Farmers held protests across multiple district headquarters in Tamil Nadu on Monday, pressing for a complete waiver of crop loans taken from cooperative banks.
They also urged the state government to prevent the Karnataka government’s efforts to build a dam at Mekedatu, according to protest organisers.
In Thanjavur, farmers who arrived as a procession attempted to stage a protest in front of the Collectorate. When police moved to detain them, a scuffle broke out involving farmers’ association leader Palaniyappan and others, following which the protesters sat in a dharna.
In other districts, farmers adopted symbolic forms of protest. In Vellore, they raised slogans against the state government while wearing religious markings and covering their mouths with black cloth.
At Nagapattinam, protesters lay at the Collectorate gate as if dead, performed mourning rituals and beat drums, creating tension in the area. In Villupuram, farmers demonstrated at the municipal ground, holding sugarcane and wearing religious markings.
