SP workers stage protest in UP in support of protesting farmers

LUCKNOW: Extending support to the one-day fast called by farmers protesting against new farm laws, Samajwadi Party workers staged protests in different districts of the state, and were taken into custody by the police.

Farmer leaders are holding a day-long hunger strike against the farm laws at Delhi border points.

In state capital Lucknow, television footage showed a delegation of Samajwadi Party workers clashing with police in Kaisarbagh area.

SP workers were stopped from going towards the District Collectorate Lucknow. A number of SP workers including women party workers were also taken into custody by the police..

"Samajwadi Party supports the demands of farmers, and its sympathy is with farmers. The kisan yatra was started by the SP on December 7. On December 14, the party workers are holding dharna at all the district headquarters in the state. I have been arrested in Sandila (in Hardoi district), and many party leaders are under house arrest," SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap told PTI.

In Agra, television footage showed police using mild force to disperse protesting Samajwadi Party workers..

Police detained a huge number of SP leaders and workers including district president in Gorakhpur when they were going to participate in a sit-in demonstration at Nagar Nigam campus on Monday.

Police started detaining SP workers since morning and arrested party district president Ram Nagina Sahini and former president Ziaul Islam when he was exercising in a school campus. Some workers were arrested near the Townhall crossing and some were arrested from Zila Parishad road.

"Police and government are snatching our constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully. They are registering fake cases against us and not letting us protest," Sahini said.

SSP, Gorakhpur, Jogendra Kumar said, "Section 144 is already imposed in the district and during pandemic it is also not safe to gather at a place without social distancing. They should first take permission for holding demonstration from the district magistrate."

In Muzzafarnagar, several SP and RLD leaders were taken into custody ahead of their planned protest in support of farmers.