Congress leader and Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi Mahila JAC member Sunkara Padmasree has accused the police of harassing the farmers of 29 villages in Amaravati who have been protesting for the last 315 days against shifting of capital.
In separate letters addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind, Chairmen of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, she alleged that the police was harassing the farmers ‘with the tacit support of the ruling party leaders’ and sought stringent action against them.
“The police with the support of ruling party MLAs Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, Sridevi and Bapatla MP Nandigama Suresh and Advisor (Public Affairs) to the Chief Minister Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, framed cases against farmers who were peacefully protesting for the just cause of Amaravati as the single capital of Andhra Pradesh,” Ms. Padmasree alleged in her letters.
She further said that the farmers’ protest against the CRDA Repeal Act and the A.P. Decentralisation Act had garnered widespread public support in the last 315 days. “To foil the protest, false cases were booked against the farmers who were handcuffed, which was in gross violation of human rights,” said Ms. Padmasree.
The Congress leader condemned the police for handcuffing the farmers and said that it was an attempt to create fear psychosis among the protesters.
She demanded protection to the protesting farmers from the 29 villages in the Amaravati region and constitution of a ‘State Security Commission’ and a ‘Police Complaints Authority’ for effective redressal of such grievances. She also sought stringent action against those involved in ‘harassing the hapless farmers’.
