Rajasthan Farmers protest turns violent: 40 arrested; FIR against 273

Tibbi/Rajasthan: Farmers are conducting a Delhi model protest here against an ethanol plant. The protest has turned violent in the past few days, and 40 people were arrested in mass arrests by police in their drive to suppress the protest. They have registered FIRs against 273 people. The protest, which started in Tibbi, a small town in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, gathered nationwide attention after a large number of farmers from neighbouring states gathered and destroyed parts of the factory under construction and set vehicles on fire. Hundreds of farmers continue to arrive at the protest site with tractors in the great Delhi protest that happened in 2020-21.

The farmers are protesting, alleging that the ethanol plant will threaten agriculture in Rajasthan's most fertile agricultural region and will discharge waste into the region. There have been violent clashes and incidents of violence between the police and farmers here for the past few days. The protesters broke the outer wall of the plant, which led to police initiating a lathi charge, but the protesters set several vehicles on fire. Congress MLA Abhimanyu Poonia was injured in the police beating.

The police have registered a case against 273 people on the complaint of the plant authorities. Those include Congress MLAs, former MLAs and leaders. The agitation is being led by organisations like All India Kisan Sabha and Samyukta Kisan Morcha. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are participating in the protests. However, the demonstrations have been temporarily suspended after some important demands were discussed.

A 40 MW Ethanol plant is being built at the spot. But it is in an agricultural area. The owners say that the plant has received permission from the Pollution Control Board and claim that the company also has a system to treat the waste in their plant on the spot. They also claim that their project supports the government's ethanol blending scheme.