Chandu Ram was forcibly discharged from the hospital.

The KMVSS has been demanding a compensation of Rs.5 lakh for the family of the deceased, job for a family member, action against the officials who ordered the lathi charge on October 16, and release of the farmers' leaders who are in jail.. The farmers are also demanding a team of doctors from outside Sriganganagar for carrying out the autopsy.

Divisional Commissioner Vinod Kapoor and Inspector-General of Police Laxman Meena represented the Government in the talks.

Former Chief Minister and Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot, talking to journalists on the occasion of a Diwali-Id Milan here on Thursday, blamed the State Government for its "indifferent attitude" towards public agitations.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Curfew re-imposed in Gharsana and Raola towns

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu