Khairlanji massacre farmers' suicides may dominate Mah session

Nagpur, Dec 3 (UNI) Khairlanji massacre in Bhandara district, widespread violence in the state over the past few weeks and the ongoing agrarian crisis in Vidharbha are likely to dominate the proceedings of the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature beginning here tomorrow.

The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Opposition will try to put the Democratic Front (DF) government on the mat over the inappropriate handling of the killings of four Dalits in Khairlanji in Bhandara district on September 30 over a land dispute.

The government has come in for sharp criticism for allegedly failing to protect the Dalit family after the villagers assaulted a relative of the deceased nearly four weeks before the murders.

Taking into consideration the violence the state witnessed over the Khairlanji killings and the alleged desecration of a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), the law and order situation in the state will also come in for some close scrutiny during the proceedings.

With the suicides by farmers in the region continuing unabated, the Opposition is certain to bring up the agrarian crisis in Vidarbha for discussion in both the Houses.

A voluntary organisation Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) claims 944 farmers in the region have taken the extreme step during 2006 alone, and 1,158 since June 2005.

The Opposition has been demanding higher prices for cotton, the main cash crop in the region, and complete waiver of loans of farmers in Vidarbha to alleviate their suffering.

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