NAGPUR, January 22: The police firing on farmers at Multai was a pre-determined, politically-motivated move, according to a fact-finding committee of citizens led by retired High Court judge Bhau Wahane.The committee has put the toll of the January 12 incident at 28.
Besides pointing towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Congress political rivalry as the genesis of the events, the committee has also condemned the role of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Kanshi Ram who was addressing a rally in Multai, a short distance from where the firing took place.
The report compiled by the committee after visits to Multai, Betul and surrounding villages, takes note of the events preceding the carnage. It refers to the unrest amongst the farmers who faced nature's wrath this season. Fighting for bare survival, some of the farmers initiated a move to organise the rest. They conducted meetings at village-level to encourage the unorganised farmers into some kind of action.
It has been emphatically stated by the
fact-finding committee that the farmers spared no attempt to keep politicians and parties out of their movement. This was done, the report observes, "for a very practical reason of keeping their flock together."
The involvement of Dr Suneelam, a Yuva Janata Dal activist, was accepted by the farmers only after he had proved beyond doubt that he would not use their platform for political purposes. No other politician was allowed into the fold.
The farmers first made a representation of their demands to the revenue authorities on December 12. At a rally organised by them on January 9, the District Collector announced some sops, but the farmers thought this was "too little and too late," the committee report says.
They planned a chakka jam for January 11 and locking of the tahsil office at Multai on January 12.
The chakka jam of January 11 at 27 places in the district has been described as "eminently successful" by the fact-finding committee. Yet no move was forthcoming from the government to address the
farmers' demands.
On January 12, a crowd of around 2,500 men and 500 women had gathered near the Multai tehsil office by 10 in the morning. It was swelling all the time. The farmers saw gun-toting policemen perched on the roof of the tehsil office.
By around 12 noon, the place was filling up from all sides. This is when trouble suddenly erupted. Going by eyewitness accounts the committee notes that the trigger to the violent incidents was provided by " a whistle of mysterious origin." This is where the committee suspects that political rivalry between the ruling Congress and the out-of-power BJP came into play.
Without making any definitive accusation, the committee states that the stone pelting was started by a group which was not amongst the farmers. The sound of the whistle led to throwing of missiles from the direction of the bus stand. "Surprisingly, a retaliation, also in stones, came from the policemen on the tehsil office roof," the report says quoting eyewitnesses.
Seeing the events taking anundesirable turn, Dr Suneelam went around in a jeep trying to prevent the farmers from "getting tricked into violence." At this stage pistol shots were heard from the SDM's office reportedly directed towards Dr Suneelam. He was bundled off from the scene by his supporters.
Immediately after this, two or three teargas shells landed amongst the farmers. Chaos followed as the protestors ran helter-skelter. All of a sudden, without any warning, the policemen started showering bullets on the crowd.
The report emphatically notes that the fleeing farmers were chased and shot by policemen as far as 200 metres from the spot, whereas firing is to be resorted to only to disperse a mob. The Medical Officer of the Government Hospital, Superintendent of Police and Collector were in attendance at the rally being addressed at this moment by BSP leader Kanshi Ram barely a kilometre away. The absence of the officials has been noted in the report, particularly that of the Medical Officer whose presence among the "skeletal
nursing staff" could have helped "save some lives."The report has also listed out individual incidents of by-standers and innocent citizens being shot down by the police.
The committee has taken a critical view of BSP leader Kanshi Ram. "A national leader who arrives for elevating the downtrodden, especially farmers, could have certainly spared a few minutes to visit the spot and calm the situation," the committee feels.
According to Bhau Wahane, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry is necessary into the entire incident. Besides demanding "exemplary punishment" to the officials involved, withdrawal of "concocted" cases against the agitators and prompt payment of compensation, the committee has suggested an immediate change in the police training methods.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
