Amaravati Farmers Stopped at Gudivada for ID Card Check; JAC leaders allege harassment of local police

Slight tension was seen in Gudivada constituency on September 24 (Saturday) when local police blocked Amaravati maha padayatra in Arasavalli by farmers and residents of Amaravati area.

The peasant march entered the constituency on Friday and Saturday 14 ^e day of the yatra, as they started their journey, the local police blocked them insisting that only the farmers who had the ID cards would be allowed to continue. Identity cards have been issued to 650 farmers following a High Court directive that they should not be prevented from going ahead with their yatra and also, that any number of local farmers or people in general might visit the yatra to express their solidarity with their cause.

The police started checking identity cards at Kankipadu checkpoint and transferred about 20 farmers to the local police station because they were not in possession of identity cards.

Leaders of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi, who led the farmers’ rally, strongly criticized the move saying that local farmers who had come to show solidarity with their Amaravati farmers who were fighting a peaceful battle for a just cause, were harassed by the Gudivada police. “We haven’t had a lot of trouble with the police anywhere else. But Gudivada’s ‘over-enthusiastic’ DSP is causing inconvenience to farmers,” said JAC co-organizer G. Tirupati Rao. The Hindu.

He also blamed the police for bringing tear gas vehicles to the scene. The farmers alleged that the police were acting at the behest of former minister and leader of the YSR Congress Party, Kodali Nani, who hailed from Gudivada constituency.