Congress protest continues to support aggrieved landowners

MANSA: Continuing with its opposition to the forced land acquisition for power plant, Congress kept on protesting against repressing the voice of aggrieved landowners. The police took CWC member and former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar along with Budhlada MLA Mangat Rai Bansal, MLA Ripjit Singh Brar, former MLAs, Manjit Singh Jhalbuti and many other supporters into custody.
The senior Congress leaders were let off only in the evening after keeping them for hours at the Mansa rest house. Earlier, on Friday, seven Congress MLAs and a former MP were taken into custody and kept for about two hours.
Brar upon his release after eight hours said, "Congress will not sit back. We will force SAD-BJP government to either return back the land or give compensation as the draft prepared on lands acquisition by Union government. Union government in its draft has recommended compensation as much as six times of the market rate in rural areas and double than market price in urban areas.
On Saturday morning, Jagmeet Brar was heading towards village Gobindpura to meet the aggrieved landowners but was stopped at village Sirsiwala and taken into custody at around 9am along with Jhalbuti and supporters. Knowing about it, Budhlada MLA Mangat Rai Bansal too reached and was arrested. Brar' brother MLA Ripjit Brar, former MLAs Vijay Sathi and Baldev Singh too were taken into custody along with supporters and taken to Kusla rest house. Jagmit Brar and Bansal were taken to Mansa rest house from where were released in the evening.
Brar said state government is letting loose a reign of terror upon villagers and using undemocratic means in not allowing the public representatives from meeting villagers. Bansal said soon PPCC chief Amarinder Singh and leaders from AICC would be called to support the cause and will not sit back till aggrieved landowners are suitably compensated.
Meanwhile, increasing the difficulties for state government at a time when elections to state assembly are not far away, the activists of 17 farmer, labourer organizations on the other hand have decided to march towards Gobindpura on August 2.