Farmers halt march till Feb 29, demand action

Groups leading the protests by farmers from Punjab have decided to extend their pause on marching to the national capital till February 29, as they turned their focus to the death of a protester earlier this week, saying they will not allow an autopsy or the cremation of the 21-year-old man till the Punjab Police files a case against police in Haryana.

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The family of Shubh Karan Singh also rejected the 2 crore compensation offered by the Punjab government over his death until a first information report (FIR) was registered, and the farmer unions said there can be "no talks" with the government over the agitation itself until the police case is made.

"The current agitation will get bigger and the march to Delhi will resume once the demand to grant martyr status for deceased farmer Shubh Karan Singh is acceded to, his autopsy is carried out, and a case is lodged against the Haryana Police," Sarwan Singh Pandher, the leader of Kisan Mazdoor Sangh Committee  (KMSC), told HT over the phone.

Later in the evening, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the other leader at the helm of the agitation, said: "As of now, we are only focussing on justice for Shubh Karan Singh, therefore, we will not march to Delhi before February 29. The next course of action will be announced after holding a meeting, thereafter, with the leaders".

Officials in Punjab and Haryana separately said they were trying to determine under whose jurisdiction the case should fall, with both sides reopening land records to study the wheat fields where Singh sustained the injuries that eventually claimed his life.

While the Punjab Police did not respond to requests for details on where they have determined the jurisdiction to be, a Punjab police officer in Patiala, while asking not to be named, said the spot where Shubh Karan was injured lay within the jurisdiction of Jind, Haryana, which could mean only the police in that state may be able to file the FIR.