After a week-long standoff, farmers and members of the BJP government in Haryana were finally able to come to terms today when demonstrators called off their protest against IAS officer Ayush Sinha’s controversial “crack their (farmers’) heads” remark, which he made last month, according to the government.
Both parties agreed on a month-long investigation into the IAS officer’s conduct by a retired judge, during which he will be placed on administrative leave by the government.
Karnal has been engulfed in high drama over the previous week as mass gatherings were prohibited and mobile internet services were halted in order to keep the farmers’ protest under control. Following the release of video footage showing Mr Sinha making the remarks that aroused widespread indignation, calls for his dismissal were made.
As a result of the issue, Ayush Sinha, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Karnal, was removed from his position.
On August 28, Haryana police used lathi charges against farmers who were blocking a highway on their route to Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting attended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Ten people were hurt. Mr Sinha’s footage appeared on the internet shortly after.
According to the Chief Minister, “Although the officer’s (Ayush Sinha) choice of words was not appropriate, strictness had to be maintained to guarantee the law and order situation there was kept under control.”
We will look into the entire Karnal event, not just Ayush Sinha’s actions. According to him, “we can’t discipline officers until we do an investigation.” He went on to say that “if farmer leaders are proven to be culpable, we would take action against them,” as the state’s Home Minister Anil Vij stated earlier this week.
The farmers had threatened long-term protest after many rounds of talks had failed to produce a resolution previously, claiming that they might be forced to maintain a permanent protest site in Karnal.
According to farmer activist Rakesh Tikait, “we may have a permanent protest here like the Singhu and Tikri border protests.” He did, however, add that they did not want the ongoing protests at the Delhi border to be “disturbed” by this incident, which he described as “unpleasant.”
