Madhya Pradesh farmers protest: 5 shot dead as stir turns violent

At least five farmers were shot dead in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday when a nearly fortnight-long farmer agitation in the state turned violent. 

In neighbouring Maharashtra, a farmer agitation for a loan waiver continued unabated for a sixth day.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan blamed Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, for instigating the violence. “I request the farmers to be patient. Do not fall in the trap of anyone. The government stands with the farmers. We will solve all problems through discussion,” Chouhan tweeted.

In both the states, the respective governments had tried to negotiate with specific outfits, especially the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). Subsequently, the governments announced the stir had been withdrawn. This lead to a snowballing of the protests. In Madhya Pradesh, it led to a split within the BKS, with which the Chouhan-led Bharatiya Janata Party government had recently held a meeting.

Farmers in western Madhya Pradesh have been protesting since June 1, demanding higher minimum support prices, among other things. 

The Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (RKMS), one of the main groups spearheading the agitation, disputed the state government’s claim that the agitation was withdrawn following assurance to farmers. “We wanted to meet the victims of the firing but weren’t allowed by the district administration,” Shiv Kumar of RKMS said.

The RKMS said their demands of guaranteeing minimum income of 50 per cent more than the cost of production and loan waiver, as the BJP’s manifesto had promised, haven’t been met.

Mandsaur collector S K Singh confirmed the death of five persons and said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered. Singh told PTI that police had told him that they did not fire at the protesters. But RKMS leaders alleged that the farmers were killed in police firing.

The deceased were identified as Kanhaiyalal Patidar, Bablu Patidar, Chain Singh Patidar, Abhishek Patidar and Satynarayan. Abhishek and Satynarayan died en route to a hospital in Indore, police said. 

According to a PTI report, protesting farmers torched vehicles and indulged in stone pelting in Parshvanath area. Trouble was also reported from other parts of western Madhya Pradesh. In Indore, police resorted to lathicharge to disperse stone-pelting farmers. In Dhar, farmers blocked the Indore-Ahmedabad national highway for about three hours. Farmers also staged protests at Amjhera and Ghoda Chowpati in the city. Shops remained closed all day in Neemuch city.

Over the past week, the agitation had led to closure of mandis across the state. In Mandsaur, it turned violent. While Mandsaur district authorities denied that police fired on the protesters, who were on a rampage, Chief Minister Chouhan announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each of the families.

Curfew was imposed in affected areas, including Khagone district, and mobile internet services suspended in Mandsaur, Ratlam and Neemuch districts to check spread of rumours, officials said. The Congress has called for a state-wide bandh, which other Opposition parties and farmer groups have supported.

The epicentre of the protest has now shifted to the highly fertile Malwa-Nimar belt, adjoining Maharashtra’s Vidharbha, where consecutive years of falling soybean price, drop in sugarcane rates and falling price of vegetables have aggravated the situation. 

Sugarcane production in Madhya Pradesh has more than doubled in the past 10 years. 

Mahendra Patidar, president of MP Patidar Samaj, said they would cremate the bodies of the victims who died in Mandsaur district only in the presence of the chief minister.

In Maharashtra, the agitation continued despite Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis having promised a farm debt waiver. “I can say with conviction that this will be the biggest loan waiver in Maharashtra's history,” Fadnavis said.

Prices shot up in various markets because of the short supply of vegetables and fruit.

In Pune’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), the inflow of vegetables and fruits was half of that of regular days, which led to prices going up by three to five times, officials said.

In Ahmednagar district, the inflow of vegetables was 1 per cent of the usual supply, and there had been no milk collection.

Daily business of Rs 20-25 crore in 17 major APMCs in Nashik and other smaller market committees had come to a standstill, government sources said. Fadnavis said workers of political parties, and not farmers, were indulging in violence and road blockades. Farmers locked the offices of the talathi (revenue officer) in some villages in Kolhapur and Nashik districts. Agitating farmers dumped vegetables outside the divisional commissioner's office in Puntamba village in Ahmednagar district and in front of the district collector's office in Amravati.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu reiterated the Centre’s stand that states should announce loan waivers taking in account their fiscal situation. 

The farmers’ protest has exposed fissures in the ruling coalition in the state. The Sena warned the BJP if it did not cede to the demands, the “lava of farmers’ pain” would create havoc.

With inputs from PTI