Chhavi Bhatia
Chandigarh: The UT police on Monday detained Sardar Labh Singh, the 80-year-old man who has been holding a sit-in at Matka Chowk for the last few months. He was later released after the police allowed him to continue with his dharna at the roundabout.
On Monday morning, cops rounded up Singh for “illegally” putting up his tent at Matka Chowk where he is sitting since December to support the farmers’ protest currently raging on the Delhi borders. They asked him to move to some other place, which the octogenarian refused. Following this, the police took him to Sector 17 police station while his tent was also dismantled.
Ruckus was created a day before too when area cops had arrived at the scene and asked Labh Singh to shift. Sources claimed the police have received orders from higher-ups to remove him from Matka Chowk.
As the news of his detention spread, a large number of people gathered outside the police station, demanding his release. Youth activists giving him company at Matka Chowk mobilised support through social media and soon the road outside the police station was choc-a-bloc with around 100 protesters. “Baba ji has inspired so many of us to stand with the farmers and more so, with what is right. He is being unnecessarily harassed as the administration can’t bear a strong man raising his voice. They have no legal authority to tell him where he should be protesting,” said 21-year-old Amrit Kaur, a student who often joins Singh at Matka Chowk. Raising slogans against Chandigarh Police, the protesters accused the police of repeated high-handedness. “This is not the first time they have created trouble for baba ji. Why do they see him as a problem? It is his fundamental right to protest wherever he wishes to,” said Mohali resident Jashandeep Singh.
Meanwhile, a delegation of 10 representing the nihang held a meeting with police officials, negotiating on whether he should be shifted to some other place. After few hours of discussion, the cops agreed that Labh Singh can hold his sit-in at Matka Chowk.
