‘What you resist, will persist': Jagjit Dallewal's message to Punjab CM as cops intensify crackdown to thwart farmers' stir
The Punjab Police continued its massive statewide crackdown against farmer leaders for the second day, and protesters under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) were on Tuesday prevented from reaching Shambhu police station for a planned day-long stir. Efforts to thwart the protest call included widespread detentions, roadblocks, and house arrests.
The agitation was announced to condemn the Punjab government's alleged use of excessive force during the March 19–20 clearance of protest sites in Shambu and Khanauri, when the police reportedly dismantled tents, seized equipment, and caused damage worth crores to farmers. The unions have demanded compensation and an apology, terming the crackdown a violation of democratic rights.
On Tuesday morning, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been under house arrest since Monday, issued a video message, strongly condemning the government's actions. 'We had given a call for a one-day symbolic protest outside Shambhu police station. Yet, the Bhagwant Mann -led government has turned it into chaos by launching a statewide crackdown and arresting farmers,' he said.
'Many of our members who were detained yesterday have been sent to jail now, including Kaka Singh Kotra, general secretary of BKU Sidhupur. This is nothing but state repression, and the government is now pushing us towards launching a new agitation,' Dallewal said, adding, 'Let me remind the CM: what you resist, will persist. You cannot silence our voice through coercion. This is a democracy, not a dictatorship.'
Dallewal also questioned Mann's double standards: 'If protesting is a crime, then what moral ground do you have to stage dharnas in Delhi over the arrest of your leaders Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal, who are allegedly involved in scams? Your hypocrisy and double talk stand exposed. The people of Punjab must now rise against this high-handedness and undemocratic behaviour with a united face.'
He concluded with a warning: 'Despite all the barricades and arrests, we will not back down. I guarantee the chief minister — people will reach Shambhu police station, no matter what.'
Heavy barricading was seen on all roads leading to the Shambhu border, including routes from Ludhiana, Rajpura, Patiala, Ghanaur, and Ambala. The police deployed tippers, trucks, and used barricades to block farmer convoys.
In Ambala, Haryana-based farmers from Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Shaheed Bhagat Singh) gathered at Manji Sahib Gurdwara but were unable to move forward. 'The Punjab police have blocked the roads and the chief minister blames us for creating obstructions,' said Tejveer Singh, spokesperson of the union.
In Moga, members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) who had gathered at Ajitwal grain market were also stopped. 'Seven of our senior leaders were detained by the Moga police. The market gate was locked to prevent others from moving out,' said KMSC press secretary Kaka Josan. Among those detained was KMSC district general secretary Ranbir Singh Thatha.
According to farmer leaders, besides Dallewal, dozens of union heads have either been detained or placed under house arrest since early Monday. Those under house arrest since Monday morning include Baldev Singh Sirsa and Harsulinder Singh Kishangarh.
On Monday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann issued a statement: 'No protest will be allowed that disturbs public life. Road and rail blockades, or any such demonstrations that hinder daily work and trouble common people, will be treated as actions against public interest. All organisations and unions are advised to adopt alternative, peaceful means of protest. Strict legal action will be taken if public movement is obstructed.'
Farmer unions, however, maintained that their protest outside Shambhu police station would be symbolic and was not meant to block any roads or railway lines. 'We only planned to gather outside the police station. The way the government has responded shows it is unwilling to listen to farmers unless there is disruption,' said Sarwan Singh Pandher, coordinator of KMM, on Monday evening. Pandher was unreachable on Tuesday morning as his associates said they did not know if he was detained.
The unions have also announced a rail roko protest at Devidas Pura railway station in Amritsar on Wednesday, targeting the Delhi-Amritsar line, to protest against the alleged illegal acquisition of farmers' land under Bharatmala projects without providing adequate compensation.
The Indian Express attempted to contact Varun Sharma, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patiala, for a statement regarding the detentions and road closures, but he could not be reached.
As the standoff continues, farmer unions are holding local meetings and mobilising at the village level to keep the momentum going. 'If we are stopped from peaceful protests, we will be forced to adopt stronger means,' said one union leader.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
30 minutes ago
- NDTV
NDTV Ground Report: The Spot Where Raja Raghuvanshi Was Thrown Into Gorge
New Delhi: Three men, and possibly a woman, stood overlooking a steep gorge near the Wei Sawdong Falls in Meghalaya 's East Khasi Hills on the afternoon of May 23. They were not admiring the view, though it is spectacular. They had just murdered Raja Raghuvanshi and were dumping his body. Raghuvanshi, 30, was found at the bottom of that gorge on June 2, his body hacked into and his death the result, the police believe, of a nefarious scheme allegedly hatched by his wife (of less than a fortnight) Sonam Raghuvanshi and her lover, Raj Kushwaha, with help from three 'contract killers'. All five - details of whose plotting include a clandestine meet at a cafe, one-way tickets to Meghalaya, and the purchase of an axe (the murder weapon) online - have been arrested. NDTV visited the waterfall viewpoint to understand what transpired at 'Land's End', such as it was for Raja Raghuvanshi, and was given a firsthand lesson in why recovering the Madhya Pradesh-based businessman's body was so difficult, even when the cops knew where to look. Thirty seconds was all Nature needed to cover the gorge in mist, making it impossible to see into the valley or across it, to the mountains on the other side, and rising to cover even the cliff edge. In fact, were it not for a waist-high metal barrier around the edge, unwary souls might take a step too far off the cliff and plummet to a rocky doom, falling maybe a thousand feet. The deep gorge, changeable weather, and the remote location all conspired to make the police's job very difficult indeed; drones, in fact, were sent into the gorge to find Raghuvanshi's body. And, as if to illustrate that point, the weather changed again while NDTV was at the spot, the mist rolling back partially to reveal the foliage lining the gorge while still hiding most of the drop. And these reasons fed into the killers' selection of this spot, the police have indicated, for their dastardly deed. The cops believe it was here, or somewhere nearby, that Raja was murdered. The logic is quite unescapable; it would have been impossible, dangerous even, for the killers to be spotted carrying Raghuvanshi's body to the dumping site if he had been killed elsewhere. And, as NDTV retraced his footsteps on his final day, it soon became quite apparent the murder was pre-meditated, for the trekking route they were on was a less-travelled road, meaning there were fewer chances his death or his killers would be seen. What Happened In Meghalaya? On May 20, Raja and Sonam left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya. They had a one-way ticket only. The three 'killers' followed them on their journey, dispatched to Guwahati first by Raj Kushwaha to buy the axe and then to Shillong, where they stayed at a hotel near the couple's homestay. The picture of honeymoon bliss, Raja and Sonam visited tourist hotspots in the beautiful northeastern state over the next two days, including the 'living roots' bridge in Nongriat. A dazed Sonam Raghuvanshi surfaced in UP on June 8, two weeks later. They were seen on the morning of May 23 by a local guide, Albert Pde. That was at 10 am. That was the last time Raja Raghuvanshi was seen alive. Pde's sighting was critical, since he told the police he saw Raja and Sonam, and three other men, who were speaking in Hindi. The three men Pde saw were most likely the killers. What happened between then and June 2, when the body was found, is still unclear, although sources close to the investigation have offered NDTV some details, including Raj Kushwaha's alleged role in orchestrating the murder and Sonam's "kill him" signal to the murderers. What happened after June 2 is unclear also. Sonam disappeared. There are reports that she was spotted in Indore after her husband's death, possibly to meet with her lover, who had stayed away from the northeast, but there is no confirmation of this. What we do know is that Sonam Raghuvanshi surfaced in UP on June 8.
Mint
42 minutes ago
- Mint
Who is Nicole Daedone, the woman accused of forcing employees into sexual acts?
The founder of sexual wellness company, OneTaste Inc., and its former sales head have been convicted of forced labour charges by a Brooklyn court. The California-based company promoted 'orgasmic meditation', or 'OM', which was carried out by men manually stimulating women in a group setting. Following a five-week trial, the court on Monday found Nicole Daedone, 57, founder of OneTaste, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, the former sales director, guilty after deliberating for less than two days, reports said. The two accused could face up to 20 years in prison. During the case hearing, prosecutors argued that Nicole and Rachel ran a years-long scheme that groomed adherents, many of them victims of sexual trauma, to do their bidding. The two women used economic, sexual and psychological abuse, intimidation and indoctrination to force OneTaste members into sexual acts such as having sex with prospective investors or clients. Assistant US Attorney Nina Gupta, in her closing statement last week, said the defendants 'built a business on the backs' of victims who 'gave everything' to them, including 'their money, their time, their bodies, their dignity, and ultimately their sanity.' 'The jury's verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants' benefit,' said Joseph Nocella, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Nicole Daedone of New York co-founded OneTaste in San Francisco in 2004 as a sort of self-help commune that viewed female orgasms as key to sexual and psychological wellness and interpersonal connection. Portrayed as a cutting-edge enterprise that prioritised women's sexual pleasure, the sexual wellness company generated revenue by providing courses, coaching, OM events, and other sexual practices for a fee. OneTaste enjoyed glowing media coverage in the 2010s and quickly opened centres from Los Angeles to London. Nicole sold her stake in OneTaste in 2017 for $12 million, a year before the company's marketing and labour practices were criticised. OneTaste's current owners, who have rebranded it as the Institute of OM Foundation, said its work has been misconstrued, and the charges against its former executives were unjustified. They also said sexual consent has always been a cornerstone of the organisation.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Office ke bahar 10 bande le aaunga: Delhi-based business owner shares horror hiring story and threat; Reddit post viral
Hiring your first employee is stressful enough. But for one Delhi-based man, it turned into a full-blown nightmare. The original poster (OP) u/Prestigious_Cold9315 took to the Delhi subreddit to post his chilling encounter with a job candidate hired through a popular job seeking/application portal. What followed was a no show, a money ask, and a threat. This led OP to seek answers and advice from Reddit users, many of whom offered their own pearls of wisdom. The incident took place at a small family-run furniture store in Delhi. The poster (OP) (setting out to hire an employee for the very first time) recruited someone to handle basic accounting tasks using resource management software, Tally. But what followed, he says, felt like something out of a scammy social media reel. The candidate didn't show up on the scheduled joining day, citing health issues. After a delay of about three or four days, he arrived at the store — on a day that the employer wasn't even present! What's more, he called only to say that he had come to talk. The next day, the man returned, worked briefly, and asked for ₹500, claiming he needed it for an ultrasound. OP gave him the money, only to then be ghosted for several more days. When contacted again, this employee demanded more money — ₹350 to be exact — claiming it as was the balance for his one day of work (going by an ₹850 dihadi). When refused? He threatened the employer, saying: 'Main Jaat hoon. Office ke bahar 10 bande le aaunga kal.' Safe to say OP took it as a wake up call, seeking advice to mend his hiring ways. Commenters on the post were quick to label the employee a 'fraud', warning against recruiting anyone without comprehensive background checks, vetting the CV, and following up on the reccomendations. 'You my friend ended up hiring a fraud. Anyway he will not do anything. Block him and do your work. Hire someone else and do a proper background check,' shared one user, ad another adviced, 'Keeps the call on record next time. File a complaint if he threatens again.' Another suggested a legal recourse: 'File a police complaint. Let the police handle this. Get an employment contract in place in future if you don't.' Some users also felt that taking a threat for sucha low amount should not be taken so seriously. 'Don't think so this person can do much if he's threatening for 350rs. Also, why was he asking for the money if he didn't show up for 3 more days?' commented a user. Another suggested reporting and flagging off the profile on the hiring portal, 'If you can, figure out how to report his profile to naukri. Send him a formal email saying he's been paid 500 for x number of hours (if he indeed did any work). Let him know his employment is terminated. Let him know, if he treathens you further, ki woh 35rs ke liye 10 bande layega toh wakai gazab hojayega. Formally likh dena that as he didn't work, he won't get paid. And him contacting you further will result in your filing a police complaint against him. Bus. Don't be scared. Barking dogs seldom bite and ig you have cameras? Let him know too. For your protection, you can let the police know if you're really scared.' The employer is now looking into how to report the incident and flag the profile on the job portal. Meanwhile, users continue to offer advice: conduct proper background checks, issue offer letters with clear terms, and — most importantly — never give money casually, even in emergencies. Whether this threat materialises or not, the post has hit a nerve with small business owners and first-time recruiters across social media — especially those navigating the complex hiring landscape without the cushion of a corporate HR team.
