One dead in police firing against agitating farmers in Karnataka

The farmers’ agitation against scarcity of fertilizers in the state turned grave yesterday after one person was killed in police firing in Haveri in north Karnataka.

Police resorted to firing against the protesting farmers, who went on a rampage setting fire to buses and stoning shops in Haveri. While one person was killed on the spot, another person, who sustained bullet injuries, is battling for life in the hospital.

The shortage of fertilizers had triggered mass protests by farmers in various parts of northern Karnataka since Monday. Violent scenes were witnessed in Hubli, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur and Haveri where mobs indulged in violence, forcing the police to resort to caning and lobbing tear gas shells.

On Tuesday, the farmers’ protest in Haveri spun out of control with the protestors attacking the fertilizer shops and the police personnel.

The demonstrations continued in other parts of the state with farmers gathering in large numbers and resorting to road blockade. Traffic came to a grinding halt on several highways criss-crossing the agricultural belts in northern Karnataka yesterday.

Normal life in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad remained paralyzed for the second day on Tuesday after agitating farmers looted fertilizer shops and set on fire one fertilizer shop and three buses belonging to the state-run North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation. The official police jeep of the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Hubli was burnt down by the angry mob.

The police action to open fire on the protesting farmers in Haveri yesterday has evoked a sharp reaction from the farmers’ leaders in the State. President of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association Kodihalli Chandrashekar has held Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa directly responsible for the scarcity of fertilizers and the subsequent death of a farmer in police firing.

Various farmers organizations in the State have given a call for state-wide agitation on Wednesday.

However, Agriculture Minister S A Ravindranath sought to lay the blame the six-month-long federal rule in the state for the present fertilizer crisis. “The fertilizer problem started six months ago during the Central rule. The failure of the officials to ensure adequate stock of fertilizers and its timely distribution to the farmers has caused the problem”, he said.
Ravindranath also denied the existence of any shortage in the supply of fertilizers in the state. “The shortage has been created on account of panic buying by farmers due to shortage in some places”, he said.