Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher was released from Muktsar Sahib jail

Sri Muktsar Sahib: In a self-produced video, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that he had been freed from the Muktsar Sahib jail and would be holding a news conference at the Bahadurgarh fort today at 9 am. The Punjab administration, headed by the AAP, was sharply criticized by Pandher for “destroying” the farmers’ front.

“After being freed from Mukhtsar Sahib jail, I will arrive at Bahadurgarh Fort at about nine in the morning and have a news conference there. I vehemently denounce the Punjabi government and the devastation of our fronts. In the self-produced film, Pandher said, “We will consult with our partners regarding our future strategy.”

On March 19, the Punjab Police arrested a number of farmer leaders, including Kisan Mazdoor Morcha head Sarvan Singh Pandher and farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is fasting indefinitely.
The Punjab administration freed 450 more farmers from police custody earlier on March 24.

According to a press statement from Punjab’s Information and Public Relations Department, “Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has decided to immediately release 450 more farmers from police detention as part of his considerate approach towards farmers.”

Sukhchain Singh Gill, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters, shared information, stating that the Punjab government has already freed almost 800 farmers from police detention.

Earlier, Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Raminder Singh and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal declared a protest at district headquarters throughout the state on March 28 in protest of repression by the state government, and they declined to attend a meeting called by the Punjab government.

The decision was made in response to accusations from prominent farmer leaders that the Punjab government had wrongfully detained a number of activists and used excessive force against farmers who were demonstrating. Unfavorable circumstances were another reason they gave for skipping the conference.

Notably, on March 21, the state’s Agriculture Minister, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, called for a conference of farmer leaders in Chandigarh, two days after Punjab police cleared the border between Sambhu and Khanauri and took down the makeshift structures set up by the protesting farmers on March 19.