Hamidi (Barnala)

Thousands Paid Tribute to the Peasant Martyr

Vowed to Fight to the End

            Thousands of farmers, along with the large number of women, today, attended the bhog ceremony of the Peasent Martyr Surjit Singh Hamidi. The leaders of the 17 Peasants and Land Labour organizations, which led the Aug. 2 land struggle at Gobindpura (Mansa) village, declared him the first martyr of the Gobindpura Land Struggle and asked the attendants to be ready for further sacrifices. Massive gathering of people paid revolutionary tribute to the Martyr and raised the slogans ‘‘Shaheeda teri soch te, pehra diange thok k.” and “Surjit Singh Hamidi amar rahe.”

 By adopting a resolution, todays gathering demanded the abolishment of the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and all the subsequent acts of land acquisition; the resolution also refuted the new Land Acquisiton Bill as old wine in the new bottle. The leaders warned that the ongoing policy of acquiring the fertile land would endanger the country’s food security, which will inturn lead to the London-like anarchic situation. Farmers and Land Labour organizations demanded the annulment of the notification of 171 acres of land (cheques against which have not been accepted) at Gobindpura, permanent jobs and compensation of 5 hundred thousand each for the land labourers (as they have lost their only source of livelihood as a result of the land acquisition), compensation of 50,000 and treatment expenses each for the injured, compensation for the damage done to the vehicles by the Police, registration of police case under section 302 and 307 against the policemen accused of killing and brutally assaulting the protesting farmers.

            Large number of farmers and women from the Gobindpura village itself were also present. Those farmers from Gobindpura were also there who were, earlier, deceitfully made to accept the compensation for their lands by the government; these farmers expressed their wish to return the cheques and get back the lands. In the end, leaders announced to start the permanent sit–in at the district headquarters of Mansa, Jalandhar and Amritsar from August 22^nd. They called it a 'nabera karu dharna' (the final battle). A group of vehicles then left, amidst resounding revolutionary slogans, to Hussainiwala to immerse the ashes of the martyr in river Satluj.

Some Glimpses

- Two minutes of silence were observed by the entire gathering to pay homage to
   Surjit Singh Hamidi.
- A calendar of Martyr Surjit Singh Hamidi was released and handed over to
   martyr’s family as a symbol of respect.

- A cheque of Rs 5 Lakh, a compensation won over from the government, was also
  handed over to the martyr’s family.

- Food and water served (Langar) throught out the ceremony was still abundant in
  the end.

- All the flags of the 17 leading organizations were tied together to a pole symbolizing
  the unity of the organizations.

- The makeshift shelter was decorated with Martyr's calenders and flexes, and it was
  so large and so full of people that it was almost impossible to capture the
  other end with a 7.1 mp camera.