Yeddyurappa asks policemen to drop their guns

Coming under intense fire from the farming community and the Opposition parties after a farmer was killed during police firing in Haveri in Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has directed the policemen to refrain from opening fire at the farmers, who are protesting against the shortage of fertilizers in the state.

“No bullets should be used against the farmers whatever be the situation and whatever be the provocation”, Yeddyurappa told reporters after convening a high-level meeting of his ministerial colleagues and senior Government officials in Bangalore yesterday.

Announcing a compensation of Rs 200,000 to the deceased farmer Siddalingappa Churi and Rs 50,000 to two others, who had suffers serious injuries, Yeddyurappa flew to Haveri to console the families of the victims of police firing.

Amidst tight security, the Chief Minister visited the house of the deceased farmer and handed over the compensation cheque to his family members.

Later, a large number of people participated in the funeral procession of the farmer in Haveri. Tension mounted when the farmers accompanying the cortege began pelting stones at policemen when the procession was passing through bus stand in the town, which was the scene of police firing on Tuesday.

Stones were also hurled at the police vehicles and the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police en-route, forcing the policemen deployed in the area to run for cover.

Meanwhile, a defiant Yeddyurappa said the violent protests taking place in various parts of the state were an “organized conspiracy” to sully the image of his Government and create confusion.

Though Yeddyurappa had claimed that there was no scarcity of fertilizers in the state on Tuesday, he changed his stance on Wednesday and accused the Congress-led Federal Government for the crisis in the State.

“The shortage of fertilizers in the state is due to the failure of the Centre to release the subsidy amount to fertilizer manufacturers. Against the 120,000 tonnes of fertilizers promised by the Centre, the state has received only 23,000 tonnes”, he said.

However, the Opposition Congress and JD (S) have held the Chief Minister directly responsible for the police firing in Haveri and said the scarcity of fertilizers in the state had arisen on account of the BJP Govrenment’s gross negligence of the farmers.

“Within ten days of taking oath as the Chief Minister in the name of farmers, Yeddyurappa has aimed the gun at farmers. The farmers went to seek fertilizers and they have been given bullets” farmers’ leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar bemoaned.