Farmers in Bijnor Protest After FIR Against 15 Villagers Over Stray Cattle

Lucknow: Farmers under the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) faction staged a protest with cattle-laden tractor-trailers at the Bijnor district headquarters, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday after the Afzalgarh Police lodged an FIR against 15 people for allegedly herding stray cattle inside a government primary school and hindered its functioning.

The farmers ended the protest after assurance from the administration but announced to intensify it if the FIR is not withdrawn immediately.  

On Monday, a group of irate farmers from Jamunwala village, under the Afzalgarh Police Station, reportedly barged into the primary government school and herded more than 80 stray cattle inside the school, forcing the suspension of classes, Bijnor subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Manoj Kumar said.

An FIR was registered against 15 villagers who locked up the cattle thus hindering the school’s functioning, Kumar told Newsclick. “A few villagers tried to disrupt the law and order and disturbed the classes. After receiving information from the school, a police team got the premises vacated. Measures will be taken to ensure that such an incident is not repeated,” he added.

Following an inquiry, an FIR was lodged against the 15 villagers under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

However, the villagers alleged that the animals were destroying their crops and they were compelled to “take the drastic step” after the administration didn’t act despite repeated complaints.

This is the second such FIR lodged against villagers in UP in a month. The Amroha Police lodged an FIR against 16 named and 20 unidentified persons for allegedly herding stray cattle inside a government primary in Karan Khal village, under the Hasanpur Police Station, on January 8.

Jamunwala villagers said that stray cattle from other villages are pushed into their village and the animals damage crops and occupy the lanes and by-lanes.

In the last few months, farmers in several districts have held similar protests at schools to highlight the problem of stray animals.

Banda-based agriculture expert Prem Singh told Newsclick that it is “unfortunate that farmers are dying guarding their crops against stray cattle and the police are misusing the law against them”.

“Gaushala management does not allow stray animals to be kept and farmers do not have other options to deal with them. Therefore, they are forced to lock them either inside schools or leave them to graze their crops,” he added.

Singh added that the “problem would continue no matter how many promises the government makes. Both cows and farmers are suffering”. There is a need for a national policy to deal with the problem, he said.

Shyam Singh Chahar, an Agra-based farmer leader who has been raising the issue in Braj region, said, “The government has always been committing atrocities against farmers. Policies are only on paper, but farmers are severely affected on the ground due to poor policies.”

When asked about the Centre’s plan to build a sanctuary for 5,000 cows in Muzaffarnagar to tackle stray cattle, he said, “Until the government frees pasture land from criminals and turns barren land into farming for grazing, the problem won’t be solved. Most of the land has been encroached upon for private farming or other activities. Besides, cows died three-four months after being shifted to the gaushala due to the lack of adequate water and fodder.”

According to state animal husbandry minister Dharampal Singh, the state has 6,222 cow shelters housing 8.55 lakh homeless cattle.