“All those who own agricultural land cannot be described as farmers,” the Agriculture Minister S.A. Ravindranath has said.
He was responding to a question at a press conference on whether he believed that those killed in police firing in Haveri in June 10, 2008, were farmers or “miscreants”.
He was speaking after deposing before the Kedambady Jagannatha Shetty Commission of Inquiry here on Thursday.
The Minister said that those killed “had not come to Haveri on the day of firing to get fertilizer.”
This statement gains significance in the light of two submissions by an MLA and a Minister before the commission at an earlier date.
The Haveri MLA Nehru C. Olekar had described those killed in the firing -- Siddalingappa Churi and Puttappa Honnatti -- as habitual trouble-makers and drunkards who had instigated the violence. Taking a slightly divergent position, Public Works Minister C.M. Udasi told the commission that the victims were indeed farmers, but not activists fighting for the cause of farmers.
Factors
In his submission, Mr. Ravindranath said that six factors led to shortage of fertilizer in Haveri, leading to anxiety among farmers: early onset of monsoon, fluctuations in international market, non-release of subsidy by the Centre on time, transport strike that left fertilizers being held up in Hubli, panic buying by farmers and increased apprehension because of press reports.
He said that shortage of fertilizer existed for a long time, and the Governor had written to the Centre on the issue.
The Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, met Prime Minister on June 2, 2008, and later held a teleconference with the district administration to ensure availability of fertilizer.
Mr. Ravindranath submitted that the harvest in 2008 was “normal and farmers were not put to any loss due to scarcity of fertilizer.”
Defending the firing on farmers, he said it was done as a “last resort” after issuing warning.
