U.P. police arrest over 160 protesting farmers; SKM urges judiciary to step in

Over 160 farmers arrested in Noida for protesting land compensation, sparking backlash from farm unions and warning of nationwide agitation.

The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested over 160 farmers who were holding a dharna at Noida’s ‘Dalit Prerna Sthal’ after their march to Parliament for higher land compensation and the redress of other issues was halted a day earlier.

Those arrested included Bhartiya Kisan Parishad chief Sukhbir Khalifa and the west U.P. president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Pawan Khatana.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shiv Hari Meena said the farmers were arrested around 1.30 p.m. under Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and taken to the Luksar jail in Noida.

The provision empowers police officers to make arrests to prevent the commission of a cognisable offence.

The farmers, mainly from western Uttar Pradesh, were protesting against the alleged denial of fair compensation for their land acquired by the State government for several projects such as the Yamuna Expressway and those in progress in Noida and Greater Noida.

Their other demands include 10% reservation for children of displaced families in schools and colleges, free electricity and water, and a hike in circle rates, which they said “have not been revised since 2017 by the BJP-led State government”.

The police action drew a sharp response from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farm unions that had spearheaded a farmers’ year-long stir on the Delhi borders in 2020-21 against the now-withdrawn three controversial Central farm laws.