By IANS,
Greater Noida/Lucknow/New Delhi : Massive security arrangements by the Uttar Pradesh administration saw agitating farmers in Greater Noida lying low Monday after two days of violence that saw four people killed, even as political parties tried to capitalise on the situation, slamming the state’s Mayawati government.
The state government made elaborate security arrangements in the tense areas of Greater Noida and parts of Aligarh and Agra, deploying the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in large numbers, officials said.
Meanwhile, a determined opposition Monday slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for “repressing” the farmers agitating for higher compensation for land taken for constructing the 156-km Yamuna Expressway that is to link New Delhi with Agra and reduce travel time by an hour.
Quick to score brownie points, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party, which are in the opposition in Uttar Pradesh, demanded Mayawati’s resignation over the violence.
Congress’s state chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said: “It is a government of looters and land acquisition has become their favourite pastime. People have lost their confidence in Mayawati.”
Many senior leaders made a beeline to Greater Noida where police and agitating farmers fought a pitched battle Saturday in which four people, including two policemen were killed. The BJP’s Rajnath Singh, SP leader Shivpal Yadav and Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav were arrested by police Monday for attempting to visit the area where prohibitory orders have been clamped to maintain peace.
Noida police chief Anant Deo said that Section 144 of the law, banning assembly of people and demonstrations, has been imposed throughout the district.
On Friday, angry farmers in Bhatta Parsaul village of Greater Noida had held captive employees of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, who were released Saturday evening. When security personnel arrived to free the officials held hostage, the farmers clashed with them, resulting in the deaths.
Fifteen people were also critically injured in the clashes. The District Magistrate of Greater Noida’s Gautam Budh Nagar, Deepak Agrawal, was also injured.
In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, condemning the action on farmers by the state machinery, said the way the chief minister was trying to open up a new path of development “with lathi and bullets was quite disappointing.”
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lucknow that his party would continue to fight for farmers’ rights.
“None other than the chief minister is responsible for the clashes there…It’s a part of the conspiracy by the chief minister, who wants to remain in power even as farmers and police continue to clash. We will continue to support farmers so that they are not denied of their rights,” he said.
Rajnath Singh, a former state chief minister, said Mayawati should step down. “Had the Mayawati government acted on time and intervened in the matter this would not have happened. No farmland should be acquired till the Land Acquisition Bill is passed by parliament,” he said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, also blamed the Mayawati government.
“Mayawati government has been extremely insensitive to the cause of farmers and the poor in recent years. Instead of talking to farmers and taking them into confidence, it has been taking violent action against the agitating farmers. We demand a judicial inquiry into the incident,” he said.
Demanding a probe by the National Human Rights Commission into incidents of “repression” by the Mayawati government, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj tweeted: “The visuals of farmers agitation in Western UP are shocking. This should not happen in a democratic country.”
Speaking in New Delhi, social activist Medha Patkar said: “Land acquisition is just a move to serve private purposes by diverting agricultural land for industrial purposes. Rights of the rural people are sacrificed in the name of development and political parties simply play over it.”
“We will be joining the movement tonight or tomorrow evening in Noida,” Patkar added.
The protests have spread to parts of Agra, Aligarh-Tappal and Mathura.