Congress condemns attack on farmers, stages protest

Vijayawada: Pradesh Congress Committee N Raghuveera Reddy staged a sit-in protest near the Gandhi statue at Kaleswara Rao Market in One Town on Wednesday  against the use of water cannons and tear gas on the protesting farmers in Delhi on Tuesday. 

He said the distressed farming community tried to stage protest in Delhi against the anti-farmer policies of the Union government, but the police used excess force to disperse them with tear gas and water cannons.

Raghuveera Reddy, along with other Congress leaders and workers, squatted  on the busy main road condemning the attack on farmers on October 2, on the birth anniversary day of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Sastry who gave the slogan Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan.

He said the farmers went to Delhi demanding support price for the agriculture produce, loan waiver, sanctioning of crop loans and against the policies of the private insurance companies.  

The PCC chief said the police used brutal force with tear gas and water cannons to disperse the farmers and erected many barricades along the Delhi and UP border. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power with the assurance of providing all kinds of support to the farming community. 

Raghuveera said thousands of farmers are committing suicide in various parts of the country due to lack of support price, prevailing drought conditions, due to burden of loans and due to anti-farmer policies of the Union government. He demanded the Prime Minister to  tender apology unconditionally to the farmers for using force against them, who came to Delhi for the peaceful protest.