Recalling Digvijaya's firing squads of Mutlai: Uncanny similarities with Mandsaur
In both Mandsaur and Multai, the protest spread across the state quickly.
The Mandsaur incident is a heart rendering one. Politics is being played over it. Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mandsaur is aimed at politicising the issue, the BJP has said. However what needs to be said here is that there was a similar incident that took place in Madhya Pradesh, 19 years back in which 18 farmers were killed in police firing.
When the Multai incident took place, it was Digivijaya Singh who was the chief minister of MP. There were reports calling the police force as Digvijaya Singh firing squads. The similarities between Multai and Mandsaur are uncanny in nature. In both incidents, the protests took place over the issue of loan waiver. In 1998, the farmers had gathered under the banner of the Kisan Sangharsh Morcha, which was floated by Dr Sunilam (Sunil Mishra), a PhD from Delhi University and member of the Janata Dal national executive, to fight for their rights.
In Mandsaur, the farmers are demanding loan waiver and a higher price for their produce. In both the protests at Multai and Mandsaur, the event began on a peaceful note. It only turned violent later.
The Kisan Morcha had issued an ultimatum to Digvijay that if the demands were not met by January 11, they would resort to a road blockade and gherao Multai's tehsil office. On January 12, a 15,000-strong farmer contingent gathered outside the building and as tempers ran high, a few farmers started pelting stones at the policemen. The police who were enraged began shooting at random and in the incident 18 farmers lost their lives.
In
Mandsaur
too
the
protest
began
on
a
peaceful
note.
It
was
only
after
a
couple
of
days
that
the
farmers
went
berserk
and
damaged
vehicles,
railway
tracks
and
also
engaged
in
rioting.
In
both
Mandsaur
and
Multai,
the
protest
spread
across
the
state
quickly.
In
Multai
the
police
got
orders
to
open
fire.
An
MLA
of
the
BJP
Shailendra
Pradhan
had
said
that
they
were
shooting
to
kill.
OneIndia News