Video: Haryana Police Uses Water Canon To Disperse Farmers Blocking Highway Over MSP Demand

The protesting farmers had blocked the Delhi-Chandigarh highway near Shahbad in Kurukshetra demanding MSP for sunflower seeds. 

The Haryana Police on Tuesday resorted to using water cannons to disperse farmers who staged a road blockade in Kurukshetra. The farmers were sitting on protest, demanding a minimum support price (MSP) for sunflower seeds. The protesting farmers had blocked the Delhi-Chandigarh highway (National Highway-44) near Shahbad in the Kurukshetra district, enraged by the Haryana government's decision not to buy sunflower seeds at the minimum support price (MSP). 

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the highway was closed due to a call from Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni, as the government's deadline to begin procurement at the MSP of 6,400 per quintal expired on Monday.

Farmers gathered at the Shahbad grain market in the morning amid heavy police deployment and barricades and decided to block the highway after talks with the administration failed, as per the report. 

The farmers, led by Charuni, crossed barricades and blocked the highway by parking their tractor-trailers loaded with sunflower seeds.

Previously, on May 31, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar deposited Rs 181 crore into the bank accounts of 67,758 farmers as compensation for crop losses caused by unseasonal rainfall in March and April.

In a tweet, CM Khattar said, "Today, fulfilling the promise made to my farmer brothers, I have sent compensation of Rs 181 crore directly to their bank accounts through just one click, for their damaged crops. In March-April 2023, we had announced compensation for the crop damaged due to unseasonal rains in the month of May, under which today the compensation amount has been released to 67,758 farmers of the state."

Crops in the state were damaged by unseasonal rains in March and April of this year.

In the absence of government agencies, farmers claim they are forced to sell their produce to private buyers at 4,000 per quintal, as opposed to the MSP of 6,400, Hindustan Times reported. 

The protest on Tuesday turned violent as clashes broke out between the police, who asked them to clear the highway, and the farmers, who refused to budge. Failing to get the highway cleared, the police then open water canon on the protesters to disperse them.