Other States - Rajasthan   

Another death in Rajasthan

Special Correspondent

Prospects of an early settlement of farmers' agitation suffer a setback

JAIPUR: The death of yet another alleged victim of police action on farmers in Sriganganagar on Wednesday has dimmed the prospects of an early agreement between farmers agitating for irrigation water in Phase I area of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project. The talks are scheduled to be held here on Thursday.

Though the leaders of the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti (KMVSS), who are spearheading the agitation, have attributed the death of Parameshwari Devi of 17 KD village in Anupgarh tehsil to police excesses during a raid on October 20, the district authorities have taken the stand that the woman was suffering from cancer.

Whatever the reason, the death of Parameshwari, aged over 60, has come at the most inappropriate time -- on the eve of the scheduled talks. It was only a day back that the body of Chandu Ram Saran of 10 LM village, another alleged victim of police action, was cremated after a weeklong wrangling over a package for his family as compensation.

The womenfolk of the canal irrigated areas in Rajasthan, too, shared this time the brunt of police brutality on the agitating farmers. Parameshwari was among the four women who were seriously injured when the police raided 17 KD villages to arrest four youths.

In police custody

Parameshwari's two sons are in police custody while her daughter Anju had an abortion after the police action. A pellet hit Kalavati, another woman of the village, in the chest when the police burst tear gas.

"The immediate cause of her death is the injuries she had sustained in police beating," said Vasudev, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), talking on the phone from Sriganganagar. "Parameshwari was discharged from Bikaner Medical College Hospital only the other day. Today she died. If she had problems from cancer only why did the authorities initiate her admission to the hospital?"

"It is for the first time in any agitation in Rajasthan that so many persons have sustained head injuries in police lathi charge. As per the norms the police should have dealt the blows on the legs and not in the upper parts of the body," Prof.Vasudev said. He feared more serious cases surfacing later as there had been some more instances of victims, once discharged from the hospitals, seeking re-admission.

Hetram Beniwal and Sahibram Punia, the KMVSS leaders who are in jail, are expected to be brought here for talks. Pradesh Congress Committee president B.D.Kalla and the president of KMVSS, Sant Lekha Singh, have also been invited by the State Government for talks.

Curfew was lifted during daytime from Gharsana and Raola while Rawatsar is put under prohibitory orders. The "padav" (siege) laid by farmers in Rawatsar has been shifted to Chayia village, some 6 km from Rawatsar town, on Wednesday.

The State Secretariat of the CPI (M), which expressed grief over the death of Parameshwari Devi, said the protest programme in the districts on Thursday would be held as per the schedule irrespective of the talks.

In New Delhi, the All India Kisan Sabha demanded a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for the family of Parmeswari Devi.

"All mass organisations are observing Anti-Repression Day on Thursday throughout Rajasthan," the Kisan Sabha added in a release.

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

Stories in this Section

Another death in Rajasthan
Rajasthan Pavilion to showcase rapid strides

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