AHMEDABAD: Over a dozen farmers and seven policemen, including a superintendent of police, were injured during a scuffle between the police and farmers in Sanand near Ahmedabad. The clashes happened during a rally organised by local farmers to demand more water for their standing crops.
The police lathicharged farmers, who started pelting stones at police vehicles and personnel when they did not allow the rally to proceed. More than 5,000 farmers from two dozen villages near Sanand participated in the rally to demand that water be released into the Narmada canals to save their standing crops.
Following the violence, Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel and OBC agitation leader Alpesh Thakor rushed to the spot to support the farmers.
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R.V. Asari, Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad (rural), who received a minor head injury, said farmers first pelted stones at the police, forcing them to lob tear gas shells and use lathi-charge to control the crowd.
“The farmers resorted to violence first. As many as seven policemen, including myself, have received injuries,” Mr. Asari told mediapersons after the rally.
“The farmers had announced that they would hold a march to Gandhinagar on Tuesday, for which the police had already denied them permission. When the rally reached near Sanand, we tried to convince some of their leaders not to go ahead,” Mr. Asari added.
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Mr. Patel slammed the State authorities and police for “thrashing innocent farmers who held a rally to demand irrigation water”.
“This government wants to terrorise people by using force. The way farmers were thrashed by the police is shocking,” Mr. Patel said, while supporting the bandh call given by farmers in Sanand and nearby villages.
Mr. Thakor also hit out at the State government for not releasing water for irrigation. “This government supplies uninterrupted water to industrial units in Sanand while depriving farmers, who need it to save their crops,” he said.