Hundreds of farmers tried in vain to register their protest against the government on the Tumkur highway, even as MoUs of mega projects were being exchanged at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center, the venue for GIM 2012.
Over 500 farmers belonging to Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha raised slogans against the government’s initiative to attract investments to the State from large players.
Cautioning investors, farmer leaders Kodihalli Chandrashekar, H R Basarayappa, Chukki Nanjundaswamy, Bayya Reddy and others said that the farmers of Karnataka will at no cost part with their land for the mega projects. They attempted to block the highway at noon, when the police force stopped them and took them into preventive custody.
In what can only be described as an irony, Ashok Kheny, Managing Director, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises made a sudden appearance at the protest site to extend his support to the farmers’ protest. Kheny said the farmers were justified in their protest.
He said the government should take the farmers into confidence while implementing industrial projects on agricultural lands. He alleged that the government was acquiring land only from poor farmers.
The inaugural function presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda went off smoothly, expect for a small episode. As soon as Gowda approached the podium to deliver his speech, two farmers who had made their way into the main hall, started raising slogans against the chief minister and the government. The duo were, however, silenced by the police who forcefully took them away from the venue.
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