One organisation, one city, two protests
Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha (KRRS) and Hasiru Sene - different wings of the same organisation - staged two protests under different leaders at separate locations in the city on Wednesday.
While the protest in front of the Assistant Commissioner’s office was led by B S Narasimhappa, the president of the district unit of the organisation, that in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office was held under the leadership of P M Muniraju, a leader in the district unit.
The demands contained in the pamphlets distributed by the members of the two factions were only slightly different. The names of leaders printed in the two pamphlets were different. While one pamphlet contained 15 demands, the other had 16.
Farmers demanded that the Janlokpal Bill must be passed in Parliament and the Lokayukta should be strengthened in the State, at the protest led by Muniraju in front of the DC office.
Addressing the protestors, Muniraju said: “The fall in prices of commercial crops should be prevented. The government must come to the rescue of farmers growing these crops.”
The farmers wanted the early implementation of the recommendations of the report of the G S Paramashivaiah Commission on implementing a permanent irrigation project in the district. The other demands were dropping the move to close Kannada schools with less student strength and solutions to the problems faced by the farming community.
In another protest in front of the AC office, led by Narasimhappa, the farmers urged the banks to provide loans without guarantee to farmers and farm workers.
They wanted action against varsity officials who conducted field trials of GM brinjal. They asked the government to put an end to practices such as Made Snana and Devadasi system.
