AMBALA: Following call of
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha
(Non Political) and Kisan Majdoor Morcha, the farm leaders have started holding
meetings
at the village level in Ambala, to confront the office of Ambala superintendent of police on July 17, demanding release of farm activist
Navdeep Singh
of Jalbera village of the district.
A meeting of farmers with regards to the call was held by leaders of Bharatiya Kisan Union Shaheed Bhagat Singh (BKU SBS) and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) at Balana village in Ambala district on Saturday, in which, the protest was planned and duties were assigned to the union workers.
The meeting was presided over by BKU SBS president Amarjit Singh Mohri and KMSC leader Sarvan Singh Pandher.
Notably, Navdeep Singh, also known as water cannon boy, played a very active role in mobilizing the farmers and youth to join Delhi Chalo 2.0 protest in February this year. However, Haryana police did not allow farmers to proceed towards Delhi and blocked the National Highway (NH) 44 at Shambhu border. NH-44 has been blocked at Shambhu for over five months now.
Navdeep was booked by Haryana police in connection with the alleged violence that took place at Shambhu border between the farmers and police, under charges of rioting, disobedience, attempt to murder, etc.
Amarjit Singh Mohri said, “Our morcha has already given a call to confront
Ambala SP
office on July 17, for the release of Navdeep Singh. Meetings are being held with the union workers to motivate them and assign duties.”
Navdeep’s lawyer, advocate Rohit Jain said he was arrested in two cases 40/2024 and 43/2024 registered on February 13 and 15, 2024, respectively, at Ambala Sadar police station related to second Kisan Andolan. “We applied for Navdeep's bail in the first case (40/2024), which was dismissed by the court on June 15 and he remained in custody. On July 5, we applied for Navdeep’s bail in second case 43/2024, in which he has been granted bail by the district court in Ambala. But he will remain in custody, as police produced a list of 16 criminal cases against him in the court, apprehending that his release would cause riots as he has potential to mobilise farmers and youth.”
“Of the 16 cases, six have been withdrawn by the state government as these are related to the first Kisan Andolan of 2020-21. Rest of the cases are related to the second Kisan Andolan which is ongoing at Shambhu border”, said Rohit, adding that they have approached High Court for Navdeep’s bail in case 40/2024.
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