Agriculture reforms Bills: Farmers block highways in Mysuru, taken into custody

Members of various organisations blocked vehicle movement for nearly 30 minutes on Mysuru-Bengaluru National Highway at Columbia Asia Junction on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Mysuru city on Friday.

However, the police took them into custody and cleared the traffic.

Members of Dalit organisations and Raitha Dalita Karmika Aikya Horata Samiti staged a protest against the Union government for the amendments to the APMC Act, Essential Commodities Act and Land Reforms Act.

The agitators raised slogans against the state government, alleging that the amendments to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act removed land ceiling and allowed corporate companies to buy lands. The move is anti-farmer and a threat to the farming community, they said.

Activist Pa Mallesh, who released a book, said, “The government is not responding to the protests. The government is enacting laws that are against the farming community. The government is working on behalf of the corporate sector. The ministers and political parties are favouring the corporate sector.”

The activists slept on the road and also dumped maize and other agriculture produce on the highway, as a mark of protest.

Despite repeated requests, the agitators declined to clear the highway. Thus, the police took more than 200 protesters into custody and cleared the road for traffic. The police took the agitators to a ground near GRS Park in three KSRTC buses. They were released by noon.

Leaders Hosakote Basavaraju, Kiragasur Shankar and Ugra Narasimhegowda were present.

The agitators at KR Nagar, Periyapatna, Hunsur, Nanjangud and other parts of the district staged protests, by blocking the roads.