CHANDIGARH: A government official who was part of a team to prevent farm fires was halted by some farmers in Bathinda, and the farmers forced him to burn a pile of stubble. This led to the Punjab Police opening a case against the farmers. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann released a video on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, denouncing the farmers’ actions, which led to the incident’s discovery. According to Bhagwant Mann, the incident was “intolerable” and the government official had gone to the fields to persuade farmers not to burn the paddy straw, but the “mobsters” forced him to light the straw with a matchstick. Two farmers can be seen in the video holding the official’s hand and forcing him to light his stubble with a matchstick.Gulneet Singh Khurana, the senior superintendent of police in Bathinda, stated that following the incident’s viral social media footage, the police filed a case against the farmers. He said that in order to apprehend these farmers, the police are looking for them. Showkat Ahmad Parray, the deputy commissioner for Bathinda, stated on Saturday that he had written to the SSP to file a formal complaint against the farmers for impeding the official’s ability to carry out his duties. Parray claimed that the official was taken to a nearby field and made to set fire to a mound of stubble by a group of 50–60 farmers who were loyal to a farmers’ association. “What choice did he (the official) have when he was mobbed? DC Parray said, “He was left with no choice. “I’m going to the village personally, too. We’re not going to let it go. We will not put up with lawlessness,” declared the DC. The burning of paddy straw in Punjab and Haryana is a primary cause of the concerning increase in Delhi’s air pollution during the months of October and November. Based on data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, 12,813 stubble-burning incidences have been documented in Punjab as of Friday.
