more-in Upland farmers owing allegiance to the United Democratic Front (UDF) observed a hartal in Chakkittappara panchayat on Monday, protesting against the arrest of 14 farmers on the charge of damaging a Forest Department vehicle. UDF leaders said the police were purposefully implicating the farmers, including two local body members, in the “false case” filed by the department officials and arresting them on Sunday. They alleged that some Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] workers in the panchayat were trying to fuel the stand-off between farmers and the department to take political advantage and portray farmers as hunters. They also claimed that a Youth Congress leader from Muthukad in Chakkittappara was attacked by CPI(M) workers on Monday for his open support for the hartal. “The incident leading to the arrest of the farmers took place on September 6 in front of the Peruvannamoozhi forest office. No one had attacked the official vehicle. They just tried to block a vehicle that was about to ram the venue of a farmers’ hunger strike,” said Jijo Thomas, leader of We Farm, a settler farmers’ collective. He also claimed that the none of the arrested had any involvement in the incident. Hunger strike dropped Though the farmers’ action committee had a plan to stage a hunger strike in front of the district collectorate on Monday, it was dropped as all the arrested were granted bail. Leaders of the action committee claimed that the farmers were granted bail, as the magistrate was convinced of their stand. Long march planned Joy Kannachira, a leader of the action committee, said a State-level coordination of various farmers’ organisations had already been constituted to organise a long march to the Kozhikode collectorate in November to draw public attention to issues facing upland farmers. The objective of the march is to urge the government to take immediate steps to control wild animal menace in farms, he added.

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