Assam Jute farmers killed in Police firing

By- Correspondent | Date- October 11, 2011

Four jute farmers were killed and several others, including eight Police personnel were injured in police firing at Bechimari of Darrang district on Monday afternoon. The police is reported to have opened fire when protesting jute growers, turning furious had started pelting stones and bricks at the policemen on duty.

The incident happened as an outcome of the blockade on NH-52 by thousands of jute growers protesting the sudden and big reduction of the minimum support price of jute in the weekly market. The protesters had come to the highway along with their jute brought for selling and blocking traffic completely. The local Police, growing in numbers with several forces joining in, tried to control the situation with lathi charge but some agitators allegedly attacked the police with stones and brick pieces. In retaliation, the police fired, killing four on the spot and injuring several others.

The agitating farmers, mostly of minority communities, were reported to have instigated and provoked the situation, by the police.

The Darrang superintendent of police Vivek Raj Singh claimed that the policemen had requested the farmers to disperse as they were disrupting road traffic, but they turned unruly, pelting stones at the policeman on duty. This, the police claimed, forced them to use tear gas shells and blank shots to scare the agitating farmers and then gun shots when situation was out of control.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has expressed anguish at the loss of lives and has ordered a probe into the incident. In addition, an amount of Rs 3 lakh has been announced as ex gratia for the next of kin of the deceased.

The opposition parties were quick to react, blaming the state Congress Government for not being able to prevent the situation from happening. The Tarun Gogoi government was called as a “anti-people” for “giving bullets instead of justice to the farmers”.

Mentionable that the minimum support price of jute set by Jute Corporation of India Limited is Rs 1,515 for per quintal of Tossa variety grown in Assam. Middlemen had been procuring jute from cultivators at Rs 900 per quintal but the price had suddenly slumped to Rs 550 per quintal last week. Due to this sudden drop, jute farmers had to face tremendous hardship and as such the agitation had taken place. Proper price policy and proactive approach by the Government would have not saved the lives of the farmers killed in yesterday’s agitation but would have avoided the situation completely.

The Monday incident involving peasant uprising almost brought back the history of Patharughat uprising of 1894 where 140 agitating peasants were killed. Patharughat is in the same district as Bechimari where the Monday incident took place