MP govt moves to withdraw cases filed against farmers during Mandsaur protests

Chief Minister Kamal Nath led Madhya Pradesh government has begun the process of withdrawing cases filed against farmers during Mandsaur protests in 2017.

These cases were filed by Madhya Pradesh police against the farmers during the previous BJP government in the state, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"Kamal Nath government fulfills its promise, cases filed against Mandsaur farmers will be taken back. Fulfilling its promise, the Kamal Nath government has begun the process of taking back cases filed against farmers during the Mandsaur movement," read a tweet by the official handle of the MP Congress on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (SP) Mandsaur, Hitesh Chaudhary said that although the full details were yet to reach him, the administration was working on taking back those cases in which no evidence could be found.

"During the course of the protests, close to 100 cases were filed by the police in the Mandsaur district. Some of them are still under investigation, while others have been asked to be closed due to a lack of evidence. There were around 40,000 people named in the total cases registered by the police, the work of getting some of these cases closed is underway," Chaudhary told reporters here.

On the other hand, farmer leader, Kamlesh Patel, thanked the Congress government in the state for fulfilling its promise and added that close to 1,500 farmers stand to benefit from this move.

"The farmers had carried out a protest in June 2017 for the fulfillment of their valid demands. Several fake cases had been filed by the police against the farmers during that time, even though six farmers had lost their life. Not just that, they also forced us to fill up bonds under the pretext of maintaining peace in the days following the protest," Patel said.

"Kamal Nathji had promised that he will take back the cases filed against farmers during the BJP rule. I thank him for fulfilling his promise. 64 cases, in which close to 1,500 farmers had been named are being closed, the decision on other cases will also be taken soon," he added.

In 2017, during the rule of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Mandsaur had witnessed a massive protest as farmers demanded loan waivers and better prices for their produce. The agitation led to the loss of lives of several farmers, drawing criticism from political parties.