In order to smoothen the implementation of ‘new’ economic and industrial policies in the third world countries without difficulties and resistance from the people, illusory slogans of liberalization and globalization had been floated for the people to get them swayed. This was the status in the 1990s. Ten years since the scenario has changed. Gradually the people are realizing the real face of the slogans – it is ‘liberalization’ of imperialist plunder and ‘globalization’ of hunger and destitution. People are realizing the extent of exploitation, repression and deprivation inscribed at the back of these slogans. In India, the peasants are currently having a first hand experience of it. The self-proclaimed messiah of the peasants, the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr. Om Prakash Chautala, has proved himself an able successor of the previous Lals – Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal and, of course, Devi Lal, and an obstinate murderer of unarmed peasants.

The current peasant struggles in Jind district of Haryana has its origin in 1992, when Haryana was ruled by Bhajan Lal led Congress Govt. A mass movement was then initiated by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) against hike in electricity charges. They proclaimed that the peasants will not pay the electricity bills unless they are properly paid for the procurement of their produce. At that time, the self-proclaimed crusaders, the present Chief Minister Chautala and his father Devi Lal, openly supported the movement. They promised that electricity and water would be made available to them free of cost during their ‘raj’ – a promise made just for the sake of it.

A peasant rally on 1st January 1993 at Nising village of Karnal district was fired at by the Bhajan Lal led Congress Govt., killing two peasants. Later even during the reign of Bansi Lal led Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), inhuman repression was unleashed on the peasants on several occasion.

The anti-people policies, like privatization of electricity board, initiated by the BJP supported Bansi Lal Govt., at the behest of the WTO and the World Bank, are carried forward with rigor by the BJP supported Chautala Govt. too. This Govt. has taken up a single-point programme of retrieval of unpaid electricity bills and hike in electricity charges. Varied tricks were adopted for the purpose. A “no dues” certificate from the electricity board was made an essential precondition for any sort of governmental work and even for things like admission of children to school.

During this process, while the movement of non-payment of electricity bills was on, electricity supply in Kandela and adjoining villages of Jind district was cut off from 24th November 2001. A large panchayat was organized on this issue on 5th December 2001, which demanded that Govt. resume the supply within 15 days. A second panchayat on the issue made the Govt. respond, promptly of course, with sticks and guns, injuring 31 people.

On 31st January 2002 an agreement was signed in Jind by the Agriculture Minister, Jasbinder Singh Sandhu and parliamentarian Ajay Singh Chautala, son of Om Prakash Chautala, on one hand, and the BKU leaders Ghasi Ram Nain and Ramphal Kandela, on the other. According to the eight-points agreement, all the police cases on peasants in connection to this movement since 1992 would be withdrawn. It was also agreed (in writing) that the issue of pending bills would be taken up in the next meeting.

Not unexpectedly of course, the power-hungry and shameless Chautala Govt. dumped the agreement and started arresting leaders of BKU (Nain) from 13th April 2002 onwards. The BKU State Secretary Ghasi Ram Nain and some other prominent leaders were declared proclaimed offenders and Rs. 10 thousand each was declared for their heads.

These acts of the Govt. naturally kindled anger and rage among the people of the area. Another peasants’ meeting was scheduled to be held on 19th May 2002 at Kandela village, the centre of peasants’ struggles in the state. Despite all efforts on the part of the Govt. to repudiate the meeting, a strong force of around 5000 peasants, half of whom were women, joined the meeting to make it a success. The puzzled police again open fire on them, and three agitating peasants were martyred. The aggrieved agitators blocked the Chandigarh Road from Jind  from the same day and also took two police officers captive. The two officers were later released on 25th May midnight following a (verbal) agreement that all the arrested peasant leaders would be released within 72 hours. This was, however, not to be. How could this spineless Govt. which had unhesitatingly transgressed a formal written agreement earlier, honour a verbal agreement? At a condolence meeting for the three martyrs of the movement on 28th May, it was decided to intensify the struggle by blocking all important roads in the state including the Jind-Chandigarh Road and holding up the legislators, parliamentarians and ministers of the state. The same night, police fired at the unarmed peasants in Gulkani village, killing one peasant. On 31st May again, the ‘brave’ police of the Chautala Govt. killed four more unarmed peasants in the interior of Raweto village. Despite this, the movement is picking up momentum in Jind, Rhotak and Hisar districts.

The parties like Congress, HVP, BJP and CPM have limited themselves to registering ‘protests’ through press statements only. All these parties, like the Chautala Govt., seem to be afraid of BKU (Nain)’s anti-WTO stand. The Govt. has already announced that the coming year it would not procure wheat and rice from the farmers; let them cultivate fruits, flowers and other commercial crops. To materialize this act, the Govt. deems it a necessary precondition to suppress all those who are opposed to the anti-peasant, pro-WTO policies of the Govt., so that in future there would be no voices of dissent even.

NBS and IFTU demonstrated on 19th May and 28th May near the Panipat DC office in protest against these repressive policies of the Chautala Govt. and in support to the ongoing peasant struggle. The issues and demands of the movement were thoroughly stressed at in the demonstrations organized by IFTU and FAIG. A team of representatives – Com. P.P. Kapur, Com. Jaypal Saini and Com. Amar Singh from NBS, and Com. Yogendra Pardana of AIKMS – visited Kandela on 26th and 28th May. Com. P.P. Kapur addressed the peasants at the dharna there both the days, to extend support to the struggle. The dharna was also addressed by Com. Pattiwal of AIKMS from Punjab.

Civil Liberties Team Demands Judicial Probe into Firing on Peasants

A six-member joint investigation team of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Jan Hastakshep visited villages Nagora, Gulkani and Rajpura Bhind of Jind district of Haryana on 9th May, 2002 to enquire into the police firing on agitating farmers. The team comprising of Dr. Anoop Saraya, Adv. N. D. Pancholi, Adv. S. S. Nehra, Dr. Pushkar Raj and two journalists Shri Anil Chamaria and Shri Jaspal Singh Sidhu, had met various leaders of Bharatiya Kisan Union, family members of the victims and eye witnesses in the village Kandela and Gulkani of Jind district. The enquiry committee made repeated attempts to contact District Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Jind before leaving on 8th of May for Jind and after meeting the villagers on 9th May at Jind while on their way back to Delhi, but failed to meet them.

After going through the facts and statements of the victims, eye witnesses and the leaders, the team felt that prima-facie the police firing was totally unwarranted and in violation to established legal procedure. Police made no announcement nor issued any warning before resorting to firing on villagers sitting on a Dharna peacefully. On 9th of May police resorted to firing when people from nearby villages were converging for a panchayat at Kandela village. Three villagers of Nagora village died in police firing. Again on 29th and 31st of May, police opened fire on villagers at Gulkani and Rajpura Bhind village under the pretext that they were blocking the roads. Police made no attempt to clear the blockade. From the facts and evidences collected by the team, it is evident that police resorted to indiscriminate firing and indulged in target shooting. Even the injured were denied help by police. They were forcibly taken into police custody while undergoing treatment at various hospitals. The committee also condemned the irresponsible attitude of Chief Minister Shri Chautala who has not implemented the agreement signed with Bhartiya Kisan Union on 31st January 2002 and is branding leaders of the peasant movement as antisocial and terrorist. This irresponsible statement might have given a signal to local administration to unleash brutal repression on agitating farmers. The Committee has demanded that:

1.         A judicial probe be carried out by a sitting High Court Judge into the incidents of firing at various places during the month of May in Jind district.

2.         Compensation to the kith and kin of those who died in the police firing and adequate compensation and medical treatment to those who sustained injuries in police firing.

3.         The guilty police officers and district commissioner should be placed under suspension during the probe.

4.         False cases against the leadership of peasant movement should be withdrawn and government should initiate dialogue with the leaders of agitating farmers rather than resorting to brutal repression on them.