UP government withdraws cases against 24 Tappal farmers

Lucknow, April 13 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government late Friday revoked the cases slapped on two dozen farmers during an agitation over land acquisition at Tappal in Aligarh district in 2010.

The agitation over acquisition of agricultural land near Mathura and Aligarh by the then Mayawati government had created a furore at that time and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had taken a lead in the agitation.

Friday's decision of the Akhilesh Yadav government is seen as a move by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government to win over the farmer class. In a statement the state government said that it has been made clear that it did not see the acts of violence as criminal acts and hence was ordering withdrawal of cases against 24 farmers of the region.

Terming the cases against the farmers as "fake", the government said that in the probe it was found that the agitation was a peaceful one which was launched to safeguard the interests and rights of the farmers whose lands were being acquired forcibly by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government.

The government said that the cases were pending in a judicial court in Mathura and it was of the opinion that farmers were being "unduly victimized" and hence was withdrawing the cases against them. The orders have been sent to the competent authorities, the statement said.