Coming down heavily on the recent police action on 26 Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) activists, five political parties on Thursday demanded that the health condition of 26 jailed activists be checked soon to ensure that they don’t suffer diseases.
“Every citizen has a right to demonstrate against a Government’s misdeeds. The NKS activists are not criminals that they will be jailed,” the leaders of these parties said after visiting the jailed activists at the Jharpada special jail here.
The NKS activists, including its State convenor Akshaya Kumar, have been on fast for last 17 days, but neither the police nor jail administration is yet to ensure their health checkup, said Jayanta Bhoi of the Samatakranti Dal.
Members of the Samatakranti Dal, Samajwadi Party, Odisha Jan Morcha, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Ekta Parishad visited the jailed farmers’ body members and slammed the State Government for its harsh action against the NKS members.
The delegation also decried the slapping of Section 307 of IPC against the agitating members. “Since they are agitating for a genuine cause, they should not be treated like hardcore antisocial activities. There is no justification for slapping Section 307, which is invoked in cases of attempt to murder, against them,” said Bhoi.
Notably, the 26 NKS members were arrested and sent to jail after they obstructed Chief Minister’s Naveen Patnaik’s cavalcade on Tuesday near the State Secretariat here.