Police stop group of farmers heading to New Delhi

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A group of farmers of Desiya Thenindiya Nadigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam, including its leader P. Ayyakannu, were detained by the city police when they were about to travel to New Delhi from here on Tuesday.

The farmers had planned to stage a protest in New Delhi against Karnataka’s refusal to release Tamil Nadu’s share of water in the Cauvery on monthly basis as ordered by the Supreme Court.

The association demanded that Karnataka pay a compensation of ₹1 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu farmers for its refusal to release water to the lower riparian State. If it failed to do so, the government should be dismissed, it contended. “We had planned to submit petitions in this regard to the President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Mr. Ayyakannu said.

Mr. Ayyakannu said they had booked tickets for travel to New Delhi by train for 138 farmers. “But we were detained in two groups by the police early in the morning when we were headed to the Railway Junction,” he said.

The detained farmers were kept in two marriage halls in the city. Although they were freed in the evening, Mr. Ayyakannu and other farmers refused to leave the marriage hall and staged a protest condemning the police action “which had caused them loss of thousands of rupees by way of wasted train tickets.”

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